Pain Archive

Experts recommend that everyone 60 and older get the vaccine for shingles, a painful rash caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus. The vaccine is safe, but can be costly if not covered by insurance.

The cause of most neck pain is strained or sprained muscles, ligaments, and tendons. First-line therapy is rest, ice, heat, pain relievers, and possibly limited use of a neck collar.

Try these "anytime" exercises to help protect your mobility and independence.

Strong knees are crucial to daily activities like getting out of a chair or walking to the kitchen or bathroom. But thinking about taking on special exercises to strengthen your knees can seem daunting. "Older adults are often worried that doing any leg-strengthening or weight-bearing exercises will increase the 'wear and tear' on their knees and increase already present arthritis. But doing strengthening exercises around the knee joint actually helps lessen the progression of any arthritis," says Ashley Wiater, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. Strengthening hip muscles helps to stabilize the knees as well.

Advice to help you focus on your vacation—not your arthritis aches.

Q. Do you have any suggestions for a 79-year-old woman who has quite a bit of pain in her back? I have spinal stenosis and curvature of the spine.

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.

Many older adults may not consider elbow health important. But elbow pain can keep a person from getting dressed, cooking dinner, and anything else that requires the use of the arm.

Q. My doctor has advised me to have my inguinal hernia repaired. Should I have a laparoscopic repair or the more traditional "open" procedure?

A. Inguinal hernias happen to almost a third of men. This type of hernia occurs when a portion of the intestines or the fatty tissue surrounding it bulges through a tear in the abdominal wall and into the groin or scrotum.

Chronic pain sometimes originates in the pain-sensing nerves as well as injured body tissues.

How to decide on surgery and get the best outcome from your new joint.

By the summer of 2013, Joan Chiverton had endured nearly three years of knee pain. She'd had enough. "I love to walk and I'm a very active person, and I'd have to stop after every couple of blocks and take a break," says Chiverton, an illustrator who lives in New York City.