Gaining control of chronic pain by turning it off may be in future...

Persons with chronic pain disorders know that regular discomfort is a part of every day life. And while we all know that there are some ways to manage that discomfort, it is ever present. Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to just...turn if off? The exciting news I have for you today is...maybe someday in the future it will be possible to do just that!

About a year ago, researchers at the University of Saint Louis discovered that pain pathways originating in the brain could be the key. According to their findings, if a certain chemical receptor in the brain and spinal cord was turned on, the pain pathways in animal models of chronic neuropathic pain were turned off. Activation of the A3 receptor was accomplished using a naturally occurring substance known as adenosine. Synthetic molecules developed by NIH were also tested during the study.

The beauty of using a system such as this is that there are no risks of analgesic tolerance or intrinsic
rewards in contrast to opioids, which are a current standard of treatment. It's still too early to tell where this research will lead us, but let's remain optimistic!

Sources: Newswise; Flickr

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Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately? Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake." Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members. Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more! I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain. This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story. Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues. Here is the official trailer for the movie: Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube

Effectiveness Of Ozone Injections Is No Longer Up In The Air

Most of us know someone who has osteoarthritis, if we don't have it ourselves. Joint replacement surgery is a pretty common remedy when the joint becomes severely damaged and the patient is in a lot of pain. With risk of complications from such a surgery, perhaps an alternative treatment should be tried first. One such remedy is the injection of a synthetic version of collagen(e.g. Synvisc®) into the affected joint. This procedure restores the cushioning to a joint that has degenerated over the years. It can diminish the pain substantially and help put off joint replacement surgery for months to years. The biggest drawback is that these products are expensive. GoodRX , a web site that can be used to estimate the cost of medications, estimates the cost of these products to be over $1,000 each. Here's another example--and I am not sure how widely accepted this protocol has become since study authors introduced it in November 2015. Are you r...

Fibromyalgia Week: Day 2

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