Pain
Common Foot Problems—And What Can Be Done For Relief
|
|
Human feet are amazing. The feet contain a quarter of the bones in the body. Each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints and more than 100 tendons. But like the rest of the body, feet eventually begin to feel the effects of daily wear and tear.
Foot problems are common in women, particularly with advancing age. Years of frequent high-heel wear can permanently damage tendons in the heel. Shoes that fit too tightly can cause problems. The December issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource covers common concerns about feet and what might help:
Exercise found to ease chronic pain of fibromyalgia
|
|
Regular walks and stretching exercises can help ease the chronic, depressing pain of fibromyalgia, a mysterious ailment with no obvious cure, researchers said on Monday.
Striking more than 3 percent of U.S. women and 0.5 percent of men, the illness’ primary symptoms are debilitating pain throughout the body—often with sensitivity and stiffness focused in the joints. Other symptoms include sleep problems, fatigue and depression.
Floating effective for stress and pain
|
|
Relaxation in large, sound- and light-proof tanks with high-salt waterfloatingis an effective way to alleviate long-term stress-related pain. This has been shown by Sven-Åke Bood, who recently completed his doctorate in psychology, with a dissertation from Karlstad University in Sweden.
The dissertation confirms what earlier studies have indicated: sleep was improved, patients felt more optimistic, and the content of the vitalizing hormone prolactin increased. Anxiety, stress, depression, and perception of pain declined.
Staying positive may help kids deal with pain
|
|
It may be mind over matter when it comes to children’s ability to cope with pain, a study suggests.
Researchers found that children and teenagers who said they typically dealt with pain through positive thinking were able to better tolerate uncomfortable circumstances, like pressure on a finger or heat against their skin.
Researchers develop targeted approach to pain management
|
|
Imagine an epidural or a shot of Novocain that doesn’t paralyze your legs or make you numb, yet totally blocks your pain. This type of pain management is now within reach. As a result, childbirth, surgery and trips to the dentist might be less traumatic in the future, thanks to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School, who have succeeded in selectively blocking pain-sensing neurons in rats without interfering with other types of neurons.
The pint-sized subjects received injections near their sciatic nerves, which run down their hind limbs, and subsequently lost the ability to feel pain in their paws. But they continued to move normally and react to touch. The injections contained QX-314, a normally inactive derivative of the local anesthetic lidocaine, and capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers. In combination, these chemicals targeted only pain-sensing neurons, preventing them from sending signals to the brain.
New Treatment Effective for Patients with Shoulder Pain
|
|
Inflammation of a tendon triggered by calcium deposits, or calcific tendinitis, can effectively be treated with a simple and cost effective percutaneous method according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Hospital de Basurto in Bilbao, Spain.
“We started treating calcific tendinitis as the result of the request of several members of our hospital staff that were suffering from this condition,” said Jose Luis del Cura, MD, lead author of the study. “The results we obtained in these few cases encouraged us to offer this treatment to our patients. Later, in collaboration with the rheumatology department of our hospital, we conducted a study to evaluate the efficacy of the procedure,” said Dr. del Cura.
Infusions may ease severe diabetic nerve pain
|
|
The case of man disabled by diabetes-related nerve damage and muscle weakness suggests that such symptoms can be markedly improved by infusions of immune globulin—a product derived from blood donations that contains high quantities of antibodies.
Japanese researchers describe the case in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Dr. Gen Sobue told Reuters Health that intravenous immune globulin or IVIg “was effective in improving severe pain symptoms and muscle weakness” in this patient.
Chronic pain may impede short-term memory
|
|
People who suffer from chronic pain may find their memory taxed by everyday “multitasking,” a new study suggests.
The study, of 24 men and women treated at a pain clinic, found that chronic pain appeared to impair patients’ working, or short-term, memory.
Coffee consumption may lower blood uric acid levels—the precursor of gout
|
|
High uric acid levels in the blood are a precursor of gout, the most common inflammatory arthritis in adult men. It is believed that coffee and tea consumption may affect uric acid levels but only one study has been conducted to date. A new large-scale study published in the June 2007 issue of Arthritis Care & Research examined the relationship between coffee, tea, caffeine intake, and uric acid levels and found that coffee consumption is associated with lower uric acid levels but that this appears to be due to components other than caffeine.
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world; more than 50 percent of Americans drink it at the average rate of 2 cups per day. Because of this widespread consumption, its potential effects have important implications for public and individual health.
Counseling can improve arthritis pain, disability
|
|
Giving people with arthritis the tools to cope with pain can help them feel, and function, better, the authors of a new analysis of research on counseling for arthritis patients conclude.
However, just a session or two isn’t enough to truly help individuals with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis develop the coping skills they need, Dr. Francis J. Keefe of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health. Learning these skills takes time and practice, he added. “It’s like riding a bike.”
New Treatment Offers Relief from Chronic Back Pain
|
|
Chronic back pain is a condition that affects a significant part of the population, with patients falling into three major groups; those with herniated discs, spinal stenosis (a nerve affecting narrowing of the spinal cord), and complications from failed back surgery. Radiofrequency thermolesioning is a widespread treatment for chronic back pain, but because of its neurodestructive nature, it is often considered an unsuitable treatment.
Disrupted sleep may alter pain perception
|
|
People who continually have their sleep disrupted, whether by insomnia or a crying newborn, may become more susceptible to pain, preliminary research suggests.
In a sleep-lab study of 32 healthy young women, researchers found that those who were subjected to repeated sleep disruptions over three nights showed a change in their pain perception. Their bodies’ ability to inhibit pain signals declined, and as a group, the women reported more “spontaneous” pain, such as an aching back or stomach cramps, on the days following their poor night’s sleep.
Pain complicates depression treatment in elderly
|
|
By interfering with normal activities, chronic pain can impede recovery from depression in older adults, according to findings reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Dr. Shahrzad Mavandadi, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues examined the effects of pain on the response to depression treatment in 524 men, 60 years of age or older, who were seen at a VA medical center.
Ibuprofen best in relieving children’s pain
|
|
Ibuprofen was superior to acetaminophen and codeine in relieving the pain from a broken bone or serious sprain suffered by children brought to the emergency room, Canadian researchers said on Monday.
A single dose of ibuprofen, sold generically and under the brand name Advil by Wyeth, relieved the pain within an hour in 52 of 100 injured children.
Neck Pain Treatment Safer Without Significant Risk of Paralysis
|
|
In the largest series of patients to date, recent research shows that the translaminar approach to cervical spinal steroid injections can reduce neck pain in eighty-three percent of those treated. In addition to being an effective treatment, the translaminar approach was found to be safer than an alternative method or surgery, as no major complications were observed. In the alternative approach, steroids are injected in close proximity to nerve bundles and small blood vessels in the spine, which can result in nerve damage or paralysis. The translaminar technique in the study avoids this risk by injecting the steroids into the epidural space in the neck, allowing the drug to spread up and down the spine to reduce the inflammation and subsequently reduce pain. This safer translaminar approach is an outpatient treatment, requiring only a small amount of local anesthesia. Although the injection does not treat the underlying cause of the pain, such as arthritis or herniated disc, it does treat the immediate pain flare-up, allowing patients to get back to their normal routines. The research was presented today at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle.
