Pain is an unavoidable fact of life, especially for those with a chronic pain condition. There are dozens of potential treatments for pain already, but researchers are always searching for a deeper understanding of pain to help them devise even better treatments. One group of researchers has found a way to cut off the communication of pain in the brain. At the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute, neuroscientist Gerald Zamponi, phd, and his team…
Mental Illness
Explore mental illness, its common symptoms, causes, and treatment options. Learn how to support mental health and seek help when needed.
How we treat head pain
Nearly everyone will experience head pain at some point during their lives, but for some people, head pain can become chronic. Chronic migraines and headaches can range in severity from annoying to debilitating. Thankfully, a wide range of treatment options are available for head pain, providing lots of potential options to try when managing head pain. Oral medications are usually the first type of pain management attempted to treat head pain. The most common reason…
How the brain experiences pain – brain experiences pHow the brain experiences pain
Pain’s basic purpose is as a warning message for the body: that hurts, so stop it. When pain becomes chronic, though, it can seem utterly senseless, plaguing people for extended periods for no apparent reason. Researchers are constantly studying pain in hopes that a deeper understanding might lead to more effective prevention and treatment of pain. Research examines pain responses in infants Until recently, it was believed that babies didn’t experience pain in the same way…
My personal top 10 favorite posts on pain doctor
It’s been about a year since we became Pain Doctor and began sharing information with you about everything pain- and health-related. In that time, we’ve covered a lot of information, but we’ve tried to make sure that all of it is centered around the topics that you, as a health–conscious pain patient, might care about the most. It was tough, but we narrowed down a year’s worth of information into our top ten favorite posts…
Breaking out of pain-induced isolation: faces of pain
Chronic pain is usually defined as pain that’s lasted for more than three months. This may not seem like a terribly long time–unless you’re the one in pain. When something hurts for so long, it can easily eat away at every aspect of a person’s life, from mood to friendships. The loss of a social life can have significant negative effects on a person’s chronic pain and general health. Not only can constant pain affect…
The Mental and Emotional Impact of Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is a condition that is far more complex than a physical set of symptoms. Pain that lasts long-term has a significant emotional and mental impact, and for that reason, some chronic pain disorders have been called “suicide disease.” Because chronic pain is more than physical symptoms, the pain specialists at Chronicillness.co Site of United States focuses on an approach that is holistic – or encompassing the entire nature of the patient; physical, mental,…
Breathing Exercises to Calm Pain
Here at The Chronicilness.co of the United States, we know that living with chronic pain can be stressful. But one of the best ways patients can help reduce the stress in their lives is by learning how to relax through breathing exercises. Deep breathing helps lower stress in the body because breathing deeply sends a message to the brain to calm down and relax. The brain then sends this message to the body. Deep breathing…
In a World of Pain
When Marin Hinkle tells you about her work, family and friends, you can hear the excitement and love in her voice. But behind that serene smile you see on television, in her roles on shows such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”and “Two and a Half Men,” is a woman who struggles daily with agonizing chronic pain. “My pain originated in my pelvis, and it’s around my pelvic girdle on the left side of my body,”…
Chronic Pain Is a Disease and It Should Be Treated Like One
More than 20 years ago, a heavy filing cabinet fell on Cindy Steinberg at her office and caused nerve and ligament damage to her back. The pain never went away. In the years after, she became an advocate for people who experience chronic pain and is currently the national director of policy & advocacy for the U.S. Pain Foundation. In 2011, a landmark report titled “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care,…
The Pain Gap: Why Women’s Pain Is Undertreated
When Karen Finney went into the hospital for brain surgery, she was well aware of the gender pain gap: women in pain are taken and treated less seriously than men in pain. Women of color are affected even more severely, and as a Black woman, Finney knew the hill to relief would be even steeper to climb. When she woke up after surgery to remove her brain tumor, she was in excruciating pain. She was…