Articles filed under 'CHRONIC PAIN'
When you want to find out the cost of acupuncture, you may run to the Internet for information. Unfortunately, the cost of acupuncture is difficult to pin down. The question “How much is acupuncture?” is hard to answer because many different factors are involved. Of course, like any other medical treatment, you don’t want to skimp on acupuncture costs by going to someone unqualified. The cost of acupuncture is well worth it when you find someone excellent to perform it.
Health insurance is something to consider when you look at the question “How much is acupuncture?” but you have to meet many requirements to get acupuncture costs covered. Usually, the number of treatments you need to have will determine acupuncture cost. No matter how you look at it, the cost of acupuncture can be somewhat pricy, but it is often effective in increasing fertility, relieving anxiety, and even helping with lower back pain. Many factors can affect cost, but acupuncture is often a less costly treatment that other traditional procedures.
How Much Is Acupuncture?: The Right Education
The answer to the question “How much is acupuncture?” will depend on the skill of your acupuncturist. The more education your professional has, the higher the cost of acupuncture will be. If you go to a physician to have your acupuncture performed, the acupuncture cost will be more expensive than if you go to someone who has only a certificate from an acupuncture school. Some acupuncturists are also certified in specialties, such as fertility, and this additional expertise can add to the cost of acupuncture.
Of course, when answering the question “How much is acupuncture?” you do not want to cut corners on expenses by going to someone who is unqualified to perform your proceedure properly. For instance, if you want to pursue acupuncture for fertility, you need to go to an acupuncturist who is knowledgeable about the proper placement and insertion of needles in areas related to reproduction. The cost of acupuncture should not affect the quality of care that you get from your practitioner, but you may not get the best results by going to the least expensive provider of acupuncture.
How Much Is Acupuncture?: Health Insurance
Health insurance sometimes does cover acupuncture costs and can provide some answers to the “how much is acupuncture” question. Some insurance companies will not cover it at all, despite research studies that show how acupuncture can help to resolve certain diseases and conditions. Unfortunately, certain health care providers will not cover the cost of acupuncture no matter how many appeals you make to them or statistics you present to show that the treatment works. Some health insurance companies only cover acupuncture for certain conditions, such as low back pain or infertility. To help with your acupuncture cost, it pays to check into what your health insurance covers.
Because many studies show the effectiveness of acupuncture treatments, the cost of acupuncture should be covered by health insurance companies. The cost of acupuncture is worth the reduction in pain that acupuncture would bring the patient. Some patients have turned to flexible health spending accounts to cover the cost of acupuncture, but most health insurance companies are stubbornly against covering the acupuncture cost.
How Much Is Acupuncture When Performed Frequently?
How often you need acupuncture and for how long will influence the answer to the question “how much is acupuncture” a great deal. Very few conditions require only one treatment of acupuncture. If you need to see the practitioner several times per month, this factor can increase the cost of acupuncture. Because the effects of acupuncture are cumulative, you need to have more than one treatment for the acupuncture to work for your condition. Frequency of treatment usually results in a higher cost of acupuncture, but repeated treatments are necessary for you to get maximum results.
If you are considering acupuncture and want to know the cost of acupuncture, Fifth Avenue Fertility Acupuncture can answer your questions about acupuncture cost, help you with insurance, and guide you to make good choices. Visit their website at http://www.fifthavenueacupuncture.com for more information on their practice.
March 9th, 2012
Pain and weakness in the shoulder joint is often described medically as “impingement syndrome. This condition results when tendons of the rotator cuff are pinched as they pass between the top of the upper arm and the tip of the shoulder. A group of four muscles and bones, the rotator cuff, share a common tendon. Tendonitis of the shoulder joint is another frequently used term.
Impingement syndrome of the shoulder joint occurs when muscles and tendons don’t slide easily and normally. Tendons and bursae, fluid-filled sacs that protect the tendons, become irritated and swollen. Typical symptoms of this syndrome are pain, tenderness and the inability to move the shoulder joint fully and normally. An injury or repetitive motions over many years may result in the onset of a cycle of inflammation, swelling, and misery.
Other symptoms can include pain or weakness in raising the arm above your head or away from the side of the body; a grating or catching of muscles when you rotate or raise your arm; and inability to sleep on the affected side due to pain.
Risk factors for impingement syndrome:
* Injuries to the shoulder joint
* Age 50 or older
* Athletes engaging in activities such as tennis, swimming, baseball, and football that involve repetitive movements of arm and shoulder
* Persons who develop bone spurs or rough spots on bone that can irritate surrounding tissue and cause swelling
* Those whose bones are shaped in a manner that allows less space between the joint than the average person
Treating Impingement Syndrome:
Treatments may be as simple as taking aspirin and resting the arm, or it may ultimately involve surgery, depending on the severity of the condition. Some treatments that may be effective in resolving the condition are the following:
* Conservative care: rest the joint and use ice packs for up to 20 minutes at a time, as needed, up to three or four times a day.
* Take anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen.
* Avoid activities that cause pain such as lifting something heavy or stretching to reach past your comfort zone.
* Physical therapy, including exercises or stretching to strengthen, preserve or extend your range of motion; faithfully perform exercises at home.
* Cortisone or steroid injections given if other approaches don’t eliminate the symptoms; some doctors give a cortisone injection early in the syndrome to reduce pain and swelling.
* Surgery, the last resort
Impingement syndrome may take many months or even a couple of years to heal. This is especially true when it is complicated by the frozen shoulder syndrome, where one cannot raise the arm overhead. Patience, your doctor’s guidance, physical therapy, and prescribed home exercises should help to ultimately resolve the condition.
Sources: Cedars-Sinai Medical Web site and personal experience; blog article by Anna Dabney
http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/9837.html
June 11th, 2009
According to the Center for Health Statistics, deaths from Methadone nationwide are increasing at a faster rate than other deaths related to drug use. The number of Methadone deaths nationwide rose from 786 in 1999 to 4,462, a nearly six-fold increase. As a comparison, fatal cocaine overdoes rose 63 percent.
Most cocaine users realize they are dealing with a drug with potentially lethal consequences. In contrast, Methadone is not widely perceived as being especially hazardous. Substance abusers are often given Methadone as a heroin substitute, but generally under tight controls. In addition, chronic pain clinics are increasingly prescribing Methadone for pain relief. Because methadone is slow-acting and patients seek immediate relief, they may take a pill or more than the prescribed dose. Methadone does not give a high and is sometimes dangerously combined with other drugs or alcohol.
Some chronic pain patients obtain multiple prescriptions for Methadone from different medical providers. These prescriptions are difficult to track. Other persons get their prescriptions illegally from friends or buy them from individuals. Those who take Methadone without appropriate medical supervision may be unaware of its potential risks. The drug oxycodone, or OxyContin, belongs to the same class of drugs as Methadone. In states such as Vermont, OxyContin is the leading cause of 80 drug-related deaths last year.
For someone with a low tolerance for certain drugs, even low doses of Methadone or OxyContin can be dangerous. While the Northeast is seeing Methadone as the street drug of choice, methamphetamines are the predominant street drugs in other parts of the U.S. Deaths from Methadone are beginning to drop in New England and the Eastern Seaboard where educational campaigns are emphasizing the potential hazards of its use.
Source:Â San Francisco Chronicle; April 18, 2008; Holly Ramer, A.P.
April 20th, 2008
A hip fracture, one of the most dreaded injuries, can be devastating and complicated. This medical emergency is a painful, stressful and life-changing event. One in five persons over age 50 who breaks a hip will die within a year. Forty percent of hip-fracture patients over age 65 move to a nursing home after hospitalization.
The risk of a hip fracture rises with age. Those with brittle bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis) are most likely to suffer a hip fracture from falling, or in some cases, just the stress of walking can cause the femur to snap. Protective reflexes in older adults are slower and make it more difficult to avoid falling directly on a hip. In addition, certain medications, such as SSRIs and oral corticosteroids, may increase fracture risk.
A few people are “fortunate†enough to have stable fractures so that they are able to avoid surgery and move around after a few days of rest. The majority of hip fracture patients undergo surgery within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital. Hip fractures can sometimes heal without surgery after up to three months of bed rest. However, prolonged immobility can lead to complications such as pressure sores, deep vain thrombosis (DVT), and muscle loss. The risk of DVT can be reduced with pressure stockings and blood-thinners, but the best protection involves getting up and moving around as soon as possible after surgery. Any unusual heat, pain and swelling in the leg can indicate that DVT has developed, during which a clot can travel to the lung or brain.
Recovering the ability to walk is unlikely following several months of bed rest. Because urinary catheters must be used when the patient is confined to bed, urinary tract infections are an additional risk. Catheters should be removed as soon as possible. If the patient is immobilized for long periods, pneumonia may set in. Delirium can be another complication to watch for, including delusions, agitation and hallucinations. Less subtle symptoms and more commonly seen are impaired ability to focus, disorientation, and memory and language problems. These symptoms may be overlooked due to heavy sedation for pain and in those suffering from dementia.
The prognosis for recovery is best in cases where hip surgery is an option. The type of hip surgery is determined by the location of the fracture. Surgery is the beginning of the long road to recovery. Only the patient can do the painful and difficult work of rehabilitation, which starts as soon as possible after the operation. Physical therapists help the patient to walk to a chair and use the bathroom. Therapy progresses to include exercises to strengthen muscles and learning to use a walker and a cane.
The patient may go to a rehab center for two weeks, followed by several months of outpatient therapy. Not everyone is able to return home after rehabilitation is completed. Some go to a nursing home and continue their physical therapy before they are able to return home. Others may need to stay there permanently to receive the support the need.
Living at home after a hip fracture can be complicated and difficult for all concerned. Pain and setbacks can impede the recovery process. The home environment should be modified in order to make it easier for the patient to function and remain active while minimizing pain. Soreness can persist for a month or longer, and the individual can quickly lose strength if not strongly motivated to continue exercises learned in rehab. Depression can also sap the desire to continue rehabilitation.
Caregivers should understand that the hip fracture patient has a high risk of a second fracture. In many cases where thin bones are involved, the physician will prescribe life-long osteoporosis therapy to strengthen bones and reduce risks of future falls and fractures. It is vital that the patient also gets adequate calcium intake – 1,200 to 1,500 mg daily for people over 50 and vitamin D of 800 IU daily. Calcium and vitamin D strengthen bones and lower the risk of falling again.
Seniors can do a great deal to avoid the pitfalls of a hip fracture. For those with thinning bones, osteoporosis therapy and Calcium can help as preventive measures. Getting adequate exercise, using hand-held weights to build bone, and working on balance are also useful. Those who are unsteady on their feet should have a walking companion and use a cane. Obstacles such as loose throw rugs should be removed from the home. When exercising outdoors, walking on an even surface can help to prevent tripping and falling.
Johns Hopkins Medical Letter: Health After 50; August 2007
April 9th, 2008
If you’ve ever experienced chronic pain (lasting more than six months), you were probably depressed. Pain and depression can form a vicious cycle, with one fueling the other. When your quality of life takes a big nosedive, you generally get depressed. If a significant disability is also involved, your chances of depression are even greater.
Most physicians who treat patients with chronic pain also treat the depression that usually accompanies it. Your internist may wish to give you a prescription or refer you to a psychiatrist. Sometimes you may be referred to a licensed “behavioral medicine†specialist. So-called cognitive therapy classes may be especially useful in helping you find new ways of thinking and thus reduce your pain levels.
Talk therapy usually takes a back seat to prescription antidepressants these days. In fact, sometimes talking about your pain can actually make it worse because you focus on it more. Antidepressant medications are often a primary treatment for depression, especially when chronic pain syndromes or nerve-related disorders are involved.
The earlier your depression is treated, the better the outcome can be. Early diagnosis and appropriate medications can reduce distress and even prevent suicide, in many cases. Those receiving treatment for depression that takes place while experiencing chronic pain often have an improvement in their overall medical condition.
Antidepressants work by altering certain chemical levels in the brain. It may take a while to find a particular antidepressant with minimal side-effects that works well for you. Every person experiences pain and reacts to medications differently. Among the antidepressants which are commonly prescribed today are the following:
- Celexa
- Prozac
- Zoloft
- Elavil
- Norpramin
- Effexor
- Serzone
- Wellbutrin
- Cymbalta
- Paxil
- Remeron
If you are depressed about a serious, life-changing event or due to severe, unremitting pain and disability, you should consult a physician about treating your depression.
Source: WebMD
March 11th, 2007
Epidural steroid injections to treat chronic back pain and sciatica do little to give lasting relief, according to medical researchers in the field of neurology. Back pain is often accompanied with leg pain along the path of the sciatic nerve. Depending on which vertebral disks are involved, sciatica runs down the back or the side of the leg and can be excruciating.
Based on findings of four studies, a group of neurology professionals is advising against use of epidural injections for long-term back pain relief, improving back function, or avoiding surgery.
Patients who received epidural shots had mild improvement in pain for two to six weeks after their injections. Compared with patients who got epidural shots with no medications (placebo injections), the steroids failed to relieve back pain more than the placebo at 24 hours, three months or six months after the treatments.
The neurologists agreed that some pain relief is positive, but they concluded that the results fell short of expectations and are not “clinically meaningful.†Not only did the shots fail to give significant pain relief, they also did not improve the patients’ average back function or help to avoid back surgery.
Study results were recently published in a news release from the American Academy of Neurology. The report indicates that the team of neurologists did not have enough data to evaluate the use of epidural steroid shots for neck pain. Researchers call for more studies of these types of injections for neck and back pain.
Source:Â WebMD
March 8th, 2007
Researchers in Germany have used a technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in a study that examined brains of healthy volunteers and those with chronic back pain. They discovered that the brain in patients with chronic back pain had a more complex, active microstructure in regions associated with pain-processing, emotion and stress response.
The study findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, held in Chicago recently. Researchers indicated that DTI demonstrates chronic pain is real and could help treatment research. Patients who suffer back pain sometimes have difficulty convincing their physicians, relatives, and insurance carriers of their genuine distress. Spinal MRI images do not always clearly demonstrate the source of pain.
According to the lead researcher, a radiologist in Munich, Germany, the objective and reproducible correlates in brain imaging should change the way chronic pain is perceived. It need no longer be a subjective experience. For pain diagnosis and treatment, the consequences could be huge. As a result, clinicians may direct therapeutic attention from the spine to the brain.
What is unclear is whether the brain in certain individuals is predisposed to developing chronic pain, whether ongoing pain causes hyperactivity and change in the brain’s organization or a combination of both.
Physicians who treat patients with chronic back pain have long known that chronic pain can begin with a serious injury. Even after healing has occurred, the brain continues to send pain signals for these individuals. The new imaging technology DTI will be able to validate their theory that the nervous system has been “rewired.â€
This study adds to the growing body of research showing that chronic pain is associated with physical changes in the brain. Chronic is defined as lasting more than six months.
In some cases, back pain plagues individuals for many years after their initial injuries.
This study helps the medical community to understand how the central nervous system is involved in back pain. More research is needed to determine what the brain’s physical changes mean and how to most effectively treat the pain.
Source:Â BBC News
February 20th, 2007
Low back pain sufferers can look forward to a potential cure for their damaged disks and resulting pain. A research team at the University of Manchester, England, hopes that the new, patented treatment can be available within three years.
The therapy, developed by Dr. Stephen Richardson, would use injected adult stem cells taken from the patient’s own bone marrow. These mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to differentiate into many different cell types. The extracted stem cells are then embedded in a gel-like material where they are grown in a culture. The gel-like substance is similar to natural collagen already used to treat cartilage defects.
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Dr. Richardson has been successful in turning MSCs into cells that make up the nucleus pulposus (NP) to provide cushioning between vertebrae. Because the stem cells are harvested from the patient’s own body, there is no chance of rejection by the immune system.
The British medical team reintroduces the cultured material into the damaged spinal disks through a tiny incision and using an arthroscope. The patient should be able to return home the same day after the procedure or the following day.
With treatments currently available to treat debilitating low back pain, success may be limited, and the cause of the pain is not completely addressed. This new procedure is expected to correct the root cause of the pain and give welcome relief from symptoms.
Pre-clinical trials will begin next year, after which full patient trials will take place. Although still in the early stages of development, the treatment appears very promising based on initial results.
Source:Â BBC News
December 2nd, 2006
The Center for Disease Control voted in October to make vaccination with the FDA-approved Zostavax shingles vaccine routine for all Americans 60 and older.
The older generation did not have the benefit of the chicken pox vaccine, now available to children and teens or older persons who never had the viral disease. Chicken pox was once a common disease of childhood.
Shingles will afflict about 20% of people who had chicken pox. For those who live to be 85, their chance of getting shingles rises to 50%.
A major clinical trial indicated that Merck’s Zostavax vaccine is more than 60% effective in minimizing shingles symptoms. It reduces painful PHN by 60% or more.
Shingles is caused by a herpes-type virus that remains dormant in the nerves until the individual’s immune system is suppressed due to aging, disease or immunity-suppressing drugs. An outbreak appears as clusters of red blisters above an underlying nerve path. It can vary considerably in size, severity, and length of time before it heals.
In about 30% of cases, shingles turns into an excruciatingly painful disease called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). A smaller number get a painful disease called ophthalmic zoster which can cause blindness in one or both eyes. The worst part is not going blind, but the accompanying all-consuming pain experienced every moment without relief for years.
The patient’s and family’s lives are profoundly affected by this horrible affliction.
Severe cases of PHN pain can cause some to commit suicide to escape the unremitting pain.
Everyone 60 and over should welcome the opportunity to get the vaccination.
Medicare and Medicaid Part D are expected to cover the cost of the vaccination.
Source:Â WebMD
November 1st, 2006
Until recently it was thought that Alzheimer’s patients could not feel pain. Now it is understood that they feel pain as powerfully as others, maybe more so, but are unable to verbalize their feelings. This may be so especially for those in the later stages of the mind-robbing disease. Because they have lost communication skills, their pain may be under-treated by physicians and caregivers.
An Australian study using MRI real-time brain scans to check the brain’s major pain channels gave clear evidence that pain may still be intensely felt in the Alzheimer’s patient. The study compared Alzheimer’s patients who could still describe their pain to other study participants who were volunteers without the disease.
In this study appearing in an online edition of the journal Brain, study authors concluded that dealing with pain became problematic because diseased patients were unable to divert their attention from it, as healthy volunteers were able to do. If patients in the study who could still communicate found pain to be bewildering, it might be even more so for those with Alzheimer’s.
When words can no longer adequately express pain, doctors and other caregivers can look for facial expressions and body movements that show discomfort. Often, the Alzheimer’s patient’s caregiver has a greater capacity to understand these signals of pain than even their physicians. They look for signs of agitation, altered eye contact, grimacing, or other indications.
It is generally impossible to totally eliminate pain in Alzheimer’s patients or in other persons with chronic pain. The goal for those with Alzheimer’s Disease or other dementias should be to find greater levels of comfort and pain management.
Source:Â Web MD
October 1st, 2006
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