Everyday pain management ideas

If you have an unbearable headache, especially one that is due to high blood pressure...try this simple remedy for rapid, drug free relief. First, find some gauze or light cotton fabric to use for a compress.  Fold the fabric so it has eight layers, and set it aside for a few minutes. Next, measure out 250 ml (8 1/2 ounces) of hot water (140-160) degrees Fahrenheit.  Add two teaspoonfuls of salt to the water and stir until dissolved. What you will now have is an 8% saline solution.   Wash your forehead, ears and neck with a little bit of water. Soak the fabric or gauze in the saline solution and wring out the excess liquid. Lay down and apply the compresses to your forehead, neck and ears.  Once the compresses are applied, lay still for 20 minutes (even though you may start to feel relief very quickly!)   After the twenty minutes have passed, remove the compresses. Rinse the areas where the compresses were applied with plain water. You should be feeling better

I wanted to share this video of Dr. Kent Smalley.  He's a pain management physician who is also a chronic pain sufferer. I've shared things about him before...this time he's answering a question as to whether or not pain medications can cause weight gain.  The answer is more complex than a simple yes or no but he explains it here in about a minute..so have a look! Source:YouTube;Pixabay

Neuropathic pain is one type of chronic pain problem.  The pain is the result of damage to the actual nervous system. Most who experience this type of pain describe it as "pins and needles", burning, stinging, "on fire" or similar.  It must be really annoying to suffer from this, be it a result of diabetic neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, or any other neuropathic disorder.  I can't even begin to imagine what it feels like. Shingles (Herpes Zoster) rash on chest However, I have some good news about this topic. I am here to tell you some exciting news about some research  developments in this field.  Recently UC Davis researchers announced that they have discovered a key mechanism in neuropathic pain syndromes. They are saying that a biological process known as endoplasmic reticular stress , or ER stress for short, is a key driver of neuropathic pain. Why is it good news? Because now that this mechanism has been identified, a search for agents/metho

Source: Washington Post You've probably seen some news articles about this topic lately...I thought it was relevant to share in this forum.  The use of opioid pain medications for chronic pain is/was a standard practice for decades.  At this point, there are still many folks out there with chronic pain syndromes who are still being prescribed these medications.  They are, in fact. at increased risk of addiction due to that fact alone.  Now that medical practitioners are starting to think differently about this prescribing practice, some patients are left addicted to these medications but no longer have access to them.  Some of these are actual patients, others may be someone who abused/borrowed Oxycontin and other narcotic analgesics by obtaining them via less than legitimate means.  It's a lot easier to obtain heroin in the present day, so it has become an attractive alternative.   Statistics show that deaths due to heroin overdose have quadrupled since about 2

Because of my blog, I follow a lot of social media.  As you might expect, I have a Twitter account so that I can share my posts and find new material for future blog posts.  One day, I discovered Dr. Harvey Jenkins through my Twitter account.  He is highly educated, knowledgeable pain management physician from the state of Oklahoma. Dr. Jenkins wrote a a very concise, easy to read book that he asked me to read and review on Amazon. After reading the book and doing as he asked, I thought it would be good to share my thoughts with my readers.  The book is entitled "The Patient's Guide to Pain Management." To be perfectly honest, I think this book is a must read for anyone who is looking for medical help with chronic pain issues.  In reading this material, you will understand many things from the doctor's perspective that you might not understand now.  For instance, many pain practitioners have their patients sign treatment contracts when treatment begins.  The con

Today's post is about another of the many pain devices out there.  This time we're looking at sam® , a product that is marketed by ZetrOZ, Inc.  It's an ultrasound device that was approved by the FDA in 2014 for select medical indications.  It is said to have advantage over other devices out there because because it can be worn for up to four hours at a time.  Of course, like the other devices in this category it's drug free...and that is a good thing indeed! Here's where the story gets interesting. A clinical study on this device has received by ZetrOZ...because it has potential use in space!  Apparently, the human spine is elongated by some 2 inches during space travel due to low gravity situation.  The sam® device is being studied for use by astronauts in this situation.  Meanwhile, here on earth, sam® is available by prescription.  Here is a link to a brochure about the device. sam® is said to increase local circulation, improve the ant-inflammatory re

In the ever constant struggle for gender equality comes this news from the world of pain management...and in this case, it would be much easier for science and medicine to resolve if it did not exist. Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent conditions in the medical realm. Nearly one in four Americans has experienced it. Pain management is a very tricky business...medical practitioners are struggling with when to use potentially addicting medications, antidepressants, complementary and alternative medical practices..the list goes on.  This has now become more complicated...because a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience reports that pain sensitivity differs with respect to gender. In other words, this study (conducted in mice) concluded that pain is transmitted via the nervous system differently in men than it is in women. This opens up a whole new avenue into the world of pain management.  In the future we may see different treatment options depending on the gender