Neuropathic Pain

Symptoms of neuropathy are present in patients with knee osteoarthritis, according to research from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

As people spend more time sitting and working in front of computer screens, studies have shown the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has grown. A team of researchers recently worked to take a deeper look at specific factors and their roles in the development in the condition.

A recent study found states that allowed the use of medicinal marijuana had substantially lower opioid overdose mortality rates compared with states that do not have medical cannabis laws.

Study participants who drank moderate amounts of alcohol each week experienced decreased chronic pain prevalence and lower levels of disability compared to non-drinkers.

Results from a 12-week study show that treatment with once-daily, single-entity hydrocodone formulated with abuse-deterrent properties is safe and effective compared with placebo.

Although methadone accounts for only 2% of opioid prescriptions, it caused nearly one in 3 prescription opioid overdose deaths in 2012, a 6-fold increase from 2009, according to the CDC.

Because there is no objective test for pain, and because each patient's experience of his or her painful condition is subjective and unique, physicians who treat these patients must process a variety of symptoms, signs, and cues to determine whether they can trust their patient's narrative.

Despite the best tests, procedures, and medications that modern medicine has to offer, chronic pain is still a major cause of disability. Could a more holistic approach to pain management lead to improved quality of life for individuals with chronic pain?

Study results show that patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia often discontinue treatment. Those that do not frequently augment their initial treatment regimen with one or more additional medications, including some that are not recommended by current guidelines.

The patient-reported painDETECT questionnaire has been shown to accurately and reliably identify neuropathic pain across a range of conditions.

Knowledge of dietary supplement properties, uses, and contraindications is highly relevant to any health care practitioner that treats patients with chronic pain. Data shows that the top four reasons for supplement use are back pain, neck pain, joint pain, and arthritis.

Research indicates that there are probable etiologies of low back pain that can affect treatment outcome and that ignoring pain can possibly cause chronic neurological changes.

Researchers are learning more about the ways in which gut microbiota interact with the central nervous system and the role this can play in pain management.

Although the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood, opioid-induced hyperalgesia occurs in some patients on higher doses of opioids. Treatment options include reducing, rotating, or completely tapering the opioid regimen.

According to an analysis of various scenarios, racial and ethnic factors may contribute to care and behavior in post-spinal cord and brain injury care.

Bodily pain and headache are highly prevalent in pituitary disease, making pain screening and therapy an important part of the work-up for these patients.

Recent studies looking at neural response in patients with fibromyalgia have shown that people with this condition may have hypersensitivity to non-painful stimuli.

Looking back over a 30-year career in pain medicine, the author laments the shift from comprehensive, multidisciplinary pain care to a model that focuses on pills and procedures to treat chronic pain.

The guidelines were developed as part of a multi-part plan to curb misuse, abuse, and diversion of opioid medication by preventing opioid medications from being inappropriately prescribed in the emergency department, and by reducing the overuse of emergency departments for pain relief.

Diabetic neuropathic pain can be controlled with a low-fat vegan diet, according to research presented at the American Association of Diabetic Educators Annual Meeting.

Rescheduling hydrocodone combination products to the more-restrictive schedule II will impact clinicians and patients suffering with chronic pain, but will it have the desired effect on the misuse and abuse of these products?

Treatment-resistant cases of trigeminal neuralgia may be treated with duloxetine, according to a new case study.

An Australian team of researchers injected 10 female neuropathic pain patients with stem cells, which were overall, well-tolerated, according to research published in the Journal of Pain Research.

Abuse-deterrent properties, identical efficacy for pain relief, reversal of opioid-induced constipation, and theoretical tolerance mitigation may give Targiniq ER an interesting advantage over other oral opioids.

Molecular changes seen in animal models of radiculopathy may help explain the transition from acute inflammatory pain to chronic neuropathic pain.

Researchers in Saint Louis are examining the ways in which a drug already approved for multiple sclerosis could ease some of the pain associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients.

Safe, innovative ways to treat de Quervain's tenosynovitis and carpal tunnel syndrome during and after pregnancy.

Since the risk of herpes zoster rises sharply after age 50, the significant global health burden of shingles pain is expected to increase as the population ages.

Although clinicians are increasingly forced to face the 3-headed monster of comorbid diabetes, sleep disturbance, and pain, the healthcare community is only beginning to understand how the conditions overlap.

Researchers have identified a compound that reduces the levels of a key enzyme that regulates activity in pain receptors, pointing the way to new therapies for treating some forms of back pain, shingles, and other types of chronic neuropathic pain.