HEALTH + WELLBEING Special Feature
High Tech Solutions For Hunter Patients IMAGES BY EDEN CONNELL THEY’RE (RELATIVELY) NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK, HAVING OPENED NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART CLINICS IN THE HUNTER IN LATE 2020. BUT THE LASER PAIN MANAGEMENT AND SKINDUCED AESTHETICS CLINICS ARE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THE SPECIALIST LASER INDUSTRY IN THE HUNTER. As part of our first Health & Wellbeing Special Feature for 2021, we caught up with Dr Faisal Khan to find out about his passion for helping people who suffer from pain, and find out a little more about his background and the team.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Dr Khan. Please tell us a little about your background – where you grew up, studied, qualifications, specific areas of speciality and worked as a medical practitioner? I grew up in Pakistan before coming to Australia 15 years ago. My initial experience was gained at John Hunter in Medicine, and I then started working as a General Practitioner in 2012. While working as a GP in Stroud, I developed a particular interest in pain management. I wanted to do something that had no side effects but could help treat pain and various ailments in non-pharmacological ways. I started researching towards this goal and later completed my
postgraduate qualification in Medical Acupuncture and then in Photo-biomodulation/Cold Laser Therapy. When did you decide to start your medical practice and where? How many practices do you currently operate? After JHH, I worked in the rural areas of Gloucester and Stroud and gained expertise in rural medicine. I am a GP supervisor now for junior GPs and Principal of 5 practices, including a pain clinic and aesthetic clinic serving communities in different parts of the Hunter Region - both metro and rural. Your new state-of-the-art clinics at Cameron Park include two specific speciality areas – Laser Pain Management and a Skin Aesthetics Clinic (Skinduced). Is there a synergy between these areas of practice that encouraged you to open the clinics together as one practice? With the ever-growing technology, non-interventional techniques and versatility of the laser devices I use, I decided to help the community with their health and skin concerns under one roof. At Skinduced Aesthetic clinic, we can tailor skin therapy/treatment as per individual requirements; we have 14 strong modalities in our aesthetics clinic, where anyone can start their skin and body journey with confidence. Tell us a little about your team. Who is involved in each area of the practice, what is their role and how long has each person been there? I have a great team of qualified doctors and registered nurses, experienced admin staff and dermal therapists, who
have appropriate qualifications and expertise in managing their respective fields. They have been with us over a long period of time. I have grown my team from a single person to more than 40 plus team members. When did you first become interested in pain management, and why? Pain is a regular day to day presentation in general practice. The health burden caused by the use of dependant drugs and excessive interventions (with no better outcome) made me interested in medical acupuncture and later in photo-biomodulation/light therapy for pain and related issues. I wanted to offer my patients something effective, with no side effects or post-treatment complications, and lower the dependency of pain medication (specifically opioids) used as a regular treatment for their pain management. The Laser Pain Management clinic specialises in helping patients deal with pain using state-of-the-art laser treatment. Can you explain what laser pain management is and what treatments are available? The common name for this is Low-Level Laser or Cold Laser, it is also called Photo-biomodulation, which means ‘ modulating human cells by light. We offer a wide range of treatments, including post-operative treatment, to help rejuvenate inside out, faster wound healing, and help reduce pain. We help patients with fibromyalgia, nerve pain, joint pains, plantar fasciitis, migraines, lymphoedema, lipoedema, psoriasis pain and wound and scar healing, Achilles pain, tennis elbow, bursitis of different joints, sports injuries, and many other symptoms and ailments. A full list can be found on our website, but the best part is that when it comes to sports, this technology is very effective and safe for kids too. What are the benefits of laser pain management treatments? Management of any condition with laser is to alleviate pain where either we want to have an alternative to drugs/ (Continued next page) ► www.intouchmagazine.com.au | 23
