I often rave about vox.com's superb coverage of health issues. Here's another great Vox article about Dr. Sarno's revolutionary approach to treating low back pain. Highly recommended.
Traditional treatments for low back pain are coming under increasing scientific scrutiny to see if they're safe and effective. They aren't doing well. A New York Times article today describes some of the horrific consequences of poorly trained physicians doing epidural steroid injections ("cortisone shots") into the spine. Millions of these procedures are done every year. Pfizer is the [...]
Previous research was unclear whether acupuncture helps chronic pain. Two new analyses have reviewed new studies demonstrating that acupuncture does indeed relieve chronic pain in many. It may also help with opiate addiction. I've prescribed acupuncture for decades and find that roughly a third to half of my patients find real relief. And the relief can last for weeks. [...]
Vox.com has frequently published terrific articles on medical care. This post is no exception: 100 Million Americans Have Chronic Pain. Very Few Use One of the Best Tools to Treat it. The article describes the proven effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and other non-drug approaches. These are all coping skills. They work well if you take the [...]
In August 2017 vox.com published the best article I've ever seen on current science for treating chronic low back pain. If you're not familiar with what's new, it will stun you. The article reviews in great detail each type of treatment. Bottom line: the traditional medical approaches of surgery, drugs, and injections are of limited benefit in the typical patient with mechanical low [...]
A new study shows opioids are no better than Tylenol for some chronic pain. A recent article in vox.com discusses a new study done on 240 patients in the Veterans Administration who had chronic pain. They compared using potent opioid pain killers like morphine, oxycodone, or Norco with just using regular over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers like Tylenol, Motrin, or Aleve. [...]
Opioids after surgery can, paradoxically, prolong pain Giving opioids to animals to quell pain after surgery prolongs pain for more than three weeks and primes specialized immune cells in the spinal cord to be more reactive to pain, according to a new study by CU Boulder. The authors say the paradoxical findings, if replicated in [...]
