This study explores whether educating patients about expected post-surgical pain can reduce their fear, lower pain ratings, and decrease reliance on pain medications after wisdom tooth removal. In Phase 1, 20 patients will track their pain and medication use in a diary and answer surveys to identify effective coping strategies. These insights will help create educational materials for Phase 2, where 60 patients will be divided into three groups receiving either standard info, wisdom tooth-specific pain education, or general pain education.
Manning Research
Contact
Name:
Erika Manning, PhD, MD, MPH
Position:
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Organization:
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
909 Walnut Street
3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Email:
Erika.Manning@jefferson.edu
Contact Number(s):
Manning research focuses on pain, pain perception, and alternative methods for dealing with chronic pain. The purpose of this lab involves explores different factors that can impact orofacial pain, with the ultimate goal of designing interventions to enable patients with chronic orofacial pain to take a more active role in their pain management. We are also exploring the potential role of education, including psychoeducation and neurobiological education, in chronic pain.
Dr. Manning received her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in cognitive psychology, with a minor in medical neurobiology. She continued her training to complete an MD at the Medical University of South Caroline and an MPH from the University of South Carlina.
Research Projects
Pre-Emptive Cognitive Analgesia for Wisdom Tooth Resection Patients
TMD Education Study
This study evaluates educational modules developed to support patients newly diagnosed with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). 20 long-term TMD patients helped refine the educational content by offering feedback on clarity, pacing, and relevance. In the main study, 90 newly diagnosed patients will be assigned to one of three groups—control, TMD-specific education, or general pain education—and assessed on pain, disability, self-efficacy, and related outcomes before and six weeks after the intervention.
Coping Strategies for Athletes Study
Research has shown that high-level athletes often demonstrate elevated tolerance for pain, including heat pain, cold pain, ischemic pain, pressure pain, and exertion pain. This study explores how high-level athletes manage different types of pain and whether specific coping strategies explain their elevated pain tolerance. Fifty varsity-level athletes completed surveys on pain perception and coping, including a modified Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Interestingly, most athletes reported actively focusing on and minimizing pain—rather than ignoring it—suggesting a unique approach that may have future applications in chronic pain treatment.
Personalized Pain Scales Study
This project explores a new approach to pain measurement by combining the traditional 1–10 pain scale with personalized anchors based on real-life experiences (e.g., bee sting, skinned knee). Participants will assign meaningful events to each number on the scale, creating a unique reference system to rate their pain more accurately. Over two weeks, they will use this personalized scale to track their pain, helping providers better interpret their reports and improving patient–clinician communication around pain management.
Patient Pain Course
This is a course designed to assist patients to learn more about their pain, including the anatomy and physiology of pain, the psychology of pain, primary pharmaceutical interventions for pain, and alternative methods for pain management. This course helps empower chronic pain patients to take a more active role in their pain management by increasing their knowledge about their pain and potential interventions they can employ to better cope with their pain.