Pain

A study that compared geriatric patients with isolated fractures below the hip to those with isolated hip fractures found that lower extremity fractures can be more disabling than hip fractures because they necessitate weight-bearing restrictions.

The effect of spinal cord injuries may be alleviated with low-frequency epidural electrostimulation , according to findings published in Spinal Cord.

Study results suggest that maintaining proper weight is not just associated with better disease outcomes but also less pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

The risk of developing migraine is increased for those who have low back pain, a low level of education, a heavy physical workload, or participate in heavy recreational activities, but is decreased for those who drink alcohol frequently.

The hallmark degenerative process in spinal cord injury may be caused by lysophosphatidic acid, the lipid that acts as a signal between various cells, according to findings published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

A recent study looked at whether data from electronic health records could be used to develop a predictive model for patients likely to develop low back pain.

Pharmacologic approaches are still "the most widely used therapeutic options to ameliorate persistent pain," according to this overview from UpToDate. But with growing awareness of the potential negative outcomes associated with long-term opioid therapy, a newly discovered approach may be just what the doctor ordered.

Chronic pain affects around 100 million Americans and treatments can range from prescription drugs to genetic engineering. While pain is typically the primary complaint among patients, their quality of life is often times negatively impacted as well. Beyond treating a patient's pain symptoms, is there anything else a physician can do to make a positive impact on a patient's quality of life?

A Swedish study is set to analyze the effect of massage and exercise therapy on subacute and long-lasting neck pain, according to an article in Trials. While both massage and exercise therapy are widely used for neck pain, there is little clinical evidence on the effectiveness of these treatments. Even where outcome measurements are available, the results have been conflicting.

For the first time, it's been demonstrated that the proto-oncogene survivin can distinguish drug-specific clinical responses in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to new study in BMC Medicine.

A study in the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine marks an important primary step in establishing a valid, patient-reported neck pain scale that could ultimately help in diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

Pain is not fully understood; and while that isn't a revelation, the way that it connects to pain empathy in the brain is noteworthy. Similar brain regions activate during both phenomena, potentially opening the door for researchers to gain that understanding.

A study in Anesthesiology suggests a new target for pain control in patients who develop chronic pain after surgery. The target, spinal cathepsin G (CTSG), is a pro–nociceptive mediator in both an animal model and human study. The research points to the potential for inhibiting CTSG through an inhibitor.

Sustained neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury may be caused by the decrease of expression of spinal astrocyte connexin43 according to a recent study.

Japanese researchers have developed a novel technique using gold nanorods that could lead to therapies for pain relief in patients with intractable pain, possibly including cancer-related pain.

Have you ever wondered what that ringing "in the ears" sensation is all about? Well it appears that the brain region responsible for the phenomenon shares a gateway with chronic pain.

September is Pain Awareness Month, and what better way to get the inside scoop from physicians and patients than connecting directly via social media?

Pachyonychia congenita (PC), a rare skin disorder, can cause an inordinate amount of neuropathic pain, a study in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology confirms. In the chilling words used by the researchers, "The health states observed in this sample are at a level that the average US citizen would forfeit one-third of their remaining lifespan to avoid."

There is not yet enough clinical evidence suggesting that cannabis is effective for self-management of pain. Some short-duration trials have shown efficacy, whereas other studies have shown little improvement over placebo. Effective or not, however, cannabis continues to be widely used as a self-management strategy by patients with a wide range of symptoms and diseases. A study in The Journal of Pain suggests that such use over a one-year period did not increase patients' risk of serious adverse events.

A study in the British Journal of Pain examined ethnic differences in pain tolerance and came to a strong, perhaps not so shocking, conclusion.

A study in Arthritis Research & Therapy found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) experience shoulder pain early in the course of the disease, suggesting that screening of shoulder function should become a larger focus for maintenance and treatment of RA.

On the battlefield soldiers can suffer any number of injuries that can lead to a lifetime of painful injuries. How doctors approach that care can affect the quality of life their patients enjoy long after their time in the service is done.

Negative emotions can affect more than your mental health; a recent report concluded they also make painful conditions even worse.

Individuals afflicted with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are also at higher risk for new-onset migraines.

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SBB) can do more than increase belly fat and send your body on a rollercoaster, it can elevate serum urate levels which increases the risk of gout. Researchers from New Zealand recently looked at how body mass index (BMI) plays a role in the SBB and gout relationship.

Pain: a seemingly simple four-letter word, but healthcare providers know that pain is anything but simple. While there has been ample research elucidating the pathways and mechanisms of neuropathic pain, a recent analysis successfully identified a key brain region that plays in a role in complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS).

If you needed another reason to stop smoking, here it is: a study published in Pain Medicine analyzed patients with chronic pain and found that those who also smoke reported more severe pain.

While Lyme disease cases tend to peak during the summer months, the threat is not over once the weather cools down. But as recently discovered, a single test may not be enough for an accurate diagnosis.

Treating neuropathic pain with opioids can be done smarter and without upping the dosage, suggests a report in Pharmacological Reports.

An Iranian study in the Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies suggested that acupuncture given during childbirth significantly lowers the duration of labor with no significant variations in pain scores or serum cortisol levels between the acupuncture-administered and control groups.