
What could be causing your blurry vision?

Avocado nutrition: Health benefits and easy recipes

Swimming lessons save lives: What parents should know

Preventing and treating iliotibial (IT) band syndrome: Tips for pain-free movement

Wildfires: How to cope when smoke affects air quality and health

What can magnesium do for you and how much do you need?

Dry socket: Preventing and treating a painful condition that can occur after tooth extraction

What happens during sleep — and how to improve it

How is metastatic prostate cancer detected and treated in men over 70?

Could biofeedback help your migraines?
Pain Archive
Articles
Prescription pain pills: Worth the risks?
Thorough risk assessment and family assistance may help you take them more safely.
Prescription pain pills such as oxycodone (Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin) are in a class of drugs known as opioids. They're typically used to treat severe pain after surgery, and sometimes to treat chronic pain. But these drugs come with many risks, including addiction. Does that put you at risk if you take opioids? "You have to look at it on a case-by-case basis," says Dr. Hilary Connery, an addiction psychiatrist at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital.
Risks and benefits
Opioids are powerful painkillers that block messages of pain to the brain and decrease the body's perception of discomfort. They may also create a feeling of euphoria. Opioids are especially useful in the short term, such as the initial weeks following joint replacement. Common side effects include nausea, itching, drowsiness, or constipation.
Sciatica: Of all the nerve
Sciatica does not need to be a pain to treat. There are several ways to minimize and manage flare-ups.
Sciatica is one of the most common, yet misunderstood, types of pain. As many as 40% of people will get it during their life, and it becomes more frequent as you age.
"People who suffer from acute or chronic back pain tend to be more susceptible to sciatica," says Dr. Jeffrey N. Katz, professor of medicine and orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. "Your risk also rises if you're obese, if you smoke, or if you're sedentary."
Acupuncture and Alexander Technique help relieve chronic neck pain
Troubled by long-term neck pain? Acupuncture and the Alexander Technique may offer relief, says a study in the Nov. 3, 2015, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
British researchers recruited 517 patients who suffered from neck pain for an average of six years. They were randomly placed in three groups: one got up to 20 half-hour Alexander Technique lessons, the second had up to a dozen 50-minute sessions of acupuncture, and the third group received standard treatments, such as medications and physical therapy.
How music can help you heal
Music therapy can calm anxiety, ease pain, and provide a pleasant diversion during chemotherapy or a hospital stay.
It's almost impossible to find someone who doesn't feel a strong connection to music. Even if you can't carry a tune or play an instrument, you can probably reel off a list of songs that evoke happy memories and raise your spirits. Surgeons have long played their favorite music to relieve stress in the operating room, and extending music to patients has been linked to improved surgical outcomes. In the past few decades, music therapy has played an increasing role in all facets of healing.
What is music therapy?
Music therapy is a burgeoning field. People who become certified music therapists are usually accomplished musicians who have deep knowledge of how music can evoke emotional responses to relax or stimulate people or help them heal. They combine this knowledge with their familiarity with a wide variety of musical styles to find the specific kind that can get you through a challenging physical rehab session or guide you into meditation. And they can find that music in your favorite genre, be it electropop or grand opera.
Is it time to give acupuncture a try for pain relief?
Image: Bigstock
For many conditions, this "alternative" treatment may be just as effective as—and may cause fewer side effects than—pain medication.
If you have chronic pain and are wondering how to avoid the potential side effects associated with long-term use of pain medications, you may want to consider an alternative—acupuncture. Since the technique was introduced in the United States in the 1970s, it has moved from alternative to mainstream medicine. Today, Harvard Medical School and other leading institutions offer courses in acupuncture for physicians, several professional societies certify acupuncturists, and two to three million Americans visit an acupuncturist every year.
Fight back against gout
This common inflammation of the joints can be treated and managed with medication and lifestyle changes.
Gout affects more than eight million adults, six million of whom are men. It often strikes suddenly, like flicking on a light switch, and the pain is severe, with intense swelling and redness.
Food choices can dictate if you get gout, as high intake of organ meat, shellfish, and alcohol can raise your risk. But diet is only a part of it. "There is a direct relationship between advancing age and gout," says Dr. Robert Shmerling, clinical chief of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Numb hand: Should you worry?
Ask the doctor
Q. My right hand goes numb when I open a can or use hand tools. Is this something I need to worry about? Do I have carpal tunnel syndrome?
A. The hand receives its sensory information from three different nerves, and irritation of any of them can lead to numbness. In the hand, numbness is often related to the way that the nerve is compressed or squeezed slightly when you bend your wrist, as happens when you open a can. Excess vibration or repetitive hand motion when you use tools may also cause numbness.
Got a bum knee? Here is what to do
If knee pain and swelling are severe an are not getting better, see your primary care doctor for a thorough evalucation. Image: Thinkstock
Arthritis is not the only possible cause of knee pain, swelling, and disability.

What could be causing your blurry vision?

Avocado nutrition: Health benefits and easy recipes

Swimming lessons save lives: What parents should know

Preventing and treating iliotibial (IT) band syndrome: Tips for pain-free movement

Wildfires: How to cope when smoke affects air quality and health

What can magnesium do for you and how much do you need?

Dry socket: Preventing and treating a painful condition that can occur after tooth extraction

What happens during sleep — and how to improve it

How is metastatic prostate cancer detected and treated in men over 70?

Could biofeedback help your migraines?
Free Healthbeat Signup
Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!
Sign Up