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Flex CEUs: New Courses for April
Headaches - Overview of Diagnosis, Classification, and Treatment
This course is based on information written and published by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the United States’ leading supporter of research on disorders of the brain and nervous system. This course will provide an overview of diagnoses and classification of headaches including primary and secondary causes. Discussion of headaches in children will be addressed along with ways to cope and treat headaches.
Thumb Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis - Effectiveness of Manual Therapy and Exercise
This course examines effective management strategies for improving pain and function in patients with Carpometacarpal (CMC) joint osteoarthritis. Many patients with upper extremity arthritis undergo surgical intervention with varied levels of benefit. Alternative strategies, such as manual therapy and exercise programming have found effective in treating pain in this patient population. We will review the details and effectiveness of these strategies.
For more information on these and many more, visit Flex CEUs
Relief From Arthritis Without Drugs
If you’re one of the 50 million North Americans living with nagging arthritis pain, don’t be discouraged by recent news about treatment duds and dangers. Plenty of safe, proven ache-easers can keep you off the sidelines and may eliminate or reduce your dependence on painkillers and postpone the need for a joint replacement.
First, some alerts and advice about well-known arthritis pain-relief treatments:
—Diclofenac is the most popular NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) in the world. But a new report says these pills could boost your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 91 percent, if taken regularly. Experts in Canada have called for a global ban. However, topical (cream) diclofenac could serve as a safer form of the drug for people looking to relieve their arthritis pain.
Full story of arthritis relief without drugs at Yankton Daily
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Obesity and osteoarthritis: Without exercise, it’s not just your knees that’ll hurt
The connection between obesity and osteoarthritis – a progressive degeneration of joint cartilage that affects 10 per cent of Canadian adults – seems obvious. Every extra kilogram of body weight puts an extra load of about four kilograms on your knees, for example, so the extra wear and tear erodes the joints. Simple and straightforward.
But why, then, is osteoarthritis of the hand – containing non-load-bearing joints – also twice as common in obese people?
That’s the riddle at the heart of a debate currently flaring up in academic journals, between researchers who hold the traditional view of osteoarthritis as a product of purely mechanical forces, and those who believe that inflammatory signals triggered by conditions like obesity can play a key role. As evidence for the latter view piles up, traditional scapegoats like running are getting a new look – and a new long-term study of 90,000 people suggests that running may actually help, not hurt, your joints.
“For a long time [osteoarthritis] has been believed to be primarily mechanical,” says Dr. Richard Aspden, the head of the Musculoskeletal Research Programme at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Full story of obesity and osteoarthritis at The Globe and Mail
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Three Alternative Solutions for Chronic Pain
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. Pain lasting more than 24 hours is reported to affect one-quarter of American adults and is the second most common reason people seek out a doctor.
Pain is considered chronic if it persists for six months or longer. Chronic pain often continues in spite of conventional drug treatment. Drugs prescribed to reduce pain also have severe side effects. Current research reports that alternative therapies such as yoga, acupuncture, and medical marijuana (cannabis) can offer natural relief from chronic pain.
Though controversial, medical marijuana use has been approved in 18 states and Washington D.C. In November 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use.
Yoga Helps Relieve Chronic Pain
A small but significant study from Texas Tech University found that yoga and meditation can help relieve chronic pain. Researchers from Texas Tech University Pain Center followed 67 chronic pain patients participating in the yoga and meditation program, in addition to medical treatment.
Full story of solutions for chronic pain at Huffington Post
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How to solve the problem of lower back pain
Lower back pain is the most common musculoskeletal ailment. Nearly everyone at some point has back pain that interferes with their daily routine, such as work, recreation or activities. Much of this is a result of our behaviors in modern-day society. The majority of us spend too much time sitting with poor posture at inadequately ergonomic workstations.
Americans spend at least $50 billion each year to relieve lower back pain, which is the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work. Back pain is the second most common neurological ailment in the U.S. — only headaches are more common.
Smart Business spoke with Joshua Trentine, president of Overload Fitness, about how to prevent and resolve the problem of lower back pain.
What causes lower back pain?
The causes of most cases of chronic and acute low back pain are mechanical in nature, meaning the muscles that protect and move the spine are weak, imbalanced, neurologically inhibited or stuck in spasm. These issues are often a result of the postural issues. When we sit or stand with poor posture, some muscles are left in a position that results in stretch weakness and others can become overburdened.
Full story of lower back pain at Smart Business
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When life is just a pain
After being diagnosed with fibromyalgia two years ago, a mother-of-two has learned to live with the pain
You know when you have a bad flu and you wake up in the morning feeling stiff and achy? I feel like that every morning. I get up feeling like I haven’t slept at all even though I have usually had a good night’s sleep.
This time about two years ago, I started to get severe back pain. I couldn’t attribute it to anything like lifting something heavy or a fall, it just came out of nowhere.
My GP sent me to a rheumatologist who gave me epidural injections to ease the back pain but they did not help and the pain started to spread around my body into my arms and hands, my hips and legs.
I was brought into hospital and diagnosed with fibromyalgia in February 2010. Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition (which means I will have to live with it for the rest of my life) which affects all the muscles in my body and causes chronic pain and fatigue. The list of symptoms is endless, but they are the worst two for me.
Full story of life and pain at Irish Times
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Chronic neck pain patients show respiratory weakness
Chronic neck pain appears to be associated with impaired respiratory function due to weakness of the respiratory muscles, study findings indicate.
"Cervical muscle dysfunction and psychological influences appear to be the factors that are mostly associated with this respiratory function," say Zacharias Dimitriadis (Technological Educational Institute of Lamia, Greece) and colleagues.
They believe that respiratory function should therefore be included in the assessment and treatment of patients with chronic neck pain.
"This can lead to changes in clinical reasoning with potentially more optimal therapeutic outcomes for these chronic pain sufferers," they write in Manual Therapy.
The researchers compared Maximal Inspiratory Pressure (MIP) and Maximal Expiratory Pressure (MEP) in 45 patients with neck pain and 45 healthy individuals of similar age, height, weight, body mass index, and levels of physical activity.
Full story of chronic neck pain at News Medical
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New procedure to ease that aching back
Chronic back pain is one of the most common medical complaints. FOX 26 News met with Dr. Saqib Siddiqui from The Spine Center in Houston about the symptoms of a problem that is often misdiagnosed.
"This is a particular form of back pain called sacroiliac pain and has different words, like Sacroilitis. It's really quite undiagnosed! About 25 percent of chronic back pain sufferers may have pain coming from this joint, and it's often forgotten about by the diagnosing physician. Unless you look for it and do the proper exam or diagnostic injection, you may not know that the sacroiliac joint is causing their chronic back pain," explains Dr. Siddiqui.
Let's get right to the point about the symptoms. Dr. Siddiqui says the typical signs that this could be your problem would be low back pain, on the left or right. He adds that sometimes that pain radiates down the buttock or leg.
Dr. Siddiqui also says the problem is often misdiagnosed, because it seldom shows up on imaging results (like x-rays and CT scans). That's why he says it's important to undergo the right diagnostic testing.
Full story of new procedure for an aching back at My Fox Houston
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Scientists Home in On Cause of Osteoarthritis Pain
Researchers at Rush University Medical Center, in collaboration with researchers at Northwestern University, have identified a molecular mechanism central to the development of osteoarthritis (OA) pain, a finding that could have major implications for future treatment of this often-debilitating condition.
"Clinically, scientists have focused on trying to understand how cartilage and joints degenerate in osteoarthritis. But no one knows why it hurts," said Dr. Anne-Marie Malfait, associate professor of biochemistry and of internal medicine at Rush, who led the study. An article describing the research was published in the Dec. 11 print version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Joint pain associated with OA has unique clinical features that provide insight into the mechanisms that cause it. First, joint pain has a strong mechanical component: It is typically triggered by specific activities (for example, climbing stairs elicits knee pain) and is relieved by rest. As structural joint disease advances, pain may also occur in rest. Heightened sensitivity to pain, including mechanical allodynia (pain caused by a stimulus that does not normally evoke pain, such as lightly brushing the skin with a cotton swab), and reduced pain-pressure thresholds are features of OA.
Full story on cause of osteoarthritis pain at Science Daily
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Genetic Differences May Influence Sensitivity to Pain, According to New Study
The study, published in PLOS Genetics on 20 December, adds to growing evidence that particular genes are involved in chronic pain and highlights this pathway as a potential target for more effective pain relief treatments for patients.
The collaborative study between King's, Pfizer Ltd and the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), used a new method to study and compare DNA, called 'exome sequencing', to identify genetic variations relating to pain sensitivity.
Lead author Dr Frances Williams, from the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London said: 'Chronic pain is a significant personal and socio-economic burden, with nearly one in five people experiencing it at some time in their lives. Current pain treatments often have either limited efficacy or side effects for many, so the possibility of a new approach to pain relief is an exciting development.
Full story of pain sensitivity at Science Daily
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