Healthbolt » Pain

‘Tis the season for firing up the lawnmower, breaking out the hedge trimmers and playing in the dirt. But any fool knows that a day in the yard can equal a day on the couch…in pain.

When the aches and pains of bending, walking, twisting, etc start working their unsavory magic on you, try these tips to ward off a back mishap.

* Grab the heating pad and hunker down. Johns Hopkins University reported that when patients with backaches wore heat wraps for 3 consecutive days, their pain levels decreased by 60%. What’s more, they remained low for weeks afterward.

* Lean on me…backwards. If you feel like you’ve scored yourself a stiff back, do not sit up straight to try to work out the kinks. Instead, say Scottish researchers, lean back at about 135 degrees with your legs uncrossed.

* Feel the pressure. Seeing a professional trained in acupressure and allowing them to do their thing can alleviate discomfort by a whopping 89%, says the British Medical Journal. While a tad more pricey than Tylenol, acupressure is a great choice for those interested in more natural healing.

So there you have it. Tips that’ll get you excited about working in the yard again. Well, maybe not excited, but at least a little less petrified of gardening’s repercussions than before!

Of course, if you’d like more information on treating various types of pain, be sure to visit the fabulous Marijke over at Help My Hurt. She’s a whiz when it comes to all things pain, for sure.

Post from: Healthbolt

Phantom Pain in Amputees: A Strange Phenomenon and a Strange New Treatment

Liberty Kontranowski — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 01:43:07 +0000

Phantom pain felt by amputees in their missing limbs is nothing new. This bizarre phenomenon has been around since at least the Civil War era. But as the U.S. marks its fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, we are finally seeing the emergence of a new and very unlikely source of phantom pain therapy: mirrors.

That’s right, mirrors. Dr. Jack Tsao, a Navy neurologist with the Uniform Services University remembered reading a paper in grad school which concluded that using a mirror to cast a reflection of the amputee’s remaining limb – which the amputee flexes and moves – tricks the brain into thinking the missing limb is still present. This is an incredibly important treatment discovery since phantom pain is rarely cured or effectively controlled with medication. What’s more, a staggering 95 percent of amputees experience some form of phantom limb pain.

While no one really knows the exact cause behind phantom limb pain, current thinking is that the neurons which control leg movement are still in place, but in the absence of a limb, become “confused”, and fire randomly. The brain receives mismatched signals between those visual neurons (which know the leg is not there) and the neurons in charge of the body’s ability to sense a limb’s positioning (which thinks the limb is still there), and somehow the brain is not able to sort these conflicting messages out. The result is a sensation that the limb is frozen or in pain.

So far, Dr. Tsao has treated over 550 amputees, with 100 to 125 patients there any given day.

It’s so great to hear stories like this and to know that sometimes science and health can actually be simple.

Full story

Post from: Healthbolt