Pain Archive

Because addiction to pain pills often starts with an operation, surgeons are shifting to non-opioid approaches for pain control.

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Many people who are struggling with opioid addiction didn't start taking the drugs at a party or at a friend's house. They were introduced to these painkilling medications by their doctor after a surgical procedure.

In the 1990s, the number of opioid prescriptions written for people undergoing surgery or experiencing pain conditions grew — and so did related problems. As a result, "we are in a current opioid epidemic, with 91 substance-related deaths each day, according to the CDC," says Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, an orthopedic surgeon and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

A fundamental goal of healthy aging is to keep walking as long as possible. Barring an injury or disabling disease, most of us think of the ability to walk as a defining capability of the human body. Of course, people who lose their ability to walk can still retain mobility through wheelchairs and assistive devices, and they can have full and happy lives. But there's no reason why most people can't keep walking their whole lives. It's important to stay active in order to maintain this ability—or, if you haven't been active for a while, to start with whatever simple measures it takes to boost your level of activity and start improving mobility.

Staying active with joint pain

It's important to keep joints moving, even if you're dealing with pain from arthritis or an overuse injury. But sometimes you'll need to keep weight off a joint and rest it more than you usually would. Don't let a painful joint prevent you from exercising; try these joint-friendly options instead:

Hip and knee pain can keep you from the activities you love, as well as make routine tasks difficult. But there are many ways to get you moving again pain-free, without surgery. Here are some of the treatments that can help relieve hip and knee pain.

Ultrasound, phonophoresis, and iontophoresis

Therapeutic ultrasound is a simple procedure that uses sound waves to increase blood flow, relax muscle spasms, and aid healing that leads to faster hip pain relief and knee pain relief. The therapist applies gel to your skin and moves an ultrasound wand over your skin around the painful area. In a special ultrasound technique called phonophoresis, medication (often hydrocortisone) is added to the gel. In a survey of orthopedic physical therapists, more than half said they would use ultrasound and phonophoresis to reduce soft-tissue inflammation (in tendinitis or bursitis, for example). These techniques are also used to manage pain, heal tissue, and help muscles stretch.

Doctors and patients use the 10-point pain scale to gauge the severity of pain, but there may be a better way.

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You may remember being asked to describe your level of pain on a 10-point scale, with 0 meaning no pain and 10 meaning extreme pain.

This scale was initially designed to help nurses and doctors better document and monitor how much pain you were experiencing and thereby offer the right treatment.

You have many alternatives for treating and controlling pain.

The opioid epidemic continues to rise in America, and a 2017 report from the National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly suggests the crisis now affects more older adults.

A main reason for the growing addiction to pain medicine is the ease with which it is often prescribed, according to Dr. Robert Jamison, a professor of anesthesia and psychiatry with Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, occurs when protective cartilage inside a joint wears down. This type of arthritis is unheard of in children and is rare in young adults, but often occurs in older people and people who are overweight. Because of this, osteoarthritis was long considered a natural product of aging and everyday wear and tear on joint cartilage.

However, many experts now believe the cause is much more complex. External factors, such as injuries, can set the stage for osteoarthritis, but how fast it progresses and how severe it becomes depends on a number of factors. Here are just a few factors that can increase your osteoarthritis risk.

News briefs

Are you taking a medication that has depression or suicidal thinking as a potential side effect? One or both risks have been linked to use of more than 200 prescription and over-the-counter pills, including medicines that treat high blood pressure, heartburn, pain, and headaches. The more of these drugs you use, the higher the likelihood that you'll experience depression, suggests a study published June 12, 2018, in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Working with five surveys conducted over a nine-year period, researchers evaluated health information from 26,192 adults. About 37% of them reported taking such medications. Of individuals taking three or more of the medications with depression as a possible side effect, about 15% reported depression, compared with about 5% in people not using those medications. Even for people already taking an antidepressant, the addition of one or more of the identified medicines was linked to higher rates of depression. This study was based on surveys, so it didn't prove that the medications caused the reported depression. Nonetheless, if you think you're depressed (and have symptoms such as apathy, hopelessness, changes in sleep or eating habits, and persistent fatigue), ask your doctor if any of the medicines you are taking may be responsible.

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