I know celebrities are real people, but whenever one of them gets a disease or has a life struggle I think it helps highlight that issue with the general public. To that end, actress Parker Posey has just announced that she has Lyme Disease. She is 40 years old and will now take some time off from work to help focus on her disease.

Lyme disease is one of those diseases that can be treated if it’s caught early. If it isn’t, “bacteria can lead to severe brain and heart problems” for individuals with the disease.
Posey was scheduled …read more

Tick season is in full force in many places in the United States and a few in Canada. Tick-borne diseases, like Lyme disease, can have serious consequences in previously healthy people.
The five types of tick-borne diseases are:

Babesiosis
Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
Lyme Disease
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Tularemia

Of course, prevention is the best medicine. If you can’t avoid areas where ticks live, there are some steps you can take to reduce the risk of being bitten:

Avoid sitting directly on the ground or fallen logs
Avoid sitting on stonewalls or woodpiles
Walk in the center of trails
Wear light-colored long pants and long …read more

It’s the weekend, so that means a weekly round-up of the most popular posts. Here we are:

Topical NSAID As Effective As Tablets For Knee Pain
Numbing gel eases pain from mammograms
Pregnancy and migraines
The pain of pleurisy
Company’s calling: For Grace’s founder, Cynthia Toussaint speaks out
Legitimate patients with chronic pain vs drug seekers
Gastric bypass/kidney stone connection?
10 causes of chronic pain in seniors
Ticks that cause Lyme disease found in new regions across Canada
A blogger tells how leg pain signaled ovarian cancer

What do you think of those choices? Do any of them surprise you as being popular?
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Let’s see, L is for lovers…
and it’s also for:
Lupus: Lupus is one of the autoimmune diseases and although it affects both men and women, many more women get it than men. If you click on the link above, you can read more about it and find some web sites that may be helpful.
Lumbar spinal stenosis: Back pain can be very debilitating and lumbar spinal stenosis is one of the back problems that can cause a lot of pain. It is the narrowing of the spinal canal and this narrowing compresses the spinal nerves, causing pain.
Lyme disease: Untreated Lyme disease can …read more

It’s Friday again – funny how that day just keeps coming back week after week…
A quick look at the statistics for the week show that these are the 10 most popular posts for Help My Hurt visitors:
1- This one makes the top 5 consistently: Press release: Lupus Foundation of America Launches Website Message Boards to Connect People With Lupus
2- This one was just posted yesterday and already has over 550 page views: Narcotic and opioid myths – it’s time to smarten up
3- This one is a give-away and you have until July 14th to enter so you still have time: …read more

What timing. Here is a great follow-up to my article yesterday on Lyme disease and the difficulty of living with the chronic pain from the infection.
According to the CNN article 10-year battle with pain highlights Lyme disease debate, Mandy Hughes has been fighting Lyme disease for 10 years, from the time she was infected at the age of 19. The article’s author wrote that Mandy’s story is the basis of a documentary called “”Under Our Skin,” which takes a look at the leaders of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, a national medical group that represents health care professionals who …read more

Not too long ago, Lyme disease was in the news quite a bit, but now you don’t hear too much about it. Unfortunately, that’s not good because Lyme disease is still present and causing problems for the people who become infected.
The long-lasting effects of untreated Lyme disease include chronic pain in the joints and muscles, as well as nerve problems. It can become debilitating and can even cause death. So, the best thing is to know how to prevent it and what to watch for.
What causes Lyme disease?
A tick like this spreads the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes the …read more

May seems to be a popular month for health observances. I found quite a few and here are the ones that I think fit into this blog:
American Stroke Month by the American Heart Association.
ALS Awareness Month, visit the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s ALS site
Better Sleep Month by the Better Sleep Council.
Lupus Awareness Month by the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.
Lyme Disease Awareness Month by the Lyme Disease Foundation.
Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month by the American Academy of Dermatology.
Mental Health Month by Mental Health America.
National Arthritis Month by the Arthritis Foundation.
National Celiac Disease Awareness Month by the American Celiac Disease …read more