Understand chronic diseases, their causes, common symptoms, and effective management strategies to improve long-term health and quality of life.
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…
If you’re wondering how to prevent knee pain in old age, the answer often comes down to taking steps today to reduce your risk. By reducing your risk for the nine most common causes and risk factors for knee pain, you can prevent a large possibility of knee pain in your future. How does anatomy prevent knee pain, and cause it? The knee is a joint made of four bones: the femur, tibia, fibula and patella.…
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…
To most people, pain is usually nothing more than an annoyance–a twinge of back pain or a prickle of pain from a hangnail. For those who suffer from a chronic pain condition, however, it’s much more than an annoyance. When traditional treatment methods have failed and the pain persists, it might beg the question: why do we feel pain? Pain is an extremely important genetic adaptation. At its core, pain is a survival mechanism. It’s…
Almost everyone will experience a painful leg spasm at some point. These spasms, sometimes called “Charley horses,” are a painful contraction that can last from a few seconds to several minutes. Residual pain can linger for days. Spasms most often occur during intense activity, such as while running, or when a person is just dozing off or waking up. The muscles of the hands, arms, abdomen, or along the rib cage are all prone to spasms,…
In 2007, arthritis and conditions related to it cost the U.S. economy almost $128 billion in medical care and indirect expenses. The most widespread form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is sometimes called “wear and tear” arthritis. Osteoarthritis is characterized by the chronic degeneration of the cartilage that cushions our joints. This cartilage allows for easy, smooth movement. When cartilage is worn away, bone rubs directly on bone, causing pain, stiffness, inflammation, and tenderness. Weight-bearing…
Did you know that the majority of people who have had a limb amputated still report feeling some sensation in the removed limb, such as itching or tingling? As many as 80% of amputees experience a type of this phantom limb pain. This can manifest as almost any sort of pain, such as stabbing, throbbing, or burning. Pain can last anywhere from minutes to hours to days, with some amputees in constant pain for decades.…
Neuralgia is sharp, and often severe, pain that runs along the path of a nerve. The basic cause of neuralgia pain is damage or irritation of a nerve. This damage or irritation can be caused by several different conditions, from disease to trauma. Causes of neuralgia To understand the cause of neuralgia, it’s first necessary to understand how nerves work. The nervous system is responsible for carrying information back and forth from the brain to…
Imagine waking up with intense, burning pain for no reason, or undergoing surgery only to find that the accompanying pain increases and spreads until it forces the use of a wheelchair. Worse still, imagine spending months—or even years—going to physicians who are unable to diagnose the condition. This is the grim reality for people with complex regional pain syndrome. The symptoms of complex regional pain syndrome can be very different from person to person. Once…
Every once in a while we get a client that comes through the door with both Fibromyalgia and sciatica. Unfortunately, for many people with Fibromyalgia, most new symptoms get put down to simply yet another Fibro symptom. However, if you do have Sciatica, then you will likely already know, that sciatica pain feels very different to normal everyday Fibromyalgia pain. So, with that being said, I am going to say the same thing to you…