Pain Archive

With recently revised guidelines recommending that people with low back pain not take medication, it’s natural to wonder: what should I do, then? There are many options, among them heat, massage, yoga, and acupuncture.

Aches or numbness may keep you from doing the things you love. Find out what's behind your pain, and do something about it.

Hand pain becomes common as we get older. Tingling and numbness, aching or locking joints, and difficulty grasping objects are frequent complaints. But don't make your own diagnosis and suffer in silence. "It's difficult to discern between different types of hand pain. Some have overlapping symptoms," says Dr. Sang-Gil Lee, a hand surgeon at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Lee advises that you seek treatment as soon as possible for persistent hand pain, before it gets so advanced that it's tough to use your hands for even the simplest jobs, like brushing your teeth or buttoning a shirt.

Learn why fainting occurs and when you should seek medical attention.

One minute you're feeling a bit woozy; the next thing you know, you're flat on your back wondering what happened. No matter what you call it — swooning, passing out, or fainting — the experience is surprisingly common. About a third of people say they've fainted at least once.

Defined as a sudden, temporary loss of consciousness, fainting occurs when something interrupts blood flow to the brain. Doctors call it syncope, which comes from a Greek word meaning "contraction" or "cut off." Although often harmless, fainting can cause injuries and sometimes signals a problem with the heart or circulatory system.

Men considering surgery for back pain relief may benefit from more conventional treatment methods.

Back pain remains one of the top reasons people seek medical care for pain. For many older men, the source of their pain is spinal osteoarthritis.

Finding relief is an ongoing struggle, but men should think hard before turning to surgery without first trying less invasive treatments. "No one ever goes from initial back pain to needing surgery, unless the pain is due to something like cancer or an infection," says Dr. Steven Atlas, an internist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "You can't fix arthritis. Surgery may help control the pain in some cases, so you can function better, but it won't cure your pain — no matter what doctors may promise."

The scope of the opioid crisis in the US has led some communities to revise their view of substance use disorders. One idea is creating supervised injection facilities that would provide a safe environment and make treatment resources available.

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In March, we reported that long-term use of a class of prescription painkillers known as opioids, such as oxycodone (Oxycontin), comes with the risk of dependence, addiction, falls, and even death. Now, a study published March 14, 2017, in The BMJ finds that opioid users who also take a benzodiazepine — such as alprazolam (Xanax) — for sleep or anxiety are more likely to end up in an emergency room. Researchers made the connection after looking at a sample of more than 300,000 privately insured adults (ages 18 to 64) over a 12-year period. People who were prescribed both types of drugs had twice the risk of ending up in a hospital as did people who used opioids only.

The study is observational and does not prove that using both medications increases overdose risk. However, the authors say we already know that about 30% of deadly opioid overdoses involve benzodiazepines in some way. Researchers suggest that opioids should be prescribed cautiously — even if only for a short-term course — among people who are also using benzodiazepines.

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Many older adults have pain from knee osteoarthritis, a condition in which cartilage in the joints wears away. But when is it time for joint replacement? An observational study published March 28, 2017, in The BMJ suggests that a new knee improves quality of life only in certain cases. The study included over 7,400 middle-age and older adults who already had knee arthritis or were at high risk for the condition. Compared with people who didn't have knee replacement, those who had the surgery during the 26-year study period appeared to have a better quality of life afterward. However, the improvements were minimal, except in people who were less physically functional before the surgery because of more severe arthritis symptoms. The authors suggest that the high costs of knee replacement may be justified only in those who are severely affected by arthritis. What if your symptoms aren't severe? As we reported last month, it may be possible to delay or avoid knee surgery by strengthening your leg and core muscles, losing weight, and improving range of motion.

This ancient practice can be used alone or with conventional therapy to help ease your pain.

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Men looking for an easy and effective means to manage pain should consider acupuncture.

"There are many different types of pain — neuropathic, muscular, degenerative joint — all of which can make management complex," says Hugo Lopez, a licensed acupuncturist with Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. "Sometimes you need to treat not just the physical components, but also the psychological ones, and that is where acupuncture can help, as it addresses both problems."