Shrug Off Shoulder Pain

By Emily Sohn, Prevention

Prevention

You walk for your knees, stretch for your back, and lift weights for your bones. But what about your shoulders?

Too often ignored, the complex joints require at least as much attention as your body's other high-maintenance areas: Shoulder pain accounts for 16 percent of all reported muscle and joint pain, second only to lower-back discomfort. The potential causes are myriad, from fraying cartilage and inflamed bursa to more serious tears in the rotator cuff, a juncture of four tendons at the top of the shoulder that help it rotate smoothly and keep it stable. Arthritis, pinched nerves, and a general tightening of the joint called frozen shoulder can also make daily activities—even washing your hair or brushing your teeth—difficult.

If you suffer an acute injury and have a full tear of your rotator cuff, surgery may be the option that offers the best chance for a complete recovery.

But if your pain develops gradually and without injury, you're better off initially trying rehabilitation and non-operative treatments. "The vast majority of women with shoulder pain don't require surgery," says Joseph Zuckerman, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases. Research shows that about two-thirds of patients with moderate shoulder pain can eliminate their discomfort without it. Here are some tips and a 15-minute exercise plan that will keep you swimming, golfing, and playing catch with your grandkids for decades to come.

Strength moves

At a glance

What you need: An exercise bench, an exercise ball, or a bed and light weights (1 to 4 pounds). You can also use cans of food, or filled small water bottles. Tip: Light weights best target the many small muscles around the rotator cuff.

What to do: Aim for three sets of 10 to 12 reps, once a day, three times a week, on nonconsecutive days. (If you can't do that many reps even with no weight, do what you can.) Do one set of each exercise before moving on to the second set. Start with no weight, then gradually add 1 pound every week or two, working up to 4 pounds over a six- to eight-week period.

Tip: Don't concentrate only on the lifting phase of the exercises; it's the lowering motion that best strengthens the rotator cuff. Do the exercise slowly, keeping the pace uniform in each direction.

Option: The exercises that follow can be done while standing if you don't have a bench. Make sure you bend over at the hips so that your torso is parallel to the floor. Bend your knees slightly and support yourself by placing one hand on your thigh as you work the opposite arm to minimize strain on your lower back.

The "I" flex

Hold a weight in right hand. Lie facedown on exercise bench, exercise ball, or bed with right arm hanging down, palm facing in. (If you have a bench, you can work both arms together for any of these moves.) Keeping elbow straight, slowly raise weight forward until arm is level with body, thumb toward ceiling. (If you imagine that your head is at 12 o'clock and your feet at 6 o'clock, your right hand should point to 1 o'clock.)

If you feel pain, don't lift as high, staying within a comfortable range of motion. Your shoulder will still benefit, and you can expand your range as your shoulder strengthens and feels better over the next few weeks.

Lower slowly. Repeat 10 times. Switch sides and repeat sequence with left arm rising to the 11 o'clock position.

The "T" move

In same start position and with same weight, turn palm forward and raise one arm at a time to 3 o'clock on right and 9 o'clock on left, thumb toward ceiling. (If done simultaneously, your body would form a T.)

The "Y" move

Next, raise arm to side, slightly in front of you. Do one arm at a time, bringing right arm to 2 o'clock and left to 10 o'clock.

Chili Pepper Compound Can Bring Pain Relief

By HealthDay

University of Buffalo scientists say they have found how capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their fiery flavor, also works to relieve joint and muscle pain.

In a study appearing Tuesday in the journal PLoS Biology, researchers found that capsaicin flips on nerve-ending receptors that sense both pain and heat.

"The receptor acts like a gate to the neurons. When stimulated it opens, letting outside calcium enter the cells until the receptor shuts down, a process called desensitization," study leader Feng Qin, an associate professor at the university's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, said in a news release issued by the institution.

The flood of calcium changes the levels at which the receptors detect pain signal. "In other words, the receptor had not desensitized per se, but its responsiveness range was shifted," Qin said.

While capsaicin has been used in folk medicines for generations, knowing how it works in relation to PIP2 may lead to developing other analgesics that ease pain without first causing irritation on their own, the team said.

Gout and Dietary Restrictions

By Robert Shmerling, M.D., Harvard Medical School, for MSN Health & Fitness

Q: I recently had my first experience with gout. I had blood work done, which showed high levels of uric acid. I was given a list of many foods I should avoid, but the list is so extensive! I'm not sure what to eat besides fruits and vegetables. What do you recommend to balance my diet? I want to be strict with my intake and get better results in my next blood work in three months.

A: Personally, I don't recommend strict dietary modifications after an initial attack of gout. Here's why.

Gout is a condition in which uric acid deposits in joints, causing inflammation. A gouty joint is an unhappy joint! It's painful, swollen and does not move well.

People with gout almost always have high blood levels of uric acid, one of the body's normal waste products. Most uric acid is removed from the body by the kidneys, so people with kidney disease typically have high levels of it. But gender, genetics, body weight, and other factors go into making a person’s level of uric acid what it is.

A unique property of uric acid is that it cannot always dissolve well in the blood and tissues. When the blood levels are even slightly high, uric acid can get deposited as solid crystals in the joints (causing arthritis), kidneys (causing kidney stones), and other tissues.

Recent research suggests that a diet high in meat, seafood, and alcohol increases the risk of newly diagnosed gout. In addition, dairy products and coffee may be protective, lowering the risk of gout. However, these studies looked at people who had not had gout before. They did not assess the effect of diet on people who already had gout.

The list that you got of foods to avoid was probably a list of foods that are high in purines, a building block of protein that is broken down into uric acid. Most of the foods with the highest purine content are not ones that people eat often. These include thymus, pancreas, anchovies, liver, kidneys, brains and game meats.

It turns out that following a strict diet to avoid purines doesn't usually accomplish much. There are better ways to help lower uric acid and decrease the risk of further gouty attacks. It's much more effective to:

• Limit alcohol intake (alcohol is known to trigger gout attacks)
• Lose excess weight (being overweight increases the risk of gout)
• Avoid foods that seem to trigger attacks of gout for you

Ask your doctor if there are medications you are taking (especially diuretics) that can cause uric acid buildup, and see if you can switch to something else.

When needed, there are medications (especially allopurinol) that can effectively lower uric acid and markedly decrease the risk of gouty attacks. They are much better at doing so than following a strict diet.

Aches and Pains—Is Your Statin to Blame?

Muscle pain is the most common side effect of cholesterol-lowering statins.

By Harvard Health Publications

Peek inside the medicine cabinet of an American over age 50 and you're likely to spy a statin. This family of drugs is good at controlling blood levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the so-called bad cholesterol. Statins reduce the chances of having a first or repeat heart attack or stroke and of dying prematurely of heart disease. They may also have other benefits that range from easing inflammation to battling memory loss and dementia. The six statins currently on the market are Crestor (rosuvastatin), Lescol (fluvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin), Mevacor (lovastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), and Zocor (simvastatin).

As medications go, statins are pretty safe. Most people take one without any negative consequences. Muscle problems are the most common side effect. About one in 10 people who starts a statin reports having muscle aches and pains. In most cases, these symptoms go away on their own or stop with a lower dose or a change to a different statin. About one in 1,000 statin users develops myositis, an inflammation of the muscles that causes tenderness and fever. An even smaller number, about one in every 10,000 people, develops a serious condition called rhabdomyolysis (rab-doe-my-OLL-eh-sis). This breakdown of muscle fibers can damage the kidneys and, if not caught in time, can be deadly.

Key points About one in 10 people who take a cholesterol-lowering statin experiences muscle pain. Tell your doctor about unexplained aches or pains right away. Usually, the pain isn't due to a statin. Treatment options include reducing the dose, stopping the statin and then restarting it or switching to a different one, stopping the use of another problematic medication, or trying a non-statin cholesterol-lowering agent.

On the alert

No one knows why some people develop muscle problems when they take a statin, but these conditions probably don't strike willy-nilly. In a review of statin-related muscle problems in the journal Atherosclerosis, Dr. Yiannis Chatzizisis, a cardiology research fellow at Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues pointed out that they are more likely to occur in people who are older, who have a condition that can interfere with the breakdown of a statin (see "Setting the stage for aches"), who have conditions affecting their muscles, or who take a number of other medications. Coenzyme Q10, a substance that helps cells turn food into energy, was once thought to be involved, but ongoing research doesn't support that idea. Genes play a role, though which genes might be involved is an open question.

Statin-related muscle problems usually appear soon after a person starts the drug. In a French study that focused on such cases, about half cropped up within a month, and 85 percent within six months. Muscle problems can appear later, say after adding a new medication that can interact with a statin or starting to drink lots of grapefruit juice (which affects how the body breaks down some statins).

Setting the stage for aches Several conditions and medications increase the chances of developing statin-related muscle pain or other problems. These include: Kidney disease Liver disease Muscle disease Mitochondrial disorders An underactive thyroid gland Medications such as fibrates, some antibiotics and antifungals, protease inhibitors, fluoxetine (Prozac), verapamil (a calcium-channel blocker), warfarin, amiodarone, cimetidine (Tagamet).

Coping with statin aches

If you develop muscle pain after starting a statin, tell your doctor right away. General pain or weakness in different muscle groups is more worrisome than a problem in a leg or shoulder. The symptoms usually represent nothing more than overdoing it at the gym or the aftermath of touch football with a grandchild. But it's better to be safe than sorry.

In addition to a physical exam, your doctor should test your blood for creatine kinase. This is a protein that injured muscle cells dump into the bloodstream. A high level of creatine kinase helps identify statin-induced muscle problems, though it doesn't make for a definite diagnosis.

If the blood test shows a lot of creatine kinase, or the pain is intolerable, your doctor will have you stop the statin. Once you are back to normal, there are several options. You could try the same statin at a lower dose. Some people have no problems on the second try; others do. You could try a different statin. Fluvastatin (Lescol) is an option, since it is the least likely to cause muscle problems. You could also try non-statin approaches to lowering your cholesterol, like putting more emphasis on diet and exercise, or taking niacin or Welchol (colesevelam).

If your aches and pains are tolerable and your creatine kinase is normal or only mildly elevated, your doctor might suggest sticking with the statin for a short time. In some people, the pain fades by itself. Reducing the dose, switching to a different statin, or trying a non-statin medication are also appropriate options.

Pain Management - What Can You Do to Help Control Your Pain?

What Can You Do to Help Control Your Pain?

Your pain is unique. Only you know where your pain is located, how it feels, how much it hurts, how long it hurts and what makes it better. The key to getting the best pain relief is talking with your doctor and nurse about your pain. They will want to know how much pain you feel, where it is, and what it feels like.

The First Step: Talk About Your Pain

Telling your care team in detail about your pain is the best thing that you can do to assist in your cancer treatment. Sometimes patients don't receive the best pain treatment because they don't let their care team know about their pain. Patients may not want to complain, they may fear becoming addicted to pain medications, they may fear the side effects of pain more than the pain itself, or they may want to save their pain treatment options until they "really" need them. Each of these beliefs will hinder pain treatment and also hinder cancer therapy.

Why Pain Should Be Treated

Pain can affect you in many ways. It can keep you from being active, from sleeping well, from enjoying family and friends, and from eating. Pain can make you feel afraid or depressed. Pain may also prevent your full participation in general rehabilitation programs and may slow your recovery from treatment.

Most cancer pain can be controlled with treatment. When there is less pain, you will probably feel more active and interested in doing things you enjoy. Tell your doctor or nurse right away if you are feeling pain. Getting help for your pain early can make pain treatment more effective.

Answering the questions below will help you communicate with your health care provider about your pain. After discussing your pain, your doctor or nurse may want to examine you or order x-rays or other tests. These tests will help the doctor or nurse find the pain's cause.

To communicate how you feel, ask yourself the following questions:

Where is the pain?You may have pain in more than one place. Be sure to list all of the painful areas.

What does the pain feel like?Does it ache, throb, burn or tingle? You may wish to use other words to describe your pain.

How bad is the pain?You can use a number scale to rate your pain (pdf) from 0 to 10, where 0 means no pain and 10 means the worst pain you can imagine. Or, you can describe your pain with words such as "none", "mild", "moderate", "severe" or "worst possible pain". A special pain rating scale that uses faces(pdf)to indicate levels of pain has also been developed to help children communicate how they feel. You may find these scales useful for keeping track of how your pain changes in response to treatment, activities or the time of day.

What makes the pain better or worse?You may have already found ways to make your pain feel better (for example, using heat or cold, or taking certain medicines). You may have also found that sitting or lying in certain positions or doing some activities affects the pain.

If you are being treated for pain now, how well is the treatment working?You may want to describe how well the treatment is working by saying how much of the pain is relieved, such as all, almost all, none, etc.

Has the pain changed?You may notice that your pain changes over time. It may get better or worse or it can feel different. For example, the pain may have been a dull ache at first and has changed to a tingle. It is important to report changes in your pain. Changes in pain do not always mean that the cancer has come back or grown. Describe how the pain was before and how it is now.

Next: Havea Plan

Work with your doctor or nurse to write a pain control plan that meets your needs. In a pain control plan, you and your doctor or nurse plan your pain control activities, including when you take your medicine, how and when to take extra medicine, and other things you can do to ease and prevent your pain. Your doctor or nurse may also list medicines and other treatments that will help with side effects or other aches and pains, such as headaches.

Many medicines and treatments can be used to treat pain. If a schedule, medicine or way that you are taking the medicine doesn't work for you, your doctor and nurse can help you find the medicine or approach that will help the most.

It may be helpful to keep a record of how the medicine is working. Sharing that record with your doctor or nurse will help them make your treatment more effective.

When To Take Your Pain Medicine

Take your medicine on a regular schedule (by the clock) and as your doctor tells you. This will help to keep pain under control. Do not skip a dose of medicine or wait for the pain to get worse before taking your medicine. The goal is to preventthe pain. Once you feel the pain, it is harder to get it under control.

Your doctor will usually give you additional medicine for "breakthrough pain" (a brief and often severe pain that occurs even though the patient is taking pain medicine regularly). If some activities make your pain worse (for example, riding in a car), you may need to take extra doses of pain medicine before these activities. Ask your doctor or nurse how and when to take extra medicine.

Call your doctor or nurse immediately if your pain increases or if you have new pain.Also call your doctor early to receive a refill of pain medicines. Do not let your medicines get below three or four days' supply.

From Yahoo Health

Cane may ease the load on arthritic knees

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults with knee arthritis may be able to reduce some of the load on their knee joint by walking with a cane, a new study suggests.

Australian researchers found that when they had 20 knee arthritis patients walk with a cane, it lessened the force on the inner side of the knee joint with each step.

All of the study participants were older than 50 and suffering from medial knee osteoarthritis -- a common form of arthritis that affects the side of the joint closer to the midline of the body.

The findings suggest that the majority of people with this type of knee arthritis can reduce the "load" on the inner knee by using a cane, senior researcher Dr. Rana S. Hinman told Reuters Health.

In theory, this could slow the progression of the arthritis, though that is not yet proven, said Hinman, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne School of Physiotherapy.

"This may have implications for a reduced risk of disease progression over time," she said, "but research is needed to determine whether this really is the case."

Hinman and her colleagues report the findings in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

The study included 40 men and women with painful medial knee arthritis. The researchers used a six-camera motion analysis system to closely study each patient's gait as he or she walked -- both barefoot and while wearing comfortable shoes.

Half of the study participants also had their gait analyzed while using a cane on the side opposite of the painful knee.

In general, Hinman's team found, the cane reduced the force on the inner knee.

On the other hand, walking while wearing shoes put more stress on the joint than walking barefoot did.

It's not clear why shoes had this effect, according to the researchers. And since walking around barefoot is not practical, at least outside of home, no one is recommending that knee arthritis sufferers try it.

Instead, more studies are needed to see what types of shoes are best for people with medial knee arthritis, Hinman and her colleagues say.

In the meantime, it is a good idea for women with the condition to avoid high heels, Hinman noted, since they are likely to increase the force on the inner knee. She added that shoe inserts called laterally- wedged insoles -- which are angled to be higher on the outer edge of the foot -- can also reduce the force on the inner side of the knee.

However, Hinman said, studies have not yet conclusively shown that the insoles actually improve knee arthritis symptoms.

SOURCE: Arthritis Care & Research, May 15, 2008.
By Amy Norton

What Safe Pain Relief Options Are Left?

It seems that every time we open a newspaper, we read about yet another danger from a popular pain reliever. Are there any safe options left to relieve our aches and pains?

The most widely used pain and anti-inflammatory medications are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include popular brands like Motrin and Aleve and the various brands of aspirin. There was much excitement when COX-2-selective NSAIDs were introduced about 7 years ago, because they were associated with less gastrointestinal bleeding, the most dangerous side effect of aspirin and some of the other NSAIDs.

By 2005, however, two of the most popular COX-2 drugs, Vioxx (rofecoxib) and Bextra (valdecoxib), were removed from the market because they significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular events.

A recent study has suggested that the cardiovascular risk of Vioxx may continue for at least a year after the drug has been discontinued, a finding that's led some heart experts to recommend "vigilant follow-up" for people who previously took this drug.

The remaining available COX-2 drug, Celebrex (celecoxib), carries a warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it may raise the risk of cardiovascular events. The FDA has required that all other NSAIDs, including over-the-counter and prescription drugs, carry a warning of their potential for increasing the risk for cardiovascular events, as well as life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding.

Aspirin, the one NSAID that protects against cardiovascular disease, carries the risk of intestinal bleeding.

All of these problems with NSAIDs have led many doctors to prescribe acetaminophen (Tylenol) as the drug of choice for pain. However, acetaminophen does not counter the inflammation of joint pain caused by disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.

Recently, a headline in Baltimore's Sun newspaper blared: "Tylenol linked to liver damage." Tylenol is one of the trade names for acetaminophen, which is also a component of a number of over-the-counter drugs for pain relief.

The headline is based on a study of healthy young subjects who took the maximum dose of acetaminophen (4 grams a day) for two weeks. More than one-third of them developed significant, but temporary, elevations in blood levels of a liver enzyme indicating liver damage.

Does this finding mean we should also be wary of taking acetaminophen? I think not. "Acetaminophen clearly has a remarkable safety record when taken as directed," say the authors of the study linking liver damage and high daily doses of the drug, "and chronic treatment with 4 g daily has been confirmed to be safe."

Despite the results of this study and the accompanying frightening news stories, acetaminophen remains the safest, albeit least potent, drug for the treatment of pain.

From Yahoo health

Sudden Cardiac Death: Know Who's at Risk

The more than 300,000 Americans who die suddenly each year account for about 20 percent of all deaths in this country.

Sudden cardiac death can often be prevented with an implantable defibrillator in people known to be at high danger. These include survivors of a heart attack, people with severe heart failure, and certain rare genetic abnormalities of the heart's electrical system. But defibrillators can't be implanted in everybody who might die suddenly.

Who is most likely to suffer a sudden death? A recent study from Germany has raised serious doubts about the common assumption that sudden death most often strikes unexpectedly and at random in apparently healthy men.

In a group of more than 400 victims of sudden death, the authors found that 40 percent of sudden deaths were in women whose average age was 76 years compared to 68 years among the men. About 67 percent of those who died suddenly had heart disease; all but 25 percent of them had suffered from prolonged symptoms like angina (chest pain), shortness of breath, dizziness, or nausea and vomiting in the period shortly before death.

Even though these clues do not make sudden death predictable, spouses and other relatives should be aware of these warning signs.

Studies also show that bystanders witness two-thirds of sudden death episodes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is attempted in less than 20 percent of these cases, and even less often in the 70 percent of sudden deaths that occur in the home.

These statistics underscore the need for relatives of people who are at high risk of sudden death to learn how to perform CPR. They need to be prepared to respond appropriately to an impending sudden death at home or to help someone in a public setting.

People who receive CPR from bystanders have a higher chance of surviving and being discharged from the hospital alive.

From yahoo health

Can Positive Thinking Help Your Pain?

A tide of media articles over the past few years has made it clear that medicine is putting almost all its future hopes on genetics. But a small study from UCLA offers an intriguing alternative, one that could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Researchers found that children and teenagers who described themselves as positive thinkers had higher thresholds of tolerance for pain. On the other hand, young subjects who had learned less positive coping skills (such as worrying about problems or turning to someone else for help) were less able to tolerate the application of pressure or heat to the skin, which was how pain was measured in the laboratory.

The significance of these findings is that psychological attitudes changed basic physical sensations. It had already been shown that we don't all respond to pain alike. When asked to rate pain on a scale of 1 to 10, people who are subjected to the same stimulus come up with far different reactions.

What feels like a 1 on the pain scale to one person can feel like a 6, 7, or higher to another. Instead of being simply a physical variation, the new research suggests that personal interpretation is involved. Yet to the person feeling the pain, this isn't a subjective event. The degree of discomfort is completely real.

Why is this the tip of an iceberg? I was reminded of Tummo, an ancient form of Tibetan meditation that originated in India as a yogic practice. Buddhist monks who practice Tummo are able to withstand extreme cold without discomfort or bodily harm. Clad only in a thin layer of silk, they can sit all night in ice caves in the Himalayas or on the surface of a frozen lake.

Long considered a legendary skill, Tummo has been verified by Western researchers, who discovered in the '80s that the monks are raising their body temperature by up to 8 degrees Centigrade, or 14 degrees Fahrenheit. In essence, they are controlling a feedback loop in the body that is normally automatic. A region of the brain known as the hypothalamus is responsible for regulating body temperature, but in this case the monks are inserting their own intention, and what was once automatic becomes voluntary.

Apparently the kids who were studied at UCLA are doing the same thing. It still remains a mystery how the Tibetans can withstand a temperature rise of 14 degrees, given that brain cells begin to die if a patient suffers from fever over 104 degrees. Perhaps the control achieved in Tummo can also differentiate which part of the body becomes warm or warmer.

But in both cases, it's the dual nature of the nervous system that proves so fascinating. Most of us allow our bodies to run automatically, and we assume that we cannot interfere very easily, if at all, into processes that go wrong.

Yet we have 20 years of mind-body research to suggest otherwise. Beginning 20 years ago, it was found that psychotherapy helps women cope with breast cancer, not just in terms of feeling better but actually increasing survival rates. When terminal cancer patients were divided into two groups, those that had no psychotherapy and those who met for group sessions once a week to discuss their feelings, the longest term survivors were all the in therapy group.

Before that, the noted editor Norman Cousins had written about the reduction of tumors in cancer patients who used visualization techniques, often as simple as seeing their tumors being buried under a blanket of falling snow until they disappeared.

Medicine has largely turned its back on these findings and rushed headlong into drugs, surgery, and now genetics as the only "real" way to heal. This is in keeping with a long-held prejudice against the placebo effect and psychosomatic disease. Though long proven to be real, easing pain through a placebo is thought somehow to be fake or second-best to easing pain through drugs.

Similarly, psychosomatic illness is considered to be "all in your head," when by definition it is also in the body. The fact is that we will not know what our bodies are truly capable of until we delve deeper into the mind-body connection. Until we do, the future of the body may seem to lie with genetic manipulation when simpler, less invasive, and far less expensive treatments could be at our fingertips.

From yahoo health

Neck Pain - Topic Overview

Topic Overview

What is neck pain?

Neck pain can occur anywhere in your neck, from the bottom of your head to the top of your shoulders. It can spread to your upper back or arms. It may limit how much you can move your head and neck.

Neck pain is common, especially in people older than 50.

What causes neck pain?

Most neck pain is caused by activities that strain the neck. Slouching, painting a ceiling, or sleeping with your neck twisted are some things that can cause neck pain. These kinds of activities can lead to neck strain, a spasm of the neck muscles, or swelling of the neck joints.

Neck pain can also be caused by an injury. A fall from a ladder or whiplash from a car accident can cause neck pain. Some less common medical problems can also lead to neck pain, such as:

• An infection in the neck.
• Narrowing of the spinal canal in the neck (cervical spinal stenosis).
• Rheumatoid arthritis.

What are the symptoms?

You may feel a knot, stiffness, or severe pain in your neck. The pain may spread to your shoulders, upper back, or arms. You may get a headache. You may not be able to move or turn your head and neck easily. If there is pressure on a spinal nerve root, you might have pain that shoots down your arm. You may also have numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arm.

If your neck pain is long-lasting (chronic), you may have trouble coping with daily life. Common side effects of chronic pain include fatigue, depression, and anxiety.

How is neck pain diagnosed?

Your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and do a physical exam. He or she may also ask about any injuries, illnesses, or activities that may be causing your neck pain.

During the physical exam, your doctor will check how well you can move your neck. He or she will also look for tenderness or numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arms or hands.

If your pain started after an injury, or if it doesn't improve after a few weeks, your doctor may want to do more tests. Imaging tests such as an X-ray, an MRI scan, or a CT scan can show the neck muscles and tissues. These tests may be done to check the neck bones, spinal discs, spinal nerve roots, and spinal cord.

How is it treated?

The type of treatment you need will depend on whether your neck pain is caused by activities, an injury, or another medical condition. Most neck pain caused by activities can be treated at home.

For neck pain that occurs suddenly:

• Reduce pain by putting an ice pack on the sore area and taking aspirin, ibuprofen, or another anti-inflammatory medicine. Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) can also help relieve pain.
• Avoid more injury to your neck by changing activities and habits, such as how you sit or sleep.
• Try exercises or physical therapy to help you move your head and neck more easily.

To treat chronic neck pain, your doctor may prescribe medicine to relax your neck muscles. Or you may get medicines to relieve pain and help you sleep. You might also try massage or yoga to relieve neck stress.

Surgery is rarely done to treat neck pain. But it may be done if your pain is caused by a medical problem, such as pressure on the spinal nerve roots, a tumor, or narrowing of the spinal canal.

Can you prevent neck pain?

You can avoid neck pain caused by stress or muscle strain with some new habits. Avoid spending a lot of time in positions that stress your neck. This can include sitting at a computer for a long time.

If your neck pain is worse at the end of the day, think about how you sit during the day. Sit straight in your chair with your feet flat on the floor. Take short breaks several times an hour.

If your neck pain is worse in the morning, check your pillow and the position you sleep in. Use a pillow that keeps your neck straight. Avoid sleeping on your stomach with your neck twisted or bent.

From Yahoo health

Chronic Pain - Topic Overview

Topic Overview

Is this topic for you?

This topic is for people with chronic pain caused by problems other than cancer. If you are looking for information on pain caused by cancer, see the topic Cancer Pain.

What is chronic pain?

Pain that lasts for 3 months or longer is called chronic. Pain is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong. It’s normal for you to have pain when you are injured or ill. But pain that lasts for weeks, months, or years is not normal.

Chronic pain can occur anywhere in your body. It can range from being mild and annoying to being so bad that it gets in the way of your daily activities.

Anyone can get chronic pain. It’s more common in older adults, but it’s not a normal part of aging. Older adults are more likely to have long-term medical problems, such as diabetes or arthritis, which can lead to ongoing pain.

What causes chronic pain?

The cause of chronic pain is not always clear. It may occur because brain chemicals that usually stop pain after you get better from an illness or injury are not working right. Or damaged nerves can cause the pain. Chronic pain can also occur without a known cause.

What are the symptoms?

Common symptoms of chronic pain include:

• Mild to very bad pain that does not go away as expected.
• Pain that is shooting, burning, aching, or electrical.
• Soreness, tightness, or stiffness.

What other problems can chronic pain cause?

If you have pain for a long time, it can make you feel very tired and may lead to depression. It can get in the way of your usual social and physical activities. You may have so much pain that you can't go to work or school. The emotional upset may make your pain worse. Your body’s defense system (immune system) may get weak, leading to lots of infections and illnesses.

How is chronic pain diagnosed?

Your doctor can find out if you have chronic pain by asking about your past illnesses and your overall health. He or she will also do a physical exam.

You may have tests to find out if a medical problem is causing the pain. Your doctor may check for problems with your nervous system and may order blood tests. He or she may also ask you questions to check your mood and mental health and to see how well you are able to think, reason, and remember. In most cases, test results are normal. This can make it hard to know the exact cause of the pain. But this doesn't mean that your pain isn't real.

How is it treated?

You can use home treatment for mild pain or pain that you have now and then. Exercising, getting enough sleep, and eating healthy foods may help reduce chronic pain. Using over-the-counter pain medicines such as acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen may also help. You may want to try complementary therapies such as massage and yoga.

Talk to your doctor if your pain does not go away or if it gets worse. You may need to try different treatments to find what works for you. Medicines you take by mouth, shots of numbing medicine, acupuncture, nerve stimulation, and surgery are used for some types of chronic pain. It is important to make a clear treatment plan with your doctor. The best plan may include combining treatments.

Living with chronic pain can be hard. Counseling may help you cope. It can also help you deal with frustration, fear, anger, depression, and anxiety. Chronic pain often can be managed so that you can get on with your life and do your daily activities.

From yahoo health

Make The Most Of Joint Pain Relief

What does it take to get joint pain relief? To protect the structures where your bones come together requires care as you age. Just so you know wear and tear during your life time is the cause of action for joint pain relief. Please understand that this kind of damage is very real, and if untreated can lead to inflammation or joint pain.

I can remember my adolescence years and even into every adult hood, expressing a mass amount of stress on my joints by pushing, pulling and twisting from playing sports. What's interesting is that during that time period, my concerns were only on gaining recognition and popularity amongst my peers. I never took the time to think that because of my activity that would effect how I felt when I got older. There's an old saying: take care of your body when you're young and when you get old, it will take care of you. That's something that I'm going to teach my children.

With that said, what can we do? Continue to ignore all the signs and try to put off the awkward feeling until it gets worst? Why would anyone even consider that idea?

Ultimately from joint pain you probably have arthritis or know someone with the disease. That's ok, it's about the steps we take for joint pain relief that counts. I researched some steps to protect your joints from damage. Protecting your joints is one of the most effective ways to avoid or relieve pain and prevent further joint damage.

Fortunately, there is a lot of information that can help you with this serious issue. You can still live a long, productive and active life, with the proper treatment and strategy for joint pain relief. These steps are not only geared to protect your joints from pain, they can also be a part of your busy schedule. The focus is your lifestyle and how this information can give you a positive outlook.

Some of these steps include moving your joints around everyday to maintain freedom of motion. Learn to understand and respect your pain. You can avoid repeating stress or joint pain. Using good body mechanics affects how much strain you put on your joints. Keep constantly moving so your joints don't become stiff.

There are other steps that can help with overall health and happiness when reaching for joint pain relief. Be careful how you use your joints, there are easier ways to perform without a lot of stress.

These steps all have the research to prove how important joint pain relief is. Now you know what it takes to protect your joints from pain. Remember to think outside your situation, the cost might be to create a different routine, but the value of the cost is priceless.

By: Lamar Speller