The New Year is the perfect time to clear your slate, re-set your priorities and resolve to do things differently. If you’re someone who suffers from chronic pain, you may feel like you’ve tried everything available to get relief from your pain. While that’s possible, it’s more likely that your pain has left you feeling stuck in a rut. What you might need now is a new perspective on your pain and some fresh options to challenge what has become the status quo.
Separate yourself from the pain
Many people who suffer from chronic pain are overwhelmed by the sense that they have no control…
We’ve all seen it: Someone rubs a hip, knee, elbow or finger joint and declares that a storm is on the way. Do they really know? Well, studies show that any change in barometric pressure — which is the force exerted by the atmosphere — during cold or damp weather can cause an inflammatory response in joints. That’s because the ligaments surrounding the joints contain nerve endings that react to barometric and temperature changes — and can trigger joint pain or even cause headaches in some people.
Research also suggests that during cold weather, the body will conserve its heat…
There’s nothing quite like the anticipation before the kick-off, swish of a tennis racket, and the roar of a crowd after scoring a touchdown. However, with the incredible plays and tests of athleticism, comes the inevitable sports injuries. One of the most common injuries that occur in sports are muscle strains.
A muscle strain or “pulled muscle” occurs when your muscle is overstretched or torn during sports, heavy lifting, work tasks, or sudden acceleration or deceleration. When you tear the muscle fibers and the tendons attached to the muscle, you can damage small blood vessels. This can lead to local…
For people suffering from chronic, debilitating back pain, relief can’t come fast enough. Sometimes pain sufferers rush into surgery, thinking they can “cut away” the pain and finally experience freedom from it. Unfortunately, even though more than 600,000 Americans opt to undergo traditional open back surgery every year, it’s estimated that up to 40 percent of those patients experience failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS). Also known as post-laminectomy syndrome, FBSS is a term used to describe patients who continue to experience back pain after surgery. …
Pain and the brain are inexorably linked. Our brain is the hub of our nervous system, made up of 100 billion nerve cells. We count on it to process what we’re experiencing and help us react. For example, touching something hot activates an immediate withdrawal reflex, thanks to the brain. However, when acute pain shifts to chronic pain, it can cause marked changes in brain activity and the way the brain works. …
The human nervous system is astonishingly complex. To relay vital messages throughout the body, as many as 2,500 electrical signals can pass along a single nerve cell, or neuron, in just one second. If the nervous system is damaged, nerve signals can go awry and cause intense pain to an organ or body region.
Quite often, it’s a group of nerves — called a plexus or ganglion — that is at the root of the pain. …
