Easing Sarah's Pain

Seventeen year-old Sarah was in constant pain. She struggled to make doctors understand how debilitating it was. Her joints were damaged from arthritis diagnosed when she was 18 months old. She experienced stabbing pain from migraines, spinal inflammation and attacks due to fibromyalgia.

Doctors and researchers at Children’s National Hospital helped Sarah find a way out of her predicament using the experimental device, AlgometRx. This handheld smartphone platform technology enables care providers to measure, track and treat pain with great precision.

AlgometRx offers a glimpse into pain centers in the brain, through the eyes. “If we can measure pain, we can do our best to fix it,” says pediatric anesthesiologist Julia Finkel, M.D., who invented the device.

These days, Sarah’s pain is much more manageable thanks to a combination of medicines and acupuncture. It has helped her reclaim the health and happiness that every child deserves.