Taming the pain of sciatica: For most people, time heals and less is more
Despite being a less common cause of low back pain, sciatica is still something I regularly see as a general internist. Primary care doctors can and should manage sciatica, because for most individuals the body can fix the problem. My job is to help manage the pain while the body does its job. When a person’s symptoms don’t improve, I discuss the role of surgery or an injection to speed things up.
What is sciatica?
Sciatica refers to pain caused by the sciatic nerve that carries messages from the brain down the spinal cord to the legs. The pain of sciatica typically radiates down one side from the lower back into the l...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Steven J. Atlas, MD, MPH Tags: Back Pain Health Pain Management Source Type: blogs
Stop the war against patients with intractable pain
An open letter to doctors still prescribing opioid medication when necessary:
Thank you so much for standing up for us pain patients. My chronic pain comes from a genetic connective tissue disorder (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), so there is no treatment or cure for my slow, but relentless, physical deterioration as the collagen holding my body together falls apart.
I, like so many other pain patients, spent years (1982-1995) trying other therapies (yoga, acupuncture, chiropractic, diets, supplements, PT, lots of exercise) and non-opioid drugs (anti-epileptics and antidepressants) with horrible intolerable side effects.
Continue...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 10, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/angelika-byczkowski" rel="tag" > Angelika Byczkowski < /a > Tags: Patient Pain management Source Type: blogs
Here ’s something completely different for low back pain
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It’s a question that has challenged generations of patients and their doctors. The answer has changed over the years. When I was in medical school in the early 1980s, bedrest for a week or more was often recommended for severe back pain. This sometimes included hospital admission. Then, research demonstrated that prolonged bedrest was actually a bad idea. It was no better (and often worse) than taking it easy for a day or two followed by slowly increasing activity, including stretching and strengthening the back.
Medications, including pain relievers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dru...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 6, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Back Pain Complementary and alternative medicine Health Injuries Pain Management Source Type: blogs
Yes, I ’ve tried that too: When well-intentioned advice hurts
There’s a certain response I have come to expect whenever I share with someone that I suffer from chronic pain. “You should try acupuncture or yoga,” the person will say, often without asking me first if I have actually tried either.
I have learned to take such suggestions with a grain of salt, seeing them for what they are: a well-meaning, if usually uninformed, attempt to help me get better. But it’s hard not to feel slighted by these responses, even if the underlying intentions are sincere. When the hair-trigger reaction to me sharing my medical issues is usually to automatically recommend some supplement, diet,...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - June 29, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Laura Kiesel Tags: Behavioral Health Mental Health Pain Management Source Type: blogs
Emergency acupuncture! (2017 edition)
For whatever reason, acupuncturists and acupuncture believers think that acupuncture can be useful in emergency situations. They even do studies purporting to show that. This is yet another of such a clinical trial, albeit larger than usual. Guess what? It doesn't really show what it's advertised to show. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - June 20, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture ankle sprain emergency room low back pain migraine quackademic medicine Source Type: blogs
More on Olivia
I am beginning to think I am her fan or something as this is my third post about her.... but once again I am blogging about Olivia Newton John and her cancer recurrence. I have another problem with her and her recurrence. This is it in her statement about what her plans are for recurrence:" I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists... "Her plan is to focus on radiation and natural therapies.... I don ' t have a problem with natural therapies but I do have a problem with their use without additional medical therapies.I used to work with a woman who was diagnosed with br...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - June 4, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: alternative medicine cancer treatment Source Type: blogs
Quackery invades another once science-based journal
As quackery in the form of “integrative medicine” has increasingly been “integrated” into medicine, medical journals are starting to notice and succumb to the temptation to decrease their skepticism. The BMJ, unfortunately, is the latest to do so. It won’t be the last. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 30, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture quackademic medicine systematic review The BMJ Source Type: blogs
Tell the FDA not to embrace quackery: Write to oppose its proposal on acupuncture and chiropractic for chronic pain
Chiropractors and acupuncturists have lobbied for a greater role in treating pain. They might well have won it. Last week, the FDA released proposed changes Wednesday to its blueprint on educating health care providers about treating pain, which now recommend that doctors learn about chiropractic care and acupuncture as therapies that might help patients avoid opioids. There’s still time to stop this, but you have to write the FDA. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 22, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Politics Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture Chiropractic chronic pain fda opioid opioid addiction regulation Source Type: blogs
Acupuncture versus science, acupuncture apologist edition
In the Journal of Integrative Medicine, acupuncturists argue for modernizing acupuncture by uncoupling it from its traditional Chinese medicine background and avoiding the mystical language about qi and meridians. Hilarity ensues, because acupuncture can't be separated from the prescientific mysticism from which it arose. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 19, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture Ted Kaptchuk tongue diagnosis traditional Chinese medicine Source Type: blogs
Acupuncture versus science, linguistic edition
In the Journal of Integrative Medicine, acupuncturists argue for modernizing acupuncture by uncoupling it from its traditional Chinese medicine background and avoiding the mystical language about qi and meridians. Hilarity ensues, because acupuncture can't be separated from the prescientific mysticism from which it arose. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 19, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture Ted Kaptchuk tongue diagnosis traditional Chinese medicine Source Type: blogs
Acupuncturists mistake insufficient rigor for bias against them
Acupuncturists complain that the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends treatments for knee osteoarthritis for which the evidence is weak. They think that means that NICE should also accept acupuncture. In reality, it means that NICE should stop recommending treatments without support by strong scientific evidence. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 15, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking acupuncture clinical trials National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE Popular Science Source Type: blogs
Acupuncture: A point in the right direction, or a stab in the dark?
Acupuncture is a treatment that dates back to around 100 BC in China. It is based on traditional Chinese concepts such as qi (pronounced “chee” and considered life force energy) and meridians (paths through which qi flows). Multiple studies have failed to demonstrate any scientific evidence supporting such principles. Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin needles into the skin at multiple, varying locations based on the patient’s symptoms. Once inserted, some acupuncturists hand turn the needles for added therapeutic benefit. Although there are many uses for acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine, in Wester...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - May 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Paul G. Mathew, MD, FAAN, FAHS Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Headache Health Pain Management Source Type: blogs
Old wine poured into a newer skin: The Society for Integrative Oncology updates its clinical guidelines for breast cancer
Just over two years ago, the Society for Integrative Medicine issued clinical guidelines for breast cancer care. Now it's updated them. Unfortunately, mixing cow pie with apple pie for a little longer doesn't make the cow pie any better than it was last time. (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - May 2, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Cancer Clinical trials Complementary and alternative medicine Homeopathy Naturopathy Quackery acupuncture breast cancer Dugald Seely Heather Greenlee integrative medicine integrative oncology society for integrative oncology Suza Source Type: blogs
In pain? Many doctors say opioids are not the answer - Salon.com
Those of you who have experienced pain, especially gnawing, chronic pain, know that it affects your happiness, outlook and ability to function.In the past couple of years, the treatment of chronic pain has undergone an earthshaking transformation as opioid addiction continues to claim — and ruin — lives.Many primary care doctors no longer liberally prescribe opioid painkillers such as oxycodone, fentanyl and hydrocodone for back pain, migraines and other chronic conditions. Instead, they are increasingly turning to alternative medications and non-drug options such as acupuncture and physical therapy."Most primary ...
Source: Psychology of Pain - April 16, 2017 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
If you have low back pain try these steps first
Low back pain, the scourge of mankind: it is the second leading cause of disability here in the United States, and the fourth worldwide. It’s also one of the top five medical problems for which people see doctors. Almost every day that I see patients, I see someone with back pain. It’s one of the top reasons for lost wages due to missed work, as well as for healthcare dollars spent, hence, a very expensive problem.
Looking at two kinds of back pain
Let’s talk about the most common forms of back pain: acute (which lasts less than four weeks) and subacute (which lasts four to 12 weeks). Most of these cases (approximate...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 3, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Back Pain Managing your health care Pain Management Source Type: blogs
