Many patients with chronic pain become depressed; therefore it is not surprising that many of these patients will receive antidepressant medications. What is very interesting is that these antidepressants not only can decrease depression associated with pain, but they can also decrease pain itself. They are frequently used to treat persistent pain associated with problems […]
How antidepressant medication can affect your pain Read Post »
For the first time ever, the New York State Assembly’s one-house budget proposal included more expansive plans to approve the use of medical marijuana. In a recent poll 88% of New Yorkers felt that medical marijuana should be legalized, and both republican and democrat senators are listening. In order to make a decision on whether
Anti-seizure, or anti-epileptic, medications have commonly been used to treat pain, especially nerve-related pain. Examples include pregabalin (Lyrica), gabapentin (Neurontin), topiramate (Topamax), and carbamazepine (Tegretol/Carbatrol). The exact mechanism in which these medications work is not completely clear. Anti-seizure medications help decrease hyperactivity of the nerves that cause seizures; therefore, it is thought that these medications
The next series of blogs is a brief discussion of different types of medications used for pain. NSAIDs Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are generally one of the first line of medications used in the initial treatment of pain. They are exactly what their name means – they are not steroid medications (like cortisone or prednisone)
Gregory is a 29 year old manager whose job requires that he travel often. He came to see me for pain at the back of the left side of his neck which he often felt upon waking up, and during or after jogging over the past 4-5 years. An MRI showed that his neck did
One lesser-known but valuable tool for multiple painful conditions is the low-level laser. The laser is a source of extremely pure, organized light, as opposed to something like a regular light bulb, which emits a scattered, disorganized light. We can liken organized light to the sound of a flute playing a single note, and disorganized
Do you have or used to have high cholesterol? Statins are a class of drug used to lower the amount of cholesterol produced by the liver. You might recognize some of the more common brands like Lipitor (Atorvastatin Calcium) or Crestor (Rosuvastatin Calcium). They are commonly used for patients with high cholesterol, diabetes, or those
You can experience muscle pain for many reasons. We discussed trigger points in an earlier blog (see normanmarcuspaininstitute.com/what-are-trigger-points/ to recap your memories). A common medical problem, abnormal activity of the thyroid gland, can cause muscle pain. Hypothyroidism is a condition in which your thyroid gland doesn’t make enough hormone. (Hyperthyroidism, which is not as common,
Hypothyroidism and muscle pain – are they related? Read Post »
The most common method in treating trigger points is with trigger point injections. Simply put, trigger point injections are needles being placed into the taut, tender points of the muscle. However, there are different techniques in injecting the muscle fibers. There are two major types of needles used in injecting the muscle. With dry needling,
Have you ever felt a painful tightness that just won’t go away no matter how much you stretch? Even if the pain subsides or goes away temporarily, when it recurs you still feel a tender knot that’s always in the same area. This may be due to trigger points (TrPs). TrPs are tender nodules which
Nerves connect muscles to the spinal cord. When something stimulates your muscles, for example, if someone were to press on your arm, the muscle sends a message via the nerves first into the spinal cord, and then up to the brain. Once the brain receives the message (in this case, that there is pressure on
We generally don’t think of muscles as a cause of pain. Sure, we know that after exercise or playing ball we can have muscle soreness, but when pain persists we often think it is coming from nerves, joints or the spine. Believe it or not, muscles (and other soft tissue) are the most common reason
Muscles are the largest organ system in the body, accounting for approximately 50% of our body weight. We have different ways of categorizing muscles: how they look, how they move, and where they’re located. We are going to focus on muscles that move voluntarily, which means we tell the muscles to move, as opposed to
We have always encouraged a step-care model for treating our patients in pain. Start with the least expensive, least invasive procedures before trying the more expensive, complicated, and invasive procedures. So when you first experience pain, your primary care physician, or PCP, would be your first stop. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) made the
Although Low Back Pain (LBP) is thought to affect around 80% of individuals, it is also thought to be self limited and get better quickly (within weeks). Studies of patient populations however suggest that it is actually a more serious problem. Although most patients who experience back pain do not see a doctor, 60-80% of
Have you ever noticed that pain in one area took your attention away from pain in another spot? For example, you were feeling back pain and then jammed your toe, and your back pain diminished or went away. As the toe pain reduced, the back pain reappeared. Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM), formerly known as DNIC
A study in Clinical Orthopaedics & Related Research [468(10):2678-89], reports that over time the function of the shoulder deteriorates in a significant number of patients who underwent rotator cuff repair, despite continued pain relief in many of the same patients. The study found that even if greater function was achieved in the months directly following
Muscles in the shoulder girdle were the cause of pain Read Post »
A recent study of office workers who complained of weekly headaches examined the effect of a simple resistance exercise program for the neck and shoulders, and found an approximately 50% reduction in headache frequency. Headaches are the most commonly reported pain problem. If brief exercise can have such a dramatic effect on headache frequency, it
Headaches are the most commonly reported pain problem Read Post »
John Bonica, M.D. a world renowned anesthesiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle was the individual most responsible for the creation of a new specialty, Pain Medicine. In 1977 The American Pain Society was founded and became the United States national chapter in the International Association for the Study of Pain. Complicated difficult to
Thoughts on pain management and the cost of care Read Post »
Through the ages various explanations have been offered to explain the cause and how to treat it. But it wasn’t until the 19th century that the spine and the nervous system were seen as the fundamental source of back pain. The idea that the cause of back pain was some injury or irritation in the
Back pain can be found in the medical literature as far back as 1500 B.C. in Egypt. Read Post »
