FDA Changes Course on Pain Management Policy

While we await a final autopsy findings on Prince's cause of death, People magazine reports that
he was being treated for addiction just prior to his demise. Sadly, bad things happen to good people..and whether or not Prince's death is related to this issue, it brings the topic of addiction front and center.

The Washington Post recently reported that there were 52 deaths per day in 2014 due to opioids. If you do the math, that amounts to almost 190,000 deaths per year! The federal government has recently shown some movement in response to this issue...last month, the CDC released its recommendations for prescribers with respect to opioid usage and prescribing. In the last couple of weeks, the FDA has chimed in. An FDA advisory panel has voted in favor of mandatory opioid prescribing training for physicians.

It's about time something is done. This problem has been ongoing for the last twenty years. There have been many deaths that could have been prevented. There have been far too many problems with opioid addiction, and heroin addiction as well. It's time to stop the madness and move to a better course of action for those who are in pain. They deserve better!

Sources: Washington Post; People; Geograph.org

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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

Tender points...click caption for WebMD animation Tender points are a unique feature of fibromaylgia. There are 18 such points on the human body (9 pairs as shown). Using special technique by hand or a dolorimeter, a fibromyalgia patient will experience pain in at least 11 points, and there will be at least one painful tender point in each quadrant of the body! One study found that up to 96% of fibromyalgia patients suffer from sleep disorders. It is believed that this is responsible for a deprivation of delta sleep, during which human growth hormone is produced. This hormone is essential to tissue repair. Other common problems in fibromyalgia are fatigue, concentration/memory ("fibro fog"), and depression. There is no doubt in my mind that just enabling the patient to sleep well on a regular basis would be of great benefit! It is not uncommon for fibromyalgia patients to have coexisting conditions--some of these are lupus, disease, irritable bowel syndrom...

Everyday pain management ideas

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