Everyday pain management ideas

Do you ever wish there was someone who understood what it's like to live with chronic pain?  If so, today's post might be just what you are looking for.  Have a look at YourPainCommunity.com . This community is the brain child of Dr. Lynn Webster, a pain management physician. He resides in Salt Lake City, UT. and has a wealth of experience in this field. Have a look around the site; perhaps it is the pot of gold you've been looking for!

A Loyola University study reveals that animal assisted therapy reduced the need for oral pain medication following total joint replacement therapy. The study retrospectively compared a group of subjects who were given AAT as part of treatment vs. a group that did not benefit from such therapy. In conclusion, those who were given animal therapy had a reduced need for medication-- 28 percent less, to be exact! The two groups were similar in composition with respect to age, ethnicity, etc..the only difference was that the AAT group had daily visits with specially trained dogs, for a duration of somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes per visit. The study was published in the August/September issue of Anthrozoos, the official journal of Anthrozoology. Once again, we see that health, healing, and relief from chronic pain can be enhanced by forces aside from traditional medical treatment.  The bond between humans and animals is powerful, and can be of great benefit to all who are will

I always like sharing information from the Cleveland Clinic with my readers--they are highly regarded in the world of medicine, and have much to offer persons will all sorts of illnesses and disabilities.  Today I would like to share what they have to say about managing pain without medications.  You can read the article in its entirety here . For those of you who simply prefer an overview of this piece, here is an overview: Many people suffer from pain due to illness or injury.  All too often the first treatment of choice is medication.  Unfortunately, medications can have troubling side effects, and some of them are potentially addicting.  Therefore, it is wise to look at some alternative forms of treatment and incorporate them into a treatment plan. One of these alternatives is O steopathic M anipulation T herapy, which involves re-alignment bones/joints in an effort to ease pain. This is the hallmark of Osteopathic medicine. Chiropractic medicine and acupuncture are

A tiny protein found in cone snail venom may be the source of a new medication that is safer and more effective than morphine for those who suffer chronic nerve pain. This substance is one of five compounds that were found by the David Craik, Ph.D. and his colleagues a the University of Queensland. Craik reported his findings at the American Chemical Society Meeting this year. As reported in NewsWise, Craik, who is at the University of Queensland, explained that acute pain occurs when the nervous system is stimulated by a wound or injury and naturally subsides over time. In contrast, chronic neuropathic pain kicks in when the nervous system itself is damaged. This type of pain — which is often triggered by diabetes, multiple sclerosis and other diseases — can last for months, years or even decades. Current treatments for chronic neuropathic pain have serious side effects and provide relief to only about one in every three patients, he said. This finding of a novel sour

A novel approach to osteoarthritis of the knee was revealed this past summer. The study was conducted jointly by a group of Swiss and Japanese researchers. The group investigated a small group of subjects who had osteoarthritis of the knee that was unresponsive to medication.   This small group of subjects underwent an interventional radiology procedure that involved embolization of some arteries in the knee.  According to the researchers,  “This treatment is based on the notion that increased number of blood vessels and accompanying nerves are a possible source of chronic pain and that occlusion of these abnormal vessels might reduce such pain.” The researchers found all 14 subjects to have successful treatment just after the procedure. Twelve months later, all 14 were still deemed a success! “From our experiences, there were two distinct time points when pain and symptoms improved”, notes the team. One was soon after embolisation, which the researchers attributed to de

In recent weeks, a new study has come out..it sheds some interesting light on the effect of smoking on chronic back pain.  The study involved comparing brain  MRIs of chronic back pain sufferers by categorizing them into smoking and non-smoking groups. It appears that smokers have worse problems with back pain than their non-smoking counterparts. The explanation given by this study suggests that a communication pathway between two areas is affected by smoking; therefore the pain signal is affected. This is an interesting development.  It might just help the development of better pain medications or treatments for all back sufferers..and it might get some people to believe that they really would be better off if they could kick the habit! You can read more about the study here: "Smoking is a pain in the back" Sources: Northwestern University, wikimedia

Children are our most valuable asset; therefore, it is good to keep safety in mind when they need to take medications.  Last month, the FDA released new recommendations for the manufacturers of pediatric products containing acetaminophen.  Here's a quick look at what is on the table:   All acetaminophen containing products are now supposed to contain the following statement: Liver warning: This product contains acetaminophen.  Severe liver damage may occur if you take More than [insert maximum number of daily dosage units] in24 hours, which is the maximum daily amount [optional: "for this product"] With other drugs containing acetaminophen 3 or more alcoholic drinks every day while using this product. Here are some examples of additional recommendations for pediatric products: that all products intended for use in children should have a concentration of less than 160mg per 5 mL that the principal display panel contain information r