_ Pain ManagementWhich Alternative Headache Remedies Are Safe? By Jane Farrell articleDepending on the severity of their condition, headache sufferers may take over the counter medications or prescription remedies. Many “alternative” treatments are available as well. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), researchers are continuing to study the effectiveness of these treatments. While some of these widely-touted remedies may not work as advertised, others are effective.Here, from the NCCAM, is a rundown of the current research on alternative remedies for headaches:
_ Pain ManagementIf You've Been Diagnosed with Shingles By Jane Farrell articleShingles is a disease that affects nerves and causes pain and blisters in adults. It’s caused by the same varicella-zoster virus that causes chickenpox in children. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus doesn’t leave your body, but continues to live in some nerve cells. For reasons that aren't totally understood, the virus can become active instead of remaining inactive. When it's activated in adults, it produces shingles. Most adults live with the varicella-zoster virus in their body and never get shingles.
_ Pain ManagementSix Truths About Pain By Jane Farrell articleIf you’ve ever wanted to speak up about your pain but didn’t quite dare because you didn’t want to “complain,” or wondered whether it was normal, the experts at the National Institute on Aging have want to shatter some pain myths. Here are a few of the untruths about pain – and what the reality actually is:Most people don't have to live with pain.There are pain treatments that work for most people. If your doctor has not been able to help you, ask to see a pain specialist.
_ Pain Management9 Ways to Tame Your Chronic Pain By Jane Farrell articleWhen it comes to chronic pain, there’s usually a limit to how much relief medications and procedures can bring. That’s where changes to your daily life can help bridge the gap. Cleveland Clinic pain and wellness specialists Daniel Leizman, MD, and Mladen Golubić, MD, PhD, offer nine “pain wellness” tips to make sure you’re following for maximum pain management.Take deep breaths. The average adult takes eight to 16 breaths per minute. Slowing that down to five or six deep breaths that really fill your lungs will help you relax, which can lessen your discomfort.
Pain ManagementHow To Avoid Ulcers By Jane Farrell articleOver the counter pain relievers may seem harmless enough, but take enough of a certain type and you could find yourself with a peptic ulcer, a potentially serious abdominal disorder.
_ Pain ManagementA New Means to Erase Pain By Sondra Forsyth articleA study published in the July 2104 issue of Nature Neuroscience by Yves De Koninck and Robert Bonin, two researchers at Université Laval in Quebec, reveals that it is possible to relieve pain hypersensitivity using a counterintuitive method that involves rekindling pain so that it can subsequently be erased. This discovery could lead to novel means to alleviate chronic pain.
_ Pain ManagementGetting Rid of Chronic Pain By Jane Farrell articleAs people age, chronic pain becomes a real problem. In your younger years, you probably had pain for a short while – from a broken arm, say, or a bad toothache. But pain can become a constant, unwelcome companion for older people who have age-related illnesses like arthritis, cancer or diabetes.However, though chronic pain often accompanies aging, that doesn’t mean it’s something you should put up with. Don’t delay going to your doctor. Here, from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), are tips on how to talk to your doctor so your pain problem can be solved.
_ Pain ManagementVirtual Reality Therapy for Pain By Sondra Forsyth articleVirtual reality as a means of distraction, inducing positive emotions, or creating the perception of "swapping" a limb or bodily area affected by chronic pain can be a powerful therapeutic tool, according to a series of studies done in Belgium, the U.S., Korea, and Spain. Subsequent articles were published in print and online in June 2014 Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
_ Pain ManagementNIH Proposes Standards for Back Pain Research By Sondra Forsyth articleStandardized research methods are needed to make greater progress toward reducing the high burden and costs of chronic low back pain, according to a National Institutes for Health Task Force report published in the June 15th 2014 issue of the journal Spine.
Pain Management6 Myths About Painkillers By Adprime Admin articleBy Richard W. Rosenquist, MD , Chairman of Pain Management at Cleveland Clinic When it comes to prescription pain medications, there’s a lot of misinformation out there.
_ Pain ManagementNew Target for Chronic Pain Treatment By Adprime Admin articleResearchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have found a new target for treating chronic pain: an enzyme called PIP5K1C. In a paper published on may 21st 2014 in the journal Neuron, a team of researchers led by Mark Zylka, PhD, Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, shows that PIP5K1C controls the activity of cellular receptors that signal pain.By reducing the level of the enzyme, the scientist demonstrated that the levels of a crucial lipid called PIP2 in pain-sensing neurons is also lessened, thus decreasing pain.
_ Pain ManagementVirtual Chronic Pain Patient Boosts Docs’ Skills By articleAn online training module using “Edna”, a virtual elderly woman with chronic lower back pain as a case study, greatly improved medical student clinical skills. That’s the finding of a study done at the University of Pittsburgh and published in the May 2014 issue Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The module is the first curriculum resource created through the efforts of the National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium's Centers of Excellence in Pain Education program (CoEPEs).
Pain ManagementWatch: New Device for Migraine Prevention By Jane Farrell articleHere's another addition to our Third Age video collection. Press play to start learning.
_ Pain ManagementWatch: Treating Severe Shoulder Pain By Jane Farrell articleHere's another addition to our ThirdAge video collection. Read more at www.thirdage.com.
_ Pain ManagementRelief from Chemo Pain By articleScientists have identified new pain relief targets that could be used to provide relief from chemotherapy-induced pain. Researchers at King's College London made the discovery when investigating how pain occurs in nerves in the periphery of the body. A release from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council quotes Dr Marzia Malcangio a saying, "We have been investigating and identifying mechanisms underlying pain generation and our findings could help chemotherapy patients who suffer pain related side effects."
Pain ManagementAlternative Healing for Chronic Pain and Fatigue By articleBy Janet Komanchuk The numbers involved in America’s problem with chronic pain are staggering and probably larger than most realize. More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, costing nearly $600 billion annually in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to the Institute of Medicine, which adds that the total surpasses that of all people affected by heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined.
_ Pain Management"Relaxation" May Not Help Migraines By Jane Farrell articleRelaxation is usually a good thing, but perhaps not when it comes to migraine, according to a new study. Researchers from the Montefiore Headache Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine found that migraine sufferers who experienced reduced stress from one day to the next are at significantly greater risk of migraine onset on the subsequent day. Although stress has often been believed to be a common trigger of headaches, the researchers found that relaxation following the heighted stress was an even more significant trigger.
_ Pain ManagementHow To Make Chores Pain-Free By Jane Farrell articleFrom the Cleveland Clinic Brain & Spine Team For some people, daily chores are a pain — literally. Up to 90 percent of people in the United States suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, and routine activities such as chores often cause flare-ups. But the chores themselves aren’t to blame, says occupational therapist Michael Milicia, OT/L. It’s how you do them. Below, he offers tips to help you do your household scrubbing and yard work without triggering pain.