Category: Fibromyalgia Pain

A comprehensive look at Fibromyalgia pain, its symptoms, triggers, and effective strategies to manage and alleviate discomfort.

  • CBD Is Touted for Pain Management But Does It Work?

    Dear Chronicillness.co Fellows,

    As my mother always warned me that to get older is to feel some aches and pains. And I’m feeling them! My knees, my back, my.… And I’m finding lots of kinship among my middle-aged pals.

    I keep hearing that CBD helps relieve chronic pain. Is it really the miracle cure it claims to be? If so, I’m tempted to run out and buy some CBD.

    But I’m cautious and have a lot of questions. It seems like the claims might be too good to be true. Are they?

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Signed,
    CBD, or Not

    Dear CBD, or Not,

    Yes, CBD is all the rage and, if you happen to live in a state where it’s legal, you might be seeing it sold on just about every street corner in many iterations. CBD lattes. CBD gummies. CBD-infused spa treatments. CBD for XYZ.

    Here’s what we know, so far.

    CBD, or cannabidiol, is a chemical compound derived from cannabis, a hemp plant that differs only from the marijuana plant because it contains less THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, which produces marijuana’s mind-altering effects.

    CBD doesn’t produce the euphoric “high” or psychoactive effects of cannabis. Instead, it’s supposed to produce a feeling of calm or relaxation. Read more about CBD for Women: What Are Women Using CBD For?

    Instead of messing with your mind, CBD encourages the body to use its own endocannabinoids more efficiently by interacting with them to produce pharmacologic effects in the central nervous and immune systems. (Sounds like a mouthful, but basically CBD influences the activity of endocannabinoid receptors and in turn, activates other receptors that control things like pain perception and inflammation.) There are endocannabinoids and receptors throughout our bodies: in our brains, organs, connective tissues, glands and immune cells—just about all of the body’s organs. One researcher calls them the “bridge between body and mind.”

    That’s why a lot of people are interested in using CBD and hopeful that it will help ease or manage their pain.

    Still, the jury is still out. Although CBD is widely used, the only strong research and evidence of its effectiveness has been done with a specific and rare form of childhood seizure disorders called Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which do not respond to antiseizure medications.

    Experts say that more studies are needed in humans to determine the scope of what CBD can and cannot do. Some (that have been done on animals) have found CBD to be effective for nerve pain and the pain and inflammation of arthritis.

    The studies that do point to CBD’s possible effectiveness say that it may limit inflammation in the brain and nervous system; that it stops the body from absorbing a compound associated with regulating pain and therefore may reduce the amount of pain a person feels; that it may help with insomnia and chronic pain and help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) by reducing spasms, one of the most common symptoms of MS.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    The Arthritis Foundation has published advice from Daniel Chow, MD, a chronic pain expert. Here’s what it shares:

    • Use low doses, which seem to work best for pain relief.
    • Start with a CBD-only product, 5 to 10 mg twice daily, and then slowly increase, going up to dose of 50 to 100 mg per day. If that doesn’t help, try a CBD product with a low dose of THC. (But remember that THC remains illegal in many states and is only approved with a prescription for medical use in some others.)
    • Use only at night at first; slowly increase dose if needed.
    • Edibles’ effects last longer than vaping, so don’t try them until you know what CBD strain and dose work for you.
    • Use caution if you are 25 years old or younger and using CBD products that contain THC. This age group is at highest risk of addiction, dependency or even psychosis.

    If you do choose to treat your pain with CBD, it’s best to be aware of a few facts.

    • CBD doesn’t come without its side effects, which include nausea, fatigue and irritability. And like grapefruit juice, CBD can raise the level of certain medications in your bloodstream (if you take the blood thinner warfarin, beware). Always check with your health care professional before taking CBD or other over-the-counter supplements or medications.
    • Many products do not contain the amount of CBD they claim.
    • The amount of CBD in products varies widely. Some contain very small concentrations of CBD, while others contain very large amounts. For instance, manufacturer Bluebird Botanical’s CBD lotions contain 700-plus mg of cannabinoids per 100 mL, while other currently available topical products contain just 50 mg of cannabinoids per 100 mL.
    • Because it’s not sold as a supplement, rather than a medication, CBD’s safety and purity are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
    • If you take sedatives or other sleep-inducing medications, use CBD with caution, because it may enhance their effects.
    • Taking a high daily dose (20 mg per kg of body weight or hundreds of milligrams) may result in decreased appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, fever or extreme fatigue.
    • Products should be labeled with information on exact dosing and the type of CBD they contain. Terms for real CBD include full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, isolate or nano.
    • Because there are not enough studies on humans, it’s tough to know what an effective dose of CBD would be.

    Brandon Beatty, CEO of Bluebird Botanicals, a leading manufacturer and distributor of hemp extracts and CBD oils, offers this advice: “Look for the concentration of cannabinoids per milligram. Check the ingredients to make sure they indicate the use of a full-plant extract as opposed to hemp seed oil, because only a full-plant extract will actually contain any amount of CBD. Hemp seed oil does not contain CBD, but it is often used as an emulsifier in many beauty products.

    “Also be sure to look on the company’s website for third-party lab testing to make sure there are no harmful contaminants in your product, such as pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and residual solvents. We also recommend looking for products with ‘clean,’ natural ingredients, which is what we like to call ‘wellness the way Mother Earth intended.’”

    Also, check the laws where you live. Even in areas where medical or recreational marijuana is legal, some federal agencies and state laws still restrict CBD. It’s all very confusing.

    The bottom line? If you do choose to try CBD, proceed with caution and remember that there has been little medical research done on CBD. Check with your health care professional, if for no other reason than to make sure it won’t interact with any medications you currently are taking.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Expert Urges Women to Be Self-Advocates in Managing Pain

    Pain in your neck. Pain in your back. Pain during that time of the month. We’ve all had pain, some of us more than others. But how much do you really know about how to manage all your aches and pains?

    We spoke with an expert on pain management to get you the answers you need. Yvonne D’Arcy, MS, CRNP, CNS, is a pain management and palliative care nurse practitioner with more than 20 years of pain management experience. She has held positions as pain and palliative care nurse practitioner for Johns Hopkins Medicine Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. She is the author of 10 books on pain management and presents frequently on a variety of pain topics.

    Here is what she had to say about pain management and her current work.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Question: What is the latest book you’re working on?

    Answer: For many years, I thought primary care practitioners needed a book for pain management. The majority of people with chronic pain are showing up in primary care practices. Arthritis, osteoarthritis, migraines, other types of chronic pain, low back pain. They show up in a primary care office. Practitioners need some direction for patient management and support. I thought this is a book that was needed for a long time. It will be published in the first quarter of the year by Springer. It’s for health care providers—physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants; those folks that are seeing and prescribing medications.

    Question: Why did you see a need for this book for health care providers?

    Answer: Primary care physicians are being inundated with all these patients with chronic pain. They do see ones with acute pain like slips, trips and falls. The vast majority of low back pain and migraine and arthritis cases are seen in the primary care setting on a long-term basis. Many of the pain clinics send people back to primary care. This book is a long time coming. I’m enjoying writing it. It contains a lot of new and interesting materials that I think clinicians will be able to use efficiently.

    Question: Is pain management different for men and women? 

    Answer: That’s an interesting question because it depends on which side of the gender gap you’re on. I wrote a book on women’s pain and can tell you that there are definite differences. Men use morphine efficiently. Women get a huge number of side effects. Women are seen as catastrophizing more. Women try to tough it out and self-treat it. It’s hard on women because they have to take care of kids, cook, clean and have a lot on their plate. When they have pain, it is more of an issue.

    Question: Is it true women have a higher tolerance for pain? 

    Answer: Tolerance is defined as how much pain someone is willing to experience. Women do have a higher tolerance and are willing to experience a higher level of pain. Pain is produced along the same pathways in men and women. Men tend to want things taken care of. A woman by far and large probably would just keep going with her pain with a migraine. They keep pushing ahead, looking for something to take care of it. 

    Women’s pain is treated a lot differently. It’s minimalized and marginalized. Male doctors try to make it seem we’re complaining of something that isn’t quite as severe as it is. If you’re a minority woman, they have found that Hispanic and African American patients don’t get pain medications as readily in emergency rooms as patients who aren’t. It’s just part of that medical disparity because doctors just don’t seem to take their pain as seriously as other patients. It’s perceived that they’re just looking for medications, even when they’re not.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Question: What should women consider when seeking pain management? 

    Answer: Women looking for pain management physicians need to interview them. They want to work with someone who is empathetic to their condition and who is willing to commit to long-term follow up and support. They shouldn’t be focused only on medications. They should give a more holistic response. Women are more interested in essential oils and massage and acupuncture. Look for someone who includes that in your plan of care. 

    Anyone can prescribe medications. You need to make sure that the provider is someone you can rely on and trust. I feel sorry for women when get sent to a pain management specialist. I think they get categorized even before they get treated. You need to look for someone who is open-minded and listening to you and to what you’re saying about your pain. If not, you need to find someone else. 

    I encourage women to go on websites with patient testimonials about providers. I think women should spend more time looking at that, so they have a good idea of what other folks have experienced. They don’t need to feel bad if a provider they see doesn’t work for them. You can use the patient advocacy system that you’re working with and have them find a different provider. You don’t have to stick with someone you don’t like.

    Question: What should women know about addictive pain management options? 

    Answer: There are a variety of things. Some patients with chronic pain do better with low doses of opioids. They have jobs and families and they do very well. They should know that there is the potential that they can develop a reliance on them. Women need to know that medications won’t take away all their pain.

    The negative thing is that there is the potential for developing substance abuse: Those who take more pills than are prescribed; get early refills; get pills from a multitude of providers. You should be going to one doctor, not shopping around town. But there is always the potential that can happen. Medications do cause addiction for some. But they are a good fit and can provide a higher quality of life, for others. It just depends. Use the lowest dose for a shorter period of time. Health care providers can offer a trial to see if it’s effective. They’re looking at in healthier ways.

    Question: Anything else you want to tell women about pain management?

    Answer: Women need to be self-advocates. They can’t let the system take over. They can’t be afraid to disagree. They need to say, “That just doesn’t work for me,” and tell people what they need. If we can get more women to do that, we will be in good shape.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Why Women Need a Personalized Approach to Chronic Pain Management?

    When it comes to chronic pain management, no one therapy has all the answers.

    Instead, chronic pain management needs to take individual differences into account and ensure an adequate and unbiased response to treatment.

    To help get the conversation started on chronic pain management, Chronicillness.co will convene a Chronic Pain Summit on July 17 and 18, in Ellicott City, MD. The event will feature presentations from prominent pain specialists and is designed to foster dialogue between patients, clinicians, researchers, and industry experts, and will include representatives from federal agencies and other non-profit organizations as well.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Together, we aim to raise awareness about chronic pain in women, address existing challenges and knowledge gaps, and encourage everyone to work together as we strive to find new and innovative solutions. Here is what we covered during the summit.

    Addressing chronic pain as its own disease.

    Chronic pain is a significant public health problem nationwide and according to a 2011 Institute of Medicine report can be considered as a disease in itself that requires adequate treatment and research commitment.

    Understanding individual chronic pain needs.

    Two important differences to consider when treating and researching chronic pain are sex and gender. Sex differences are influenced by both biological and physiological factors such as hormones and genetics and gender differences by societal, environmental and cultural concerns. No matter the source, sex and gender differences must be considered in chronic pain diagnosis, treatment, prevention and management.

    That’s because research finds women are more sensitive to pain and rate their pain higher as compared to men. Women are also more likely to have conditions that cause chronic pain—defined as lasting more than three months—such as lower back pain, knee pain (mostly osteoarthritis), neck pain, fibromyalgia, and migraines. Notably too, several painful conditions including uterine fibroids, pelvic pain, endometriosis, and vulvodynia occur exclusively in women.

    Remembering that opioids are not the enemy.

    Women with chronic pain conditions are more likely to be treated with opioids and use these drugs for longer periods of time than men, but even this isn’t a clear-cut issue. Although long-term opioid use can open the door to addiction, many women who take these drugs responsibly worry that policy changes may result in losing access to the only treatment that has been able to ease their pain and being stigmatized as drug addicts.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    We cannot take opioids away from chronic pain patients who rely on them without offering them alternatives that work.

    Exploring other chronic pain management strategies.

    Recent scientific evidence suggests that the use of integrative and complimentary health approaches may benefit women with managing their chronic pain with or without prescription medications.

    Studies have suggested that many chronic pain patients can benefit from incorporating physical therapy, massage, exercise, acupuncture, yoga, Tai Chi, or meditation into their treatment regimen, but most healthcare professionals don’t know enough about these modalities and health insurance companies rarely cover them fully, if at all. Psychological therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, may also be useful, but again research, education, and access are limited.

    The Department of Health and Human Services addressed these issues in a recent report and proposed best practices and recommendations for balanced pain management based on biopsychosocial model of care, individualized patient-centered care, better and safer opioid stewardship and a multidisciplinary approach to chronic pain.

    Identifying biases in chronic pain management.

    In the end, any approach to chronic pain must also recognize that gender, racial and cultural biases often exist in pain treatment and management. Unconscious bias by health care professionals can greatly affect the way pain is assessed, treated and managed in women, especially women of color who are less likely to receive any or adequate pain treatment.

    Disability, stigma, workplace related issues, access to care and affordability of treatments are all important issues that impact pain management and the quality of life in women living with chronic pain. Whatever the reasons for these biases and these disparities, the tremendous effects on a woman’s psychological health cannot be underestimated.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Nagging Low Back Pain? Try Mindfulness

    Nagging Low Back Pain? Try Mindfulness

    Almost no one is immune to occasional low back pain. But when it’s chronic, when simple movement seems impossible, it can keep you from enjoying life. And painkillers aren’t always the answer.

    Why not try meditation rather than medication?

    Research has shown that mind-body practices can help. These include yoga and cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, which teaches you how to change certain thoughts and behaviors, which are factors involved in sensing pain.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association adds mindfulness-based stress reduction — MBSR for short — to the list. It’s based on principles of meditation designed to make you more aware and accepting of life’s experiences. This translates to easing both physical and emotional discomfort.

    For the study, researchers wanted to compare the results of cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction on two different groups of participants. The people in both groups received eight weekly 2-hour sessions of their respective therapies and were then monitored for a year. At 26 weeks, about 60 percent of both the CBT and MBSR groups reported meaningful improvement in back pain and functioning. These results were still felt at the one-year mark, showing that mindfulness works as well as CBT. The advantage is that mindfulness-based stress reduction may be more readily available.

    Developed at the University of Massachusetts in 1979, mindfulness-based stress reduction is now offered at more than 200 medical facilities around the world, at wellness retreats and, thanks to the internet, through online programs. Just make sure to check the credentials of the organizations and the practitioners offering the training before you sign up.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Do ‘Cures’ for Knee Pain From Stem Cell Clinics Work?

    Stem cell clinics are charging big money for knee arthritis “cures” and making extravagant claims about their therapies, a new study contends.

    A same-day injection for one knee costs thousands of dollars at these centers, according to a consumer survey taken of clinics across the United States.

    Learn More: The Solution for Aching Knees

    People are paying that kind of cash because two-thirds of stem cell clinics promise that their treatments work 80 to 100 percent of the time, researchers report.

    But there’s no medical evidence suggesting that any stem cell therapy can provide a lasting cure for knee arthritis, said study lead researcher Dr. George Muschler, an orthopedic surgeon with the Cleveland Clinic.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    “There are claims made about efficacy [effectiveness] that aren’t supported by the literature,” Muschler said. “There’s a risk of charlatanism, and patients should be aware.”

    Stem cells have gained a reputation as a miracle treatment and potential cure for many ailments. The cells have the potential to provide replacement cells for any part of the body—blood, brain, bones or organs.

    As a result, a wave of stem cell centers have opened up around the country, offering cures for a variety of diseases, Muschler said.

    “It’s very sexy to market yourself as a stem cell center, so there’s been a boom of centers, probably close to 600 now in the United States offering this therapy,” Muschler said. “But the truth is that the medical literature hasn’t quite caught up to the enthusiasm in the marketplace.”

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expressed extreme skepticism over these centers, and in November the agency announced that it would crack down on clinics offering dangerous stem cell treatments.

    The “pie-in-the-sky” dream for knee arthritis patients is that a stem cell injection will produce fresh new protective cartilage in their joint, said Dr. Scott Rodeo, an orthopedic surgeon with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

    “The reality is they don’t do that. There is zero data to suggest that,” said Rodeo, who wasn’t involved with the study. “The idea these cells are going to regenerate cartilage––there’s zero data.”

    At best, these injections might temporarily reduce pain and inflammation by prompting the release of soothing chemicals in the knee, Rodeo and Muschler said.

    To get an idea what stem cell centers are promising customers, Muschler and his colleagues called 273 U.S. clinics posing as a 57-year-old man with knee arthritis.

    The clinics were asked about same-day stem cell injections, how well they work and how much they cost.

    Of the 65 centers that provided pricing information, the average cost for a knee injection was $5,156, with prices ranging from $1,150 to $12,000, the researchers found. Fourteen centers charged less than $3,000 for a single injection, while 10 centers charged more than $8,000.

    The 36 centers that provided information on effectiveness claimed an average effectiveness of 82 percent, the researchers said. Of them, 10 claimed that the injection worked 9 out of 10 times, and another 15 claimed 80 to 90 percent effectiveness.

    The findings were presented Tuesday at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons‘ annual meeting, in New Orleans. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

    “Patients are being told there’s an 80 percent likelihood of improvement, which is only 10 to 20 percent better than you’d expect from a placebo effect,” Muschler said.

    In fact, he suspects that the placebo effect is responsible for much of the improvement patients feel following a knee injection.

    “People always show up to the doctor when they hurt,” Muschler said. “If I see a patient who has arthritis in their knee and I do nothing, there’s a very good chance they’re going to get better over the coming months, anyway. There’s this natural cycle of increasing and decreasing pain that’s present in the life of someone who has arthritis.”

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    That’s compounded by the fact that people expect to feel better after shelling out a load of cash, Muschler added.

    These centers generally provide three different types of treatment, only one of which actually has live stem cells involved, Muschler said.

    One treatment injects the knee with platelet-rich plasma drawn from the patient’s own blood, while another uses a slurry produced from fetal tissue and fluid gathered after birth. Neither of these contains stem cells, but they are marketed as stem cell therapies, Muschler said.

    A third option involves bone marrow taken from the patient and injected into the knee. This does contain a mixture of three types of stem cells, but “the evidence that you’re doing [your knees] a favor is still pretty weak in the literature,” Muschler said.

    People aren’t likely to be harmed by these injections, Rodeo said, but there’s not a lot of evidence that they’ll be helped.

    Patients should go into it eyes wide open,” Rodeo said. “They’re paying a lot of money out of pocket, because these are not covered by insurers.”

    Knee arthritis sufferers would be better off trying many of the established options for reducing knee pain, Muschler and Rodeo said.

    Losing weight is a “key factor,” Muschler said.

    “There’s very good evidence that if you are at a 5 on the pain scale and you lose 10 percent of your body weight, your pain will drop 2 points,” Muschler said.

    Patients also can use NSAIDs like aspirin or ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling, get a steroid injection, or perform weight training to strengthen the muscles that support the knee, Muschler and Rodeo said.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Health Tip: Symptoms That May Indicate Fibromyalgia

    Fibromyalgia is characterized by body aches and pains, and “tender points” that are painful to the touch.

    The chronicillness.co website mentions these other typical symptoms of fibromyalgia:

    • Having difficulty sleeping.
    • Feeling stiff in the morning.
    • Having frequent headaches.
    • Feeling sensitive to temperature, bright lights or loud sounds.
    • Having pain during menstruation.
    • Having a tingling sensation or numbness in the feet and hands.
    • Having trouble with memory and cognitive thinking.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Anger, Sadness Increase Pain in Women With Fibromyalgia

    Negative emotions increase pain responses in women with and without fibromyalgia (FM), while combined treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy and a tailored exercise program can improve outcome in FM, according to two studies published in the October issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Henriët van Middendorp, Ph.D., of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and colleagues conducted an experimental study of women with and without FM to examine the effects of emotions on pain response. The researchers found that sadness predicted clinical pain responses, and anger predicted both clinical and electrically-stimulated pain responses. Both women with and without FM reported increased pain in response to both of these emotions; more intense emotion was associated with a greater pain response.

    Saskia van Koulil, of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands, and colleagues classified patients with FM into two groups based on their clinical pattern — pain-avoidance or pain-persistence — and randomized them to either cognitive behavioral therapy and exercise training or to a wait list for the treatments. They found that use of this combined program at an early stage of FM (soon after diagnosis) was likely to promote improved treatment outcomes for high-risk patients with either pain-avoidance or pain-persistence patterns.

    “Building on these findings, we can now report for the first time relatively large physical and psychological improvements in high-risk FM patients following a treatment specifically addressing pain-avoidance and pain-persistence patterns,” van Koulil and colleagues conclude. “However, as previous meta-analyses and recent studies of non-tailored interventions in chronic physical conditions have overall shown not more than moderate effects, the results of this study [suggest] that a tailored approach is promising for improving treatment effects.”

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Needling Away at Lower Back Pain

    Needling Away at Lower Back Pain

    New research shows that the Chinese treatment known as acupuncture may help control lower back pain without the added side effects of many pain control medications.

    An ancient Eastern science that has been steadily gaining popularity in the West, acupuncture uses the relatively painless placement of tiny needles into various nerve pathways on the body to help stimulate the production of natural pain relievers called endorphins.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    “Essentially, the acupuncture works somewhat like a pain-relieving drug in the sense that it provides temporary relief,” says study author Dr. Charis Meng, a licensed acupuncturist and rheumatologist at the Integrated and Complementary Care Center of Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

    Unlike traditional painkillers, which often require increasing amounts to get the same relief, acupuncture has somewhat of a cumulative effect, Meng says. “After a period of time, the number of treatments can be dramatically reduced while still maintaining the same levels of pain control,” she says.

    According to rehabilitation medicine expert and licensed acupuncturist Dr. James Dillard, for those who can’t or don’t want to use traditional pain medicines, acupuncture is becoming an accepted way to control chronic pain.

    “The study is small but well done and is another entry in the growing body of evidence that shows acupuncture can be an accepted and very effective form of therapy for some people,” says Dillard, clinical advisor to Columbia University’s Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and assistant clinical professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

    In particular, he says, the benefits for the elderly can be extremely important.

    “Most elderly people are already taking a number of medications for various health problems, so anytime you can cut down on the number of pills they have to take and still offer pain relief, that’s a good thing,” says Dillard.

    Indeed, the six-week study did concentrate on elderly patients, with 40 participants all over the age of 60. Each complained of chronic low back pain for at least 12 weeks, and all had undergone various types of medical imaging to rule out spinal tumor, infection, fracture, as well as certain neurological symptoms. Patients who had previously undergone either acupuncture or lumbar surgery were also excluded.

    “The study did include patients who suffered with sciatica or disk problems,” says Meng.

    At the start of the study, patients answered questions and took a test that measured the degree of their pain.

    The patients were then divided into two groups. One group of 21 patients continued taking standard pain therapy prescribed by their doctors, including non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants and acetaminophen (Tylenol), as well as back exercises.

    The second group of 19 patients also continued taking their traditional therapy, but added twice-weekly acupuncture treatments for five weeks.

    Pain scores were repeated two weeks into treatment, again one week later, and three weeks after the treatments ended.

    The result, says Meng, was that “patients who underwent acupuncture had significantly less pain and disability in their lower back than patients who took standard traditional therapies alone.”

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    In addition, she says, results were so impressive that 17 of the 21 patients in the group that were allowed only standard therapy elected to begin a six-week acupuncture regimen when the study ended. They, too, experienced similar pain reduction.

    The results were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, which met earlier this month in San Francisco.

    In addition to the lower back pain study, research also presented at the conference found acupuncture provided relief for patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic and painful muscle-related disorder affecting mostly women.

    During this 16-week study, conducted by a group of Brazilian researchers, 60 patients received nightly doses of 25 milligrams of amitryptiline, an antidepressant found to offer some pain relief. Additionally, 20 of the 60 patients received a once-weekly acupuncture treatment, while 20 more received a weekly sham acupuncture treatment.

    Using various pain diagnostic methods before and after the study began, the doctors concluded that, over the study period, only those patients who completed the acupuncture treatments had a measurable decrease in their pain.

    Fibromyalgia is a devastating problem that is frustrating for both doctor and patient because there are so few treatments that offer significant improvement in symptoms,” says Dillard.

    “As with chronic back pain, anything that you can do to help these patients, particularly if it doesn’t require the use of more drugs, becomes an important contribution to their treatment and care,” says Dillard. This study, he says, is an important step in expanding the boundaries of treatment for patients with fibromyalgia.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • More Clues To Fibromyalgia Pain

    More Clues To Fibromyalgia Pain

    More Clues To Fibromyalgia Pain

    Fibromyalgia patients have more “connectivity” between brain networks and regions of the brain involved in pain processing, which may help explain why sufferers feel pain even when there is no obvious cause, a new study suggests.

    Researchers had 18 women with fibromyalgia undergo six-minute fMRI brain scans, and compared their results to women without the condition.

    Participants were asked to rate the intensity of the pain they were feeling at the time of the test. Some people reported feeling little pain, while others reported feeling more intense pain.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Brain scans showed the connectivity, or neural activity, between certain brain networks and the insular cortex, a region of the brain involved in pain processing, was heightened in women with fibromyalgia compared to those without the condition.

    The connectivity to the insular cortex was even stronger in participants who reported feeling more intense pain compared to milder pain, said study author Vitaly Napadow, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

    “We took advantage of the fact that there is a large discrepancy in the amount of pain patients happen to be in at the time they come in. Unfortunately some patients come in, and they are in a lot of pain. Other patients come in and they are not in pain,” Napadow said.

    The study, by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Michigan, is published in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

    Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain syndrome that’s characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, insomnia, and the presence of multiple tender points. The syndrome can also cause psychological issues, including anxiety, depression and memory and concentration problems, sometimes called the “fibromyalgia fog.”

    Prior research has shown that people with fibromyalgia feel a given amount of pain more intensely than others, Napadow explained. In other words, studies have shown a typical person might rate a painful stimuli a “one” on a scale or one to 10, while a person with fibromyalgia might rate the pain a 5 or higher.

    The new study is different in that fibromyalgia patients’ pain responses were measured while they were at rest and not being exposed to anything painful, Napadow said.

    The brain networks involved were the default mode network (DMN) and the right executive attention network (EAN). The DMN is involved in “selfreferential thinking,” when you think about yourself or what’s happening to you, Napadow explained.

    The EAN is involved in working memory and attention. When that brain network is occupied, or distracted, by pain, it may explain some of the cognitive issues that fibromyalgia patients experience, Napadow said.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Dr. Philip Mease, director of rheumatology research at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle and a member of the National Fibromyalgia Association medical advisory board, said the study provides insight into what may be going on in the brains of people with fibromyalgia.

    “This work shows there is increased connectivity between different brain centers that connect the purely sensory pain processing centers of the brain with some of the emotional and evaluative parts of the brain, or areas of the brain that take a sensory stimulus and say, “How do I interpret this? How do I feel about this’?” Mease said.

    For years, fibromyalgia has been a highly misunderstood syndrome, with some doctors doubting it even existed, and others attributing the pain to depression or other psychological issues.

    That began to change early this decade, when brain scans showed pain-processing abnormalities in fibromyalgia patients, Mease said.

    “That first neuroimaging study really demonstrated fibromyalgia patients were different than normal individuals, and at a neurobiological level, were truly experiencing more pain at lower intensities,” Mease said.

    The new research moves understanding of the condition a step further, by exploring what’s happening in the brain during a resting state.

    “Regardless of poking or prodding them, this study is trying to get at an understanding of what is crackling in the brain, intrinsically, such that they have this higher sensitivity,” Mease said.

    About 10 million Americans are believed to have fibromyalgia, almost 90 percent of whom are women, according to the National Fibromyalgia Association. Sufferers report a history of widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least three months, and pain in at least 11 of 18 “tender points.”

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store

  • Scans Reveal Brain Abnormalities in Fibromyalgia Patients

    Researchers have detected abnormalities in the brains of people with fibromyalgia, a complex, chronic condition characterized by muscle pain and fatigue.

    “We showed in our study that the functional abnormalities observed were mainly related to disability,” and not to anxiety and depression status, said Dr. Eric Guedj, the study’s lead author and a researcher at Centre Hospitalier-Universitaire de la Timone in France.

    While some researchers have suggested that the pain reported by fibromyalgia patients was the result of depression, the new study suggests otherwise. The abnormalities found on brain scans done by the study authors were independent of the women’s anxiety and depression levels, Guedj said.

    The French researchers evaluated 20 women diagnosed with fibromyalgia and 10 healthy women without the condition who served as a control group. They asked all the women to respond to questionnaires to determine levels of pain, disability, anxiety and depression.

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    Then, the researchers performed brain imaging called single photon emission computed tomography, or SPECT.

    The imaging showed that women with the syndrome had “brain perfusion” — or blood flow abnormalities — compared to the healthy women. The researchers then found that these abnormalities were directly correlated with the severity of disease symptoms.

    An increase in blood flow was found in the brain region known to discriminate pain intensity, the researchers found.

    The findings were published in the November issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

    An estimated 10 million Americans are thought to have fibromyalgia, the majority of them women, according to the National Fibromyalgia Association. They report a history of widespread pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least three months, and pain in at least 11 of 18 “tender points.”

    Besides pain, fibromyalgia symptoms include fatigue; problems with cognitive functioning, memory and concentration; difficulty sleeping; and stiffness.

    The cause of fibromyalgia remains a mystery, according to the association, but it may occur following physical trauma such as an injury, experts say. Treatments focus on relieving symptoms and helping patients function.

    In previous research, Guedj and his team had found functional abnormalities in areas of the brain of fibromyalgia patients. The latest study goes a step further, demonstrating that the brain abnormalities are correlated with disease severity, he said.

    Dr. Patrick Wood, senior medical adviser for the National Fibromyalgia Association, said the new study provides “further evidence of an objective difference between patients with fibromyalgia and those who don’t have the disorder.” Wood reviewed the study results but was not involved with the research.

    Other studies have found a correlation between brain abnormalities and fibromyalgia symptoms, Wood said, adding that the new study adds more evidence and information on how the abnormalities affect patients.

    https://fibromyalgia-6.creator-spring.com/
    https://www.teepublic.com/stores/fibromyalgia-store

    Click Here to Visit the Store and find Much More….

    For More Information Related to Fibromyalgia Visit below sites:

    References:

    Fibromyalgia Contact Us Directly

    Click here to Contact us Directly on Inbox

    Official Fibromyalgia Blogs

    Click here to Get the latest Chronic illness Updates

    Fibromyalgia Stores

    Click here to Visit Fibromyalgia Store