The article in the European Spine Journal highlights a major difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of various back pain treatments. No two studies used the same criteria to measure improvement. The lack of uniformity appears to be present in every aspect of the enigma of low back pain. Recent studies demonstrated that the tests a […]
A recent article showed that even gentle but regular physical activity in middle aged women reduced the incidence of hip fractures. Lack of exercise contributes to many of the health problems with which we are confronted- obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, dementia, arthritis, and osteoporosis. At a time when the cost of health care is
Although Low Back Pain (LBP) is thought to affect around 80% of individuals, it is also thought to be self limiting 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
Please refer back to the past two blogs to find the background material for todays blog. Although the number of CARF approved pain centers in the US halved, the number of outpatient pain centers mushroomed. The services provided however focused on two areas: Medication management Nerve blocks and other invasive procedures. Although many patients could
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
Back pain can be found in the medical literature as far back as 1500 B.C. in Egypt. 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
History of the concept of the spine as the cause of back pain Read Post »
Spinal fusion surgery for back pain was reviewed in three articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week http://cot.ag/bjDgWW . The sobering conclusions were that we are spending up to 10 times more for complicated new surgical procedures and frequently getting worse outcomes and up to twice as many complications. Unfortunately,
History of Back Pain- Don’t believe that the newest approach is the best! Read Post »
A review of comprehensive pain treatment textbooks finds no chapters dealing with muscle pain aside from sections on “Myofascial Pain Syndrome” discussing “trigger points” as the defining characteristic of syndromes with painful muscles. This points up a fundamental problem in discussing and understanding clinical muscle pain- the lack of agreed terminology to describe what is
Back pain that never goes away completely can undermine your quality of life. It can prevent you from participating in activities that bring you pleasure and security. The medications that we use to deal with the pain, while being life-savers in terms of providing relief from the suffering, expose us to potential harm. Tylenol (acetaminophen)
With severe back pain we frequently worry about having a herniated disc. If you have back pain and get an MRI chances are you’ll find something. At NY Hospital/Weill-Cornell, 90% of the MRIs of the low back are read as abnormal. But most back pain is diagnosed as “Idiopathic /Non-specific”, referring to sprains and strains
It is my wish to inform patients and colleagues about the possibilities of eliminating pain even when it is thought to be permanent (chronic) or require an invasive proceedure such as surgery, nerve injections, spinal cord stimulation or a morphine pump to achieve any relief. Our story begins with the recogniton that the current standard
The Blog to Illuminate and Eliminate Chronic Pain Read Post »
