Dear Fibromyalgia

Tag: fibromyalgia warriors

Celebrate the resilience of Fibromyalgia warriors, sharing stories of strength, tips for managing symptoms, and resources for support and empowerment.

  • 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

  • Text Neck Is a Real Thing

    Text Neck Is a Real Thing

    Your cellphone puts the world at your fingertips, but it can wreak havoc with your neck. There’s even a name for the pain you get when looking down at your screen — “text neck” — and it can cause problems along the entire length of your spine.

    Bending your head forward multiplies the amount of weight your neck muscles need to support. Normally your neck supports the 10 pounds that your head weighs, but when bending forward it may need to support the equivalent of 60 pounds.

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

    The following tips from the University of California’s Ergonomics Injury Prevention Program can help.

    Find the best angle. The best viewing angle is a bit below eye level, so remember to adjust the way you hold your phone.

    Give it a rest. Being constantly bent over looking at your screen or contorting yourself to view your smartphone from different angles can cause problems. Take frequent breaks and use that time to stretch your neck, shoulders and back.

    Make adjustments. Your smartphone comes with myriad ways to adjust how you use it. Learn how to change the settings for font size, contrast and brightness to make it easier to see the screen — that helps to avoid eye strain, which can lead to headaches.

    How you hold your phone also makes a difference. You should frequently change the way you grip your phone. And alternate typing between your index fingers and thumbs to reduce pain from repetitive thumb movement.

    Don’t overlook the large number of ways you can talk on your smartphone without holding it. Remember that you can give your hands a break by using a hands-free option like the speakerphone or dictation options.

    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

  • Don’t Let Arthritis Pain Stop You From Exercising

    Don’t Let Arthritis Pain Stop You From Exercising

    Is arthritis pain getting in the way of your fitness plans? That need not be the case.

    In fact, physical activity can be vital to your continued mobility.

    Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that affects about 27 million Americans — most often in the knees and hips, but also in the lower back and neck.

    Doctors describe it as a degenerative disease — meaning the joint has worn down. Usually that’s from simple wear-and-tear over the years, or from overuse.

    This occurs when there’s a breakdown of the cartilage that covers the end of each bone. The cushioning effect is lost. The result is pain, swelling and problems moving the joint that’s been affected. Over time, the bones themselves can be damaged.

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

    What to do? Get moving.

    It may be hard, especially at first, but physical activity is key to treating osteoarthritis. Studies have shown that exercise not only helps reduce pain but also improves mobility.

    Being active should help with weight loss, too — and excess weight contributes to the pain of osteoarthritis.

    Start slow and simple, suggests the Arthritis Foundation. Just walking around the neighborhood can help. So can a fun and easy exercise class.

    Adding some strengthening exercises will help build muscle around whatever joint is affected by osteoarthritis. Range-of-motion exercises can help you become more flexible and less stiff. Simply start with gentle stretches that take your joints through their full range of motion.

    Yoga and tai chi can help relieve stiffness and improve flexibility, too.

    Whatever activity you choose, just make sure it’s easy on your joints. No twisting and pounding. Besides walking, good options are biking, water aerobics, swimming and dancing.

    A key to success, though, is to pay attention to how your body tolerates your new activity. And be patient. When you have arthritis, it can take your body longer to adjust to new activity, notes the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    If you haven’t been active, start with just three to five minutes of activity twice a day. Once your body has adjusted, add 10 minutes to your activity time. Then add 10 minutes more, and so on, until you’re as active as you want to be.

    For those who have a hard time even walking at first, consider working with a physical therapist. This specialist can create a program tailored to your abilities — and one that can adapt as you get stronger.

    One important reminder: Check with your doctor before adding new activity and any time you experience unusual pain or swelling in the joint affected by osteoarthritis.

    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

  • Do Over-the-Counter Painkillers Alter Emotions, Reasoning?

    Sure, an over-the-counter painkiller like Tylenol or Advil can help ease aches and pains, but could it mess with your thoughts and emotions, too?

    That’s the finding from a new review of recently published studies. The studies focused on how nonprescription painkillers might temporarily alter emotions such as empathy or even a person’s reasoning skills.

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

    “In many ways, the reviewed findings are alarming,” said a team led by Kyle Ratner, a psychology and brain science researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

    “Consumers assume that when they take an over-the-counter pain medication, it will relieve their physical symptoms, but they do not anticipate broader psychological effects,” the study group said.

    One clinical psychiatrist who reviewed the findings said they aren’t far-fetched.

    “Intuitively, this makes sense, as physical and emotional senses can overlap in the brain,” said Dr. Alan Manevitz of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

    “While physical pain can be locally ‘felt’ at the site of a physical injury, the main source and registration of physical pain is in the brain,” he explained. “The same is true of hurtful, emotional and painful feelings. We say our ‘heart is breaking,’ but emotions are felt in the brain.”

    The new study reviewed findings from studies focused on common over-the-counter painkillers such as ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol).

    The experiments suggest that a regular dose of the pills might affect a person’s sensitivity to painful emotional experiences. For example, in one study, women who took ibuprofen reported less hurt feelings from emotionally painful experiences, such as being excluded by others or writing about being betrayed.

    However, men had the opposite pattern—they became more sensitive to these types of scenarios if they had just taken the painkiller.

    Ratner’s team suggested that these medicines might also reduce a person’s ability to empathize with the pain of others. For example, one experiment found that people who took acetaminophen were less emotionally distressed while reading about a person suffering physical or emotional pain and felt less regard for the person, compared with people who did not take acetaminophen.

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

    People also seemed more willing to part with possessions after taking an over-the-counter painkiller in one study: Their asking price for a possession was lower if they had recently taken such a drug.

    Nonprescription painkillers might even impair “information processing,” the researchers said. In one study, people who took acetaminophen made more errors of omission during a task than those who did not take the drug, for example.

    Dr. Michael Ketteringham, a psychiatrist at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City, reviewed the findings. He stressed that—given an ongoing epidemic of opioid abuse—people shouldn’t be too concerned about the new report.

    “Over-the-counter pain medications play an important role as alternative medication to opioids in the treatment of pain,” Ketteringham said.

    But the study team wondered if, sometime in the future, it might be possible that the medicines could be used to help people deal with hurt feelings.

    Still, both Ratner’s team and Manevitz stressed that it’s far too early to turn over-the-counter painkillers into psychological treatments.

    “Clinically, we are a far cry away from the doctor saying, ‘Heartbreak? Take two Tylenol and call me in the morning,’” Manevitz 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

  • Electrical Pulses May Ease Lower Back Pain

    A new treatment that aims electrical pulses at irritated nerves around the spinal cord appears effective at relieving chronic lower back pain and sciatica, a preliminary study suggests.

    The minimally invasive procedure, called image-guided pulsed radiofrequency, eased lingering pain in 80 percent of 10 patients after a single 10-minute treatment. Ninety percent were able to avoid surgery.

    “Given the very low risk profile of this technique, patients suffering herniated disc and nerve root compression symptoms may undergo a safe and fast recovery, going back to normal activities within days,” said study author Dr. Alessandro Napoli, an interventional radiologist at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy.

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

    “In fact,” he added, “one of the dramatic advantages of this technology is that we can perform it in a day-surgery setting, without anesthesia, and [patients] go home the same day.”

    Napoli’s study was scheduled for presentation Wednesday at the Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting in Chicago. Studies presented at scientific conferences typically haven’t been peer-reviewed or published, and results are considered preliminary.

    About 8 in 10 people suffer from lower back pain at some point in their lives, according to study documents. This pain can be due to a herniated disc in the lower spine. Sciatica is radiating leg pain caused by a pinched nerve in the lower spine, which also may be due to a herniated disc.

    Also called a slipped or ruptured disc, a herniated disc occurs when the spongy material inside a spinal disc squeezes through its tough outer shell because of aging or injury. This material can press on surrounding nerves, causing pain and numbness or tingling in the legs, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

    Conservative, nonsurgical approaches typically ease symptoms of a herniated disc over time, according to the AAOS. These treatments include rest, gentle exercise, pain relievers, anti-inflammatory drugs, cold or hot compresses, physical therapy and massage therapy.

    Learn More: Self-Care for Lower Back Pain

    However, about 20 percent of those with acute low back pain don’t find relief through these measures. That leads some to decide on surgery to remove disc material pressing on their spinal nerves. For these people, Napoli said, image-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment may become a viable option if larger studies reinforce his findings.

    Napoli’s research included 80 people who had experienced at least three months of low back pain from a herniated disc that hadn’t responded to conservative treatments.

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

    Image-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment uses computed tomography—a CT scan—to help physicians insert a needle to the location of the herniated disc and surrounding nerves. A probe that’s inserted through the needle tip delivers pulsed radiofrequency energy to the area over a 10-minute period, resolving the herniation without touching the disc, Napoli explained.

    More than 80 percent of the 80 study participants were pain-free a year after a single treatment. Six people required a second treatment session.

    Pulsed radiofrequency has been widely used in pain medicine for other types of chronic pain, Napoli noted.

    He said the treatment works by “eliminating the inflammation process” in nerves surrounding the herniated disc, hindering painful muscle contractions. “The aim was to interrupt this cycle and give the body the chance to restore a natural healing,” he added.

    Dr. Scott Roberts, a physiatrist with Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., said the new findings showed “an impressive drop in pain and improvement in function.” However, he noted that the research didn’t include a control group for comparison with people not given the treatment.

    “With no control group, we don’t know how much of the improvement we’re seeing would have happened anyway,” Roberts said. “I was very encouraged by [the study] because its results are significant, but it’s far from conclusive without a control group.”

    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

  • Pain Relief for Achy Joints

    Getting older certainly has its perks, but the reality is that aging can take its toll on many of us, despite our efforts to get out there and stay active—especially as the cold weather sets in.

    No, it wasn’t an exaggeration when your mother/father/grandmother or someone else rubbed their knee/elbow/back, winced and muttered, “I can feel a storm coming on.”

    Yes, there is evidence that shows a link between weather changes and chronic pain, especially joint pain and migraines. A 2007 Tufts University study showed that for every 10-degree drop in temperature, there was an incremental increase in arthritis pain. Low barometric pressure, low temperatures and precipitation can all increase pain. The theory is that these conditions increase swelling in the joint capsule, says the Arthritis Foundation.

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

    It all adds up to giving your body an opportunity to heal itself by reducing its creation of pain-driving substances and stimulating mitochondria, the “energy packs” that drive cellular function and repair.

    Here are a few of the more common causes of joint pain and ways to ease your discomfort.

    1. Injury
    You slip and fall. Overdo it at the gym. Get rear-ended in your car. Sleep in the wrong position. Sit cramped on a plane for too many hours. Have poor posture. There are a zillion ways to injure your body, whether quite innocently and unknowingly from an everyday cause or overuse from repetitive motions over time.

    That pain can lead to stiffness, sleep disturbances, a burning sensation in your muscles, achiness or acute pain running from mild to severe.

    What to do to relieve muscle tension and soreness? Well, you can complain, call a doctor, take a pain reliever or rest—but don’t underestimate the power of massage in delivering a significant reduction in pain and soreness.

    2. Osteoarthritis
    This chronic condition of the joints is sometimes referred to as degenerative joint disease or “wear and tear” arthritis. It gets its name from the way it develops: cartilage, the cushion between our joints, breaks down over time and with use. What comes next? Pain, stiffness and swelling.

    If your knees, hips, lower back and neck hurt, you’re in good company with the 27 million other Americans who feel the pain. Also affected could be the small joints in your fingers and the bases of your big toe and thumb.

    Although physical activity might be the furthest thing from your mind when you’re feeling this way, it pays to be active. Studies show that simple exercise, like walking, can help manage or even reduce the pain from osteoarthritis. Weight management, stretching and anti-inflammatory medications can help, too, as can alternative approaches like massage, acupuncture and hydrotherapy.

    3. Bursitis
    We all have bursae—small sacs filled with fluid that cushion the bones, tendons and muscles near and around the joints of the shoulders, elbows and hips. When these become inflamed from repetitive movements, you’ve got bursitis, which can also affect the knees, heels and base of the big toe. Sometimes you can get bursitis from putting pressure on a joint for too long—like kneeling or leaning on your knees or elbows, for instance.

    The pain from bursitis can make you feel achy or stiff and can hurt when you move or press on the joint, which might also appear swollen or red.

    While you can’t prevent all types of bursitis, there are some things you can do to reduce the likelihood you’ll get it. If you do a lot of things that require kneeling, take stress off your knees by using a kneeling pad; warm up and stretch prior to strenuous activity; maintain a healthy weight to take stress off your joints and strengthen the muscles around them; use your knees, rather than your back, to lift heavy loads.

    Bursitis usually improves on its own, but you can help it along by resting, icing and taking a pain reliever. More aggressive treatment, if necessary, might include physical therapy, prescription medications and steroid injections.

    4. Gout
    This inflammatory form of arthritis affects about 4 percent of American adults.

    Many people think of gout as a “rich man’s disease,” a result of a lavish and expensive diet. That’s only a very small part of the picture. Most of the uric acid—actually about two-thirds of it—is produced naturally by your body. The rest comes from diet, in the form of purines, found in animal and plant foods. In fact, one of the great myths of gout is that it is caused by or can be controlled by diet. The reality of it is that gout is mainly a metabolic disease with genetic origins.

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

    Gout occurs when there’s too much uric acid in your body and your kidneys can’t flush it out. It builds in the bloodstream and forms needle-like crystals in a joint. Those crystals, in turn, bring on sudden and severe attacks of pain, tenderness, redness and swelling. It commonly affects the big toe but can also occur in your feet, ankles, knees, hands and wrists. It can make the joint feel like it’s on fire. The pain can get so severe that even the weight of a sheet can be impossible to tolerate.

    Don’t think that you don’t have control over gout. You might not be able to change your genetics, but you can change factors like being overweight, which contributes to things like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar—all linked to gout.

    Experts say that although eating a low-purine diet won’t cure gout, it’s important to eat well and maintain a healthy weight. And, it’s wise to limit foods that increase uric acid levels, such as red meat, shellfish like shrimp and lobster, beer, liquor and high-fructose corn syrup.

    To help ease the pain from acute attacks and prevent future ones, gout is usually treated with medication like nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and others), colchicine (a pain reliever used for gout pain) and corticosteroids (like prednisone).

    5. Lyme Disease
    Achy knees and Lyme disease often go together, and that’s because the bacteria transmitted by the tick bite can spread to your joints. This stiffness could also develop in your neck, hands and feet. Aside from joint pain, Lyme’s usual symptoms are fever, headache, fatigue and a skin rash characterized by a bulls-eye red circle that usually appears about seven days following the bite.

    Left untreated, Lyme can also spread to the heart and nervous system.

    Each year, approximately 30,000 people get bitten by a tick and develop Lyme disease. The first way to prevent it is to reduce your exposure by avoiding wooded and brush areas with high grass and leaf litter. Also, use insect and tick repellent, and inspect your body thoroughly for ticks after you’ve been outdoors. Putting your clothing in a hot dryer for 10 minutes can kill off any ticks that hitched a ride.

    Caught early, Lyme can be successfully treated with a variety of oral, and sometimes, intravenous antibiotics or penicillin.

    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

  • Lady Gaga’s Fibromyalgia Puts Illness in the Spotlight

    Earlier this month, superstar Lady Gaga took to social media to announce that she has long struggled with fibromyalgia.

    The news has put the painful and poorly understood illness center stage.

    Just this week, the singer announced on Twitter that she’s postponing the European leg of her 2017 “Joanne” concert tour due to what she described as fibromyalgia-related “trauma and chronic pain.”

    Gaga hasn’t offered up details of her condition, although it comes just before a new TV documentary about the singer—set to premiere Friday on Netflix—that will reportedly highlight some of her health concerns.

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

    But one thing is already clear: the disease does, at times, pull the rug out from under the performer’s best-laid plans.

    “The pain and disability seen in fibromyalgia is typically worse than almost any other chronic pain condition,” explained Dr. Daniel Clauw. He is a professor of anesthesiology, medicine/rheumatology and psychiatry at the University of Michigan.

    “[The pain] doesn’t just affect one area of the body you can avoid moving, and often is accompanied by severe fatigue, sleep, memory and other issues,” Clauw noted.

    Dr. Marco Loggia added that “it can be extremely debilitating.” Loggia is associate director of the Center for Integrative Pain NeuroImaging at Massachusetts General Hospital in Charlestown, Mass.

    “Most of the patients we encounter in our research studies are significantly impacted by the disorder,” Loggia noted, “which sometimes prevents them from having normal work and social lives.”

    Fibromyalgia was first recognized by the American Medical Association as a distinct disease back in 1987, and is “a relatively common chronic pain disorder,” Loggia said.

    How common? The National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association (NFMCPA) indicates that the illness affects up to 4 percent of the world’s population, and anywhere from 5 million to 10 million Americans. It is much more common among women, who account for 80 percent of patients. Although it can affect children, it is most often diagnosed during middle age.

    According to Loggia, the disorder is characterized “by persistent, widespread pain, fatigue, un-refreshing sleep, memory loss, poor concentration and other symptoms.”

    The NFMCPA adds that it can also give rise to sensitivity to light and sound, as well as to a degree of psychological distress in the form of anxiety and depression.

    But what exactly is it, and how does it develop?

    The picture is murky, with the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases flatly acknowledging that “the causes of fibromyalgia are unknown.”

    But experts suggest that the disorder is likely driven by several factors, including exposure to a traumatic event (like a car crash) and/or exposure to repetitive injuries. Central nervous system disturbances may also play a role, as might a genetic predisposition to feel pain in reaction to stimuli that most people perceive as benign.

    Struggling to find more in-depth answers, Loggia noted that American and German researchers have recently identified a subset of fibromyalgia patients who appear to have abnormalities in some of their peripheral small nerve fibers.

    His own research suggests that some degree of brain inflammation may be at play, given that brain inflammation is common among chronic back pain sufferers and most fibromyalgia patients suffer from chronic back pain.

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

    Unfortunately, Clauw cautioned that the failure to identify a clear cause for fibromyalgia has given rise to the myth “that it is not real.” That, he said, is decidedly not the case.

    Loggia agreed.

    “Traditionally, patients with fibromyalgia have been met with a great deal of skepticism, stigma and even condescension, including by many physicians that are supposed to take care of them,” Loggia said. “Even today, their pain is often dismissed as ‘all in their head,’ not real,” he added.

    “However, many studies—and particularly those using brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging—have now provided substantial support to the notion that the excessive sensitivity to pain that these patients demonstrate is genuine. I think that it is time to stop dismissing these patients,” Loggia said.

    What these patients need now are “better drug and non-drug treatments,” Clauw said.

    “We’ve only begun to take this condition seriously from a research standpoint for about 20 to 30 years,” he noted, adding that there are no “really effective” drugs for fibromyalgia.

    Loggia said that means a lot of the focus has been placed on pain management, with patients turning to interventions such as painkillers (opioids) as well as yoga and cognitive behavioral therapy. “But these interventions are rarely ‘completely curative,’” he added.

    As for Lady Gaga, she likely faces a better prognosis than most. “That this was diagnosed when she was younger is good, because many people go years or decades undiagnosed,” Clauw said. “But she also almost certainly got better recognition and treatment for her condition given who she is. Others in similar medical—but different social—situations would struggle to even find a doctor to see them and take them seriously.”

    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

  • New Chronic Pain Treatments Help the Whole Person

    New Chronic Pain Treatments Help the Whole Person

    Women who live with chronic pain seek relief through all kinds of treatments, from acupuncture to physical therapy, medication to psychology.

    But in recent years, researchers have proven a multidisciplinary approach to chronic pain management can offer substantial and sustained pain relief.

    Even if you have explored multiple treatment modalities, you likely haven’t experienced a true multidisciplinary pain management program. That’s because they are few and far between. These complex team-driven programs require resources typically found only at large medical institutions. Some patients travel from far away to receive care because the potential life-changing effects are worth it.

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

    What is a multidisciplinary pain management program?

    In a multidisciplinary approach, a team of clinicians collaborates to create custom treatment programs for each patient, using a variety of modalities. Patients often spend many days a week, sometimes for multiple weeks, in a program.

    “It’s more of a patient-centered, goal-oriented, holistic approach,” said Tim J. Lamer, MD, pain management specialist at Mayo Clinic and president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. Lamer explained that multidisciplinary pain management is like a puzzle where every piece matters—and they all fit together.

    Institutions like the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab Pain Management Center in Chicago provide a model for multidisciplinary care, according to attending physician Shana Margolis, MD. There, most patients have previously tried one discipline at a time but not an approach that combines them all. The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab uses a biopsychosocial approach, meaning its team treats biological, psychological, and social drivers of pain, both as individual forces and as forces that intersect with one another.

    Multidisciplinary pain management programs may include:

    • Pain psychology: Teaching patients how mood affects pain and how pain affects mood, often using cognitive behavioral therapy. “When you’re in pain, it can make you more irritable, anxious, and depressed, which then can make it harder to manage your pain, and you can get stuck in a vicious cycle,” said Margolis.
    • Biofeedback therapy: Providing a variety of relaxation techniques that employ monitoring technology that gives patients instant feedback on their efforts.
    • Physical therapy: Including time spent on strengthening, range of motion, biomechanics, and pacing.
    • Occupational therapy: Focusing on ergonomics and improving a patient’s ability to perform everyday tasks with less pain.
    • Vocational therapy: Helping patients learn to reclaim their working life through a variety of strategies.
    • Art therapy: Using creativity to cope with pain, express emotions, and even reduce symptoms.
    • Interventional therapies: Employing techniques like nerve blocks, injections, or electrical stimulator devices to treat the neurological aspect of pain.
    • Physician and nurse monitoring: Ensuring patients are using medications properly, that comorbid conditions are also well-managed, and more.

    Margolis said a key aspect of a multidisciplinary approach is that the patient is at the center of the program, playing an active role in their own care, as opposed to simply receiving treatment. “We’re trying to give patients tools in their toolbox so they can learn to self-manage their pain,” she said.

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

    Research shows results

    Lamer said most patients in a multidisciplinary approach experience improved function, mental health and management of pain in their busy lives. And there’s research to prove it, he said, including at least one study that followed patients for as long as 13 years who experienced long-term benefits.

    More research by Shirley Ryan Ability Lab Pain Management Center and the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago showed patients experienced improvement in pain, pain-related anxiety, ability to cope, and depression, among others.

    Margolis said that while many people can benefit from a multidisciplinary pain management approach, patients with widespread pain conditions like complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia are likely to experience the greatest benefit. “Any kind of chronic pain condition that’s really affecting the patient’s lifestyle is where we excel,” she said. Emphasis on the mind-body connection and mindfulness plays a significant role in a patient’s success.

    Ready to take action?

    If you’re looking for a multidisciplinary pain management program, ask at your nearest large medical center. If there isn’t one in your immediate area, reach out to reputable programs and ask if they can recommend a provider in your area.

    The American Chronic Pain Association offers an extensive overview of pain management programs.

    The Alliance for Balanced Pain Management offers resources for patients seeking to understand their treatment options.

    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