Everyday pain management ideas

In my opinion, the future of pain management with any of the long acting opioids is uncertain. Zohydro is no exception.  Some of this depends on where you live. As I mentioned in part II, It's not just a question of the DEA or FDA or State Health Boards of Health calling the shots now.  Regulation seems to be expanding in various states/cities/localities.  This is a new twist, and a new challenge in the world of pain management. That being said, it is clear that new roads to pain management are emerging.  I have posted information about new devices on the marketplace for treatment of chronic pain, anxiety, and migraine headache. These are new relatively new ideas, and where they fit into the scheme of things remains to be seen. They may be more cost effective than medication...and provided that they successfully treat conditions as claimed, without problems, there is hope. Clinical investigation of drugs not initially marketed for pain management is underway- oxytocin

In modern day pain medicine, many of the same historic controversies exist. Addiction is a prevalent problem in society; sometimes it emerges when a patient is ordered pain medication for a legitimate purpose, only to fall victim to a bigger problem  Other times, people who are somehow predisposed to substance abuse find themselves drawn to it for recreation purposes.  In either case, once addicted, the problem is the same for all of these individuals. Modern addiction medicine does not employ withdrawal or detoxification as part of treatment; it seems more common to send these persons to day programs or inpatient treatment and prescribe suboxone or some similar agent for maintenance purposes. My biggest problem with this approach is that the problem is not really fixed--it's only patched. You see, suboxone and its nearest relatives merely trick the body's opiate receptors into thinking that all is well. In my work career, I witnessed this problem many times ov

The use of opioid medications is certainly not a new, or novel approach to pain management. Some of the properties of opium, produced from poppies and a predecessor to modern day opioids, were recognized as long before the time of Christ.  Historical records indicate knowledge/use of opium in Europe around 4200 BC. In these early times, the use of opium was primarily ritualistic or medicinal. Some of the ancient Greek and Egyptian myths mention opium, indicating that is was known to civilizations of those times. A field of poppies  ( Papaver somniferum ). Around the time of the fall of the Roman Empire, opium became known to Islamic society for its medicinal properties; its utility in pain management and anesthesia was now being recognized. Writings from this time indicate its use in the treatment of melancholy, migraine, and sciatica by the time of the Ottoman Empire (14th Century). Between 400-1200 AD, Arab traders introduced the Chinese to opium, .  By the 15th ce

A quick guide to Fibromyalgia from PainMedicineNews.com If you want to save or print a copy, click here!

The term 'hyperalgesia" comes from the Greek language. It is defined as  "an increased sensitivity to pain, which may be caused by damage to nociceptors or peripheral nerves."     .........New research findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism suggest that a disruption in brain signals for reward and punishment...contributing to hyperalgesia in patients with fibromyalgia.  "In patients with fibromyalgia there is an alteration in the central nervous system pain processing and a poor response to topical pain treatments, trigger point injections and opioids," said lead  author Dr.Marco Loggia from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in  Boston. "Our study examines the disruption of brain function involved in the individual  experience of pain anticipation and pain relief." This study consisted of 45 subjects: 31 of these had fibromyalgia, while the other 14 were identified as healthy. All subjects were su

To answer this question, you can take my poll on Facebook. I will share the results in the near future. You might just be the one to inspire my next blog post, or help me to "pay it forward" in helping another person learn from your experience with chronic pain! You can take the poll by following this link . Source: Facebook, Wikipedia

I have been posting to this blog since October of last year on many approaches to chronic pain management. I came to realize that many of you know that I have some professional credentials, so I know a bit about pain management in that regard. But you might not know that I have personal experience in dealing with chronic pain as well. So, this post is all about me and the various pain issues I deal with in life. Don't let the turkeys get you down! Ever since I was a young teen, I have been plagued with migraine headaches.  Most of my issues in this regard seemed to be worsened by hormonal cycles.  Now that I have past that part of my life, I still get an occasional migraine, but for the most part life is good in this regard.  That being said, I can't even begin to tell you how many days I spent sick in bed because of a migraine headache.  Many times I could not even eat or drink for hours on end because of this.  I am ever so grateful that this is in the past!