Opioid painkiller addiction and accidental overdoses have become far too common across the United States. To try to identify who is most at risk, Mayo Clinic researchers studied how many patients prescribed an opioid painkiller for the first time progressed to long-term prescriptions. The answer: 1 in 4. People with histories of tobacco use and… Continue reading One in Four Patients Prescribed Opioids Progresses to Long-Term Use
Category: Pain Management
Pain management is key for ongoing pain control, particularly if you suffer from chronic pain. Pain brings not only discomfort, but can also cause stress.
Coping with Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is one of our most common health issues, and too often people put up with it rather than try to eliminate it. Here, from the experts at the National Institute on Aging, are your best strategies for solving a debilitating problem: Acute Pain and Chronic Pain There are two kinds of pain. Acute… Continue reading Coping with Chronic Pain
A New Treatment for Fibromyalgia?
Women who have fibromyalgia appear to benefit from treatment in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, according to researchers at Rice University and institutes in Israel. The painful condition improved in every one of the 48 women who completed two months of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the researchers said. Brain scans of the women before and after treatment… Continue reading A New Treatment for Fibromyalgia?
Understanding the Signals of Pain
Researchers have drawn closer to an understanding of higher cognitive processes by discovering that people learn pain cues even though they are unaware of such cues. Investigators from the Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, looked at 49 people who were assigned into four groups that would examine the levels of conscious awareness during the experiment. According… Continue reading Understanding the Signals of Pain
New Local Anesthetic Would Last Longer Than Lidocaine
Researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered a new compound, boronicaine, that offers longer lasting painkilling effects than the currently popular injectable, lidocaine. A release from the university quotes George Kracke, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at the MU School of Medicine and lead author of the study, as saying, “Because… Continue reading New Local Anesthetic Would Last Longer Than Lidocaine
Hip Strengthening to Ease Pain of Clogged Leg Arteries
Detailed gait analysis reveals that people with clogged leg arteries rely more on muscles in the back of the calf when they walk to compensate for weakness in certain hip muscles, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology/Peripheral Vascular Disease Scientific Sessions 2015 in San Francisco in… Continue reading Hip Strengthening to Ease Pain of Clogged Leg Arteries
Better Ways to Fight Chronic Headaches
Imagine suffering chronic pain – say, in the form of headaches or migraines. Happily, you’ve found a solution to the problem. It has been several months of losing focus, sleep and general interest in the things you used to like. You went to a doctor and he told you an NTI device, which addresses jowl… Continue reading Better Ways to Fight Chronic Headaches
Light Could Someday Replace Painkillers
Despite the abuse potential of opioid drugs, they have long been the best option for patients suffering from severe pain. The drugs interact with receptors on brain cells to tamp down the body’s pain response. But now, neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to activate opioid receptors… Continue reading Light Could Someday Replace Painkillers
An End to Cancer Pain?
A study led by University of Toronto researcher Dr. David Lam, head of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Faculty of Dentistry, has discovered the trigger behind the most severe forms of cancer pain. Released in the journal Pain this in April 2015, the study points to TMPRSS2 as the culprit: a gene that is… Continue reading An End to Cancer Pain?
ER Patients Need to Know More about Pain Management
Patients in the emergency room want to know more about the possibilities for pain management than their doctors are telling them. They also want to know about the risk of opioid dependency. The study, by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, used semi-structured open-ended telephone interviews with 23 patients… Continue reading ER Patients Need to Know More about Pain Management
A Novel Way to Avoid Pain?
Crossing your fingers could help reduce your feeling of pain, according to new research. According to UCL, London, the finding, published in the journal Current Biology, used a variation on an established pain experiment, known as the “thermal grill illusion.” A news release from UCL said that In the thermal grill illusion, a pattern of… Continue reading A Novel Way to Avoid Pain?
5 Signs Your Headache May Be Caused By TMJ
Nearly everyone on occasion experiences a throbbing headache that interferes with concentration at work or school, or saps the joy from the day. But sometimes the source of that headache can be surprising. For many people, the pain that emanates from the head can be traced back to their teeth, their bite relationship, and the… Continue reading 5 Signs Your Headache May Be Caused By TMJ
Massage Therapists: Pain Relief and Relaxation
Licensed massage therapists are allied health professionals who can have a significant impact on your well-being. Unfortunately, they are also often portrayed in movies or on TV in a less than flattering light, so their work can be misunderstood sometimes. From helping clients recover from injuries to helping clients prevent injuries by keeping their muscles… Continue reading Massage Therapists: Pain Relief and Relaxation
Women’s Pain Is Often Mismanaged
Despite the variety of effective treatments, and the number of physicians who specialize in treating pain, women often suffer unnecessarily from conditions ranging from backaches to pain after cancer surgery. Women also frequently try to manage their pain with medications that may be ineffective and possibly harmful. Those are the findings of a review of… Continue reading Women’s Pain Is Often Mismanaged
No Evidence Opioids Are Effective for Chronic Pain
A National Institutes of Health white paper that was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in January 2015 reported little to no evidence for the effectiveness of opioid drugs in the treatment of long-term chronic pain, despite the explosive recent growth in the use of the drugs. A release from the University of Connecticut… Continue reading No Evidence Opioids Are Effective for Chronic Pain
COX-2 Inhibitors Safe for Many Patients
COX-2 inhibitors, prescription drugs which include Vioxx and Celebrex, were developed in the 1990s to avoid the risk of stomach ulcers caused by some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but they rapidly fell out of favor after they were linked to an increased risk of heart attacks. Some brands, including Vioxx, were withdrawn. Yet Cox-2 inhibitors,… Continue reading COX-2 Inhibitors Safe for Many Patients
Can Meditation Cure Cravings for Painkillers?
People who are addicted to prescription painkillers can reduce cravings by learning to enjoy other parts of their life, according to a new study. The research, published in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine, was conducted by Eric L. Garland, associate professor at the University of Utah College of Social Work. He and his colleagues looked… Continue reading Can Meditation Cure Cravings for Painkillers?
Doctors Prescribing Fewer Opioids for Pain
Concerns about prescription drug abuse and addiction may affect prescribing habits, according to a survey done at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests. and published in the December 8th 2014 issue of “JAMA Internal Medicine”. A release from Johns Hopkins notes that nine in 10 primary care physicians say that prescription drug… Continue reading Doctors Prescribing Fewer Opioids for Pain