Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain Malpractice Claims on the Rise

Caroline Helwick October 16, 2014 NEW ORLEANS — The number of malpractice claims related to chronic pain management is increasing, and many involve permanent disabling injury or death, according to a closed-claims analysis presented here at the American Society of Anesthesiologists 2014 Annual Meeting. “Malpractice claims associated with chronic pain have increased in number and severity over […]

Fibromyalgia: Patients Hypersensitive to Nonpain Sensations

Beth Skwarecki September 17, 2014 Story Source Brain scans of patients with fibromyalgia showed that they processed nonpainful stimuli, such as sound and touch, differently than the brains of people without the disorder. This may explain why patients often complain of hypersensitivity to sensations in everyday life, author Marina López-Solà, PhD, from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at […]

Physical activity fails to show link with chronic musculoskeletal pain

By Lucy Piper, Senior medwireNews Reporter 18 August 2014 J Epidemiol 2014; Advance online publication Story Source medwireNews: Neither little nor excessive physical activity contributes to chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) in people who are middle-aged or older, Japanese study findings suggest. “[O]ur cross-sectional investigation did not detect any significant linear or quadratic associations of PA […]

Study Suggests Potential Parent–Child Link in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

POSTED: AUGUST 18, 2014 Children with parents who have chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) are at a higher risk for developing CMP, a new family-linkage study finds. According to researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, CMP is “among the leading causes of reduced quality of life and disability in Western countries,” […]

Reduced HPA Axis Activity in Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Reduced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in chronic multi-site musculoskeletal pain: partly masked by depressive and anxiety disorders – Full Text BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 07/15/2014  Evidence Based Medicine Clinical Article Generaal E, et al. – Studies on hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA–axis) function amongst patients with chronic pain show equivocal results and well–controlled cohort studies are rare in this […]

Chronic Pain: When Is It Truly Fibromyalgia? – Slide Show

Patients with fibromyalgia typically suffer for many years—and frequently are exposed to unnecessary, expensive, or invasive interventions—before being properly diagnosed. Do you know how to distinguish this disorder from other conditions that cause chronic pain? Full Story & Slide Show (password is – 3939)

Vitamin D and central hypersensitivity in patients with chronic pain

Pain Med. 2014 Sep;15(9):1609-18. doi: 10.1111/pme.12454. Epub 2014 Apr 14. von Känel R1, Müller-Hartmannsgruber V, Kokinogenis G, Egloff N. Abstract BACKGROUND: Low vitamin D is implicated in various chronic pain conditions with, however, inconclusive findings. Vitamin D might play an important role in mechanisms being involved in central processing of evoked pain stimuli but less so for spontaneous clinical […]

Comparative short-term effects of two thoracic spinal manipulation techniques in subjects with chronic mechanical neck pain

A randomized controlled trial Casanova-Méndez A, et al. Man Ther. 2014 Mar 14. pii: S1356-689X(14)00035-6. doi: 10.1016/j.math.2014.03.002. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract Spinal Manipulation (SM) has been purported to decrease pain and improve function in subjects with non-specific neck pain. Previous research has investigated which individuals with non-specific neck pain will be more likely to […]

Chronic Pain and Use of Opioids

Research · March 14, 2014 Full Story Journal Reference TAKE-HOME MESSAGE In this cohort study, 85% of over 14,000 patients who reported chronic nonmalignant pain did not use opioids. Occasional and persistent use was reported in 12% and 3% of patients, respectively. In addition, about 75% of patients who did use opioids reported that their […]

Military Pokes Holes In Acupuncture Skeptics’ Theory

NPR by BLAKE FARMER February 16, 201212:01 AM ET LISTEN TO STORY http://youtu.be/F0NJqMVjoKQ In a fluorescent-lit exam room, Col. Rochelle Wasserman sticks ballpoint-size pins in the ears of Sgt. Rick Remalia. Remalia broke his back, hip and pelvis during a rollover caused by a pair of rocket-propelled grenades in Afghanistan. He still walks with a […]

Mechanisms of Acupuncture-Electroacupuncture on Persistent Pain

Ruixin Zhang, Ph.D. Anesthesiology. 2014 Feb; 120(2): 482–503. Abstract In the last decade, preclinical investigations of electroacupuncture mechanisms on persistent tissue-injury (inflammatory), nerve-injury (neuropathic), cancer, and visceral pain have increased. These studies show that electroacupuncture activates the nervous system differently in health than in pain conditions, alleviates both sensory and affective inflammatory pain, and inhibits […]

Do Manual Therapies Help Low Back Pain?: A Comparative Effectiveness Meta-Analysis

Menke JM. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2014 Jan 29. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract Study Design. Meta-analysis methodology was extended to derive comparative effectiveness information on spinal manipulation for low back pain. Objective. Determine relative effectiveness of spinal manipulation therapies (SMT), medical management, physical therapies, and exercise for acute and chronic non-surgical low back pain. Summary […]

A Modern Neuroscience Approach to Chronic Spinal Pain

Combining Pain Neuroscience Education With Cognition-Targeted Motor Control Training Nijs J, et al. Show all Journal Phys Ther. 2014 Jan 30. [Epub ahead of print] Abstract Chronic spinal pain (CSP) is a severely disabling disorder, including non-traumatic chronic low back and neck pain, failed back surgery and chronic whiplash associated disorders. Much of the current […]

An investigation of association between chronic musculoskeletal pain and cardiovascular disease

CMP is associated with an increased risk of CVD and the association is stronger in older adults.

Algorithms for the Chiropractic Management of Acute and Chronic Spine-Related Pain

Gregory A. Baker, DC Ronald J. Farabaugh, DC Thomas J. Augat, DC, MS, CCSP, FASA Cheryl Hawk, DC, PhD, CHES Topics in Integrative Health Care 2012, Vol. 3(4) ID: 3.4007 Abstract The complexity of clinical documentation and case management for health care providers has increased along with the rise of managed care. Keeping up with […]

Structural Brain Changes in Chronic Pain Reflect Probably Neither Damage Nor Atrophy

Citation: Rodriguez-Raecke R, Niemeier A, Ihle K, Ruether W, May A (2013) Structural Brain Changes in Chronic Pain Reflect Probably Neither Damage Nor Atrophy. PLoS ONE 8(2): e54475. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054475 Abstract Chronic pain appears to be associated with brain gray matter reduction in areas ascribable to the transmission of pain. The morphological processes underlying these structural […]

Brain white matter structural properties predict transition to chronic pain.

We can conclude that brain structural differences, most likely existing before the back pain-inciting event and independent of the back pain, predispose subjects to pain chronification.

Acupuncture Does Help for Chronic Pain

In this meta-analysis, investigators found a statistically significant benefit of acupuncture for relief of chronic pain due to a variety of causes when compared with both sham controls and usual-care controls.
Pain relief was much greater when acupuncture was compared with usual care than when compared with the sham procedure suggesting a role for a placebo effect.

Chronic Spinal Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing Medication, Acupuncture, and Spinal Manipulation

Giles, Lynton G. F.; Muller, Reinhold Spine. 28(14):1490-1502, July 15, 2003. Chronic Spinal Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing Medication, Acupuncture, and Spinal Manipulation Study Design. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted. Study Design. A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted. Objective. To compare medication, needle acupuncture, and spinal manipulation for managing chronic (>13 […]

Chronic, Noncancer Pain Boosts Suicide Risk

Fran Lowry May 28, 2013 Certain types of noncancer pain conditions are associated with an increased risk for suicide, a new study suggests. A study conducted by investigators at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor showed that psychogenic pain, back pain, and migraine, but not arthritis or neuropathy, were associated with an increased risk […]