Everyday pain management ideas

Some people say that the massage experience is the ultimate in pampering.  In truth, it can be much more than that.  There is a form of massage known as medical massage. With proper training, any license massage therapist can provide this therapy for any number of conditions, including seizures, fibromyalgia, migraines, nerve pain, joint pain, and many others. Medical massage is a bit different from the spa experience that you might be visualizing right now.  A given patient may go to see his/her therapist weekly, for anywhere from four to sixteen visits.  The number of treatments varies so widely because it is outcome based, so depending on the condition being treated and the goals of therapy.  The therapist will  likely follow up with clients after treatment to ensure that everything is going well and determine whether or not future sessions are necessary. Sadly, health care insurance providers do not always see the benefit of this form o...

A new device in the chronic pain marketplace may be "just what the doctor ordered" in future pain management. Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington are studying a device that wirelessly sends electrical stimulation to sites deep within the brain to relieve long-term pain. Other stimulation devices currently on the marketplace are designed to send electrical stimulation to a body site where chronic pain originates. The new device is different because it acts at a site deep within the brain--and wireless. It could be used to treat any number of pain conditions and allows the user to go about his/her usual business while it is working! According to the researchers, “There are several other commercial companies making FDA-approved stimulation devices for neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, depression and dystonia, so many safety issues have already been investigated and addressed,” he said. “We hope to see this move forward...

Osteoporosis is very common in older persons. Usually it is the result of aging, but it can also be caused by a medical condition known as hyperparathyroidism . While osteoporosis is not painful, the potential for debilitating or life threatening related conditions is great.  Read below for clarification of this point... Fracture of the hip Here are some facts and figures from The International Osteoporosis Foundation: It is estimated that over 200 million women have osteoporosis. That’s more than the combined populations of the Germany, the United Kingdom and France! In fact, every three seconds a bone will break, somewhere in the world, because of this disease. Many people won’t know they have osteoporosis until their first fracture, which is why it’s called the ‘ silent disease ’. Even after a break, it often goes untreated. Worldwide, one in three women and one in five men over the age of fifty will experience an osteoporotic fracture. Fractures ...

What comes first..the chicken, or the egg?  This riddle has been pondered by generations.  And is there really an answer? Maybe...or maybe not.   In the world of pain management, there is a similar question, and that is the basis for today's post. It has long been apparent that living with chronic pain can be disruptive to sleep patterns. This has a negative effect on the quality of life for chronic pain patients.   Have you ever thought about the reverse situation...that is to say, how does a disruptive sleep pattern affect chronic pain? A study of this topic, conducting in the Netherlands, gives us an idea that there is a relationship.  "Emerging adults" (age 19-22) looked at followed subjects over several years; half of those who had sleep problems in the first year of study continued to be plagued with sleep issues in the third year of the study.  The subjects who had sleep problems at the outset were more likely to have chro...

As medical research advances, there are many new and interesting findings all the time.  Some of them are revolutionary, result in new and better treatments of health issues. Still others do not help us to find cure or treatment, but instead help us to find connections or to better understand disease process. One most interesting finding of late is that there appears to be a connection between tinnitus (constant ringing of the ears) and chronic pain.  Jose Rauschecker, lead author of a study at Georgetown University reports that these two phenomenon may coexist because of changes that occur in two areas of the brain. According to study findings, two areas in the frontal area of the brain serve as "gatekeepers" of sensory stimuli.  These regions of the brain appear to have less grey matter in persons with chronic pain and/or tinnitus as compared to normal test subjects. This Georgetown study proposes that these areas of the brain tend to filter out signals th...

A recent small scale study conducted by scientists in the US and Australia showed that patients who took opioids for as little as one month demonstrated changes in the gray matter of the brain, confirmed by MRI.  At present, the authors of the study note that it is preliminary to say exactly what these changes mean... Grey Matter of the Human Brain “It’s disturbing to learn that in as little as one month, daily use of opioids can alter brain morphology. And it’s even more disturbing to learn that despite the harm caused to the subjects in the morphine arm, their pain wasn’t any better controlled than the patients receiving placebo,” commented Andrew Kolodny, MD, chief medical officer, Phoenix House; executive director, Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing; and senior scientist, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass. “This is strong evidence that for many patients, the risks of long-term opioids clearly outweigh pot...

News reports out of Sydney, Australia are sharing promising results for patients with osteoarthritis. In a couple of studies going on there, patients with hip or joint osteoarthritis, a new technique involving stem cells is undergoing clinical trials. Human Stem Cells According to reports, patients in these studies first undergo liposuction to harvest the stem cells needed for the procedure.  The stem cells are then processed in a laboratory, and when ready (about four weeks later), they are injected into the same patient's affected joint. This is the first time that a treatment of this type is being tried...and while still incomplete, the early results are quite remarkable. Interestingly, the patients with most severe joint damage seem to be the ones who benefit the most! The results are yet unpublished...but it's exciting to thing that this could revolutionize treatment of osteoarthritis in future.  Maybe joint replacement therapy will become less common, ...