Pain
Can You Wreck Your Kidneys With NSAID Pain Relie…
Most people take their kidneys for granted...until something bad happens. When your kidneys fail, though, your life hangs in the balance. Short of dialysis or a kidney transplant, kidney failure rapid…
How Safe Is Your Pain Reliever? Acetaminophen, I…
Almost everyone takes a pain reliever now and again. It might be for a headache, a muscle strain or arthritis. Occasional use is considered reasonably safe. But regular use of most OTC analgesics pose…
Ibuprofen and High Blood Pressure: A Dangerous R…
Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is on the rise (Open Heart, April 28, 2017). We're talking about drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen. Such pain relievers are perceived as quite safe…
Are You Taking “Good” Drugs or “Bad” Dru…
You have doubtless heard that we live in a “polarized” world where the middle ground has been lost. Pundits usually apply this concept to politics: Republicans vs. Democrats or liberals vs. conser…
Overdosing on Acetaminophen in Cold and Flu Reme…
Many over-the-counter medicines marketed for treating colds and flu contain acetaminophen (paracetamol in Europe, Australia and New Zealand). This non-aspirin pain reliever helps lower fever. Acetamin…
Do You Read OTC Medication Labels? You Should!
Americans LOVE Drugs. I am not talking about getting high. I am talking about pills we purchase in pharmacies, convenience stores and online. According to a study published in the journal Demography (…
How Do Virtual Visits Compare to In-Person Docto…
One of the consequences of the pandemic was the adoption of virtual visits for primary health care. The rationale was to avoid transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to otherwise healthy people. Like th…
Show 1354: How Hypnosis Can Help Your Health
Would you be surprised to learn that hypnosis is a powerful tool for healing? If your primary exposure to this practice has been in books and movies, you may have a few misconceptions about how it wor…
How Do You Weigh the Benefits and Risks of Aspir…
Aspirin has been around for over 100 years. Moreover, it is one of the most versatile drugs in the pharmacy. This tablet relieves pain, lowers fever and reduces inflammation. In addition, it has anti-…
How Can You Manage Opioid-Induced Constipation?
Opioids have gotten a bad name over the last several years because so many users have overdosed and died. But people have been using these drugs, also known as narcotics, for millennia. The ancient As…
Are You “Addicted” to Your Prescription Medi…
Before you read another word, rethink the term addiction! It is loaded with emotional baggage and is a terrible description of drug dependence. It often implies character flaws or vulnerability and fr…
Show 1339: Harnessing the Power of the Vagus Ner…
We have multiple nervous systems. You are probably aware of the nerves that help move your arms to throw a ball or move your legs to jump. No doubt you also know about the fight-or-flight response tri…
Do You Take Your Pain Medicine for Granted?
If you are like most Americans the chances are very good that you have one of the following in your medicine cabinet or in a kitchen drawer: acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin …
Are Doctors Overprescribing Gabapentin for Pain?
Let's be perfectly honest. Many doctors have a difficult time dealing with patients in pain. Most medical schools devote relatively little time to teaching about pain management. The same can be said …
People in Pain Need Access to Suicide Hotline Nu…
When a reader calls us on an important omission, we try to correct our error. That happened recently when we wrote about the CDC guidelines for opioid use. We were so focused on access to adequate pai…
Does Acupuncture Safely Relieve Back Pain During…
Pregnant people often experience lower back or pelvic pain during pregnancy. progresses. This poses a dilemma, since medications used to alleviate pain may not be safe for the developing fetus. An ana…
Are People In Pain Committing Suicide For Lack o…
The opioid epidemic has been with us for decades. It has resulted in untold misery and death. The pandemic only made matters worse. Overdose deaths spiked, in part because the synthetic opioid fentany…
Show 1290: Approaches for Managing Chronic Pain …
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 50 million American suffer from debilitating chronic pain. Despite that number, in 2016 the agency issued stringent guideline…
Can NSAIDs for Pain Harm Your Kidneys?
Have you taken nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like diclofenac, ibuprofen or naproxen? A study of soldiers showed that people taking high doses of NSAIDs for pain may develop kidney prob…
Opioid Crackdown Leaves Cancer Patients In Pain!
Far too many people are dying from opioid overdoses. You already knew that. It’s been in the news for years. Many of the deaths are due to fentanyl. This synthetic opioid has become widely available…
Unexpected Benefits and Risks of the Moderna Vac…
When most people think of COVID vaccines, all they are interested in is how well they will protect them from being hospitalized with COVID-19. After all, that is why these shots were invented. We now …
Should You Take Turmeric to Ease Pain?
Persistent pain can really wear you down. Consequently, when people discover something that works, they like to share the good news. Some readers report relief from months of terrible discomfort by ta…
Aspirin vs. NSAIDs: Which Is Best?
Aspirin has lost its luster. There was a time when many doctors would recommend aspirin to treat minor aches and pains. People with rheumatoid arthritis were "prescribed" large doses of aspirin. The "…
War on Opioids Punishes Desperate Pain Patients
We have been reading about the horrors of opioids for decades. Americans are increasingly paranoid about drugs like codeine, hydrocodone (Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Vicodin, etc.) and oxycodone (OxyContin…
Pain Reliever Confusion: Aspirin | Advil | Aleve…
Walk into any pharmacy and you will find an aisle devoted to pain relief. There are so many brands and generic options that it could give you a headache just trying to figure out which of the many pro…
People in Pain Are in Misery Because of the War …
Deaths from opioid overdoses have been surging. For years, the CDC has been concerned about the toll that opioid overdoses are taking. There have been reports that fentanyl and its chemical cousins ar…
Will CBD for Pain Make You Fail the Marijuana Te…
One lesson learned from the terrible opioid crisis of the past few years: a lot of Americans are in a lot of pain. With doctors increasingly reluctant to prescribe narcotics for pain relief, people ar…
Show 1178: Do We Need a Revolution in Managing P…
Pain is a difficult topic. To begin with, the experience of pain is completely subjective. There are no independent objective measures that doctors can use to assess a patient’s pain. They have to t…
When PM Pain Meds Might Make Sense
We are not big fans of "PM" Pain meds. We’re talking about products such as Advil PM, Aleve PM, Excedrin PM, Motrin PM, Tylenol PM or Unisom PM. We suspect that a lot of people see a familiar brand …
Opioid Crackdown Betrays People in Pain!
We have been hearing about the opioid epidemic for so many years we have lost track. It continues. The CDC recently reported a significant uptick in drug overdoses and deaths during the pandemic. …
Can a Supplement Relieve Neuropathy Pain?
People who experience neuropathy pain tell us it can be excruciating. Sometimes this is a side effect of cancer treatment, though other individuals develop nerve pain as a consequence of taking a stat…
Gabapentin Risks for Persistent Shoulder Pain?
People in pain are suffering…not just from the pain but also from the treatments that are being offered. Opioids have developed such a terrible reputation that most physicians are reluctant to presc…
Long Lasting Shoulder Pain After Flu Shot
Getting a flu shot is supposed to be your best protection against influenza. Since September we have all been encouraged to get our flu shot. Most of the reports we have seen this year suggest that th…
Celecoxib Skin Rash Can Be Extremely Serious
Doctors frequently prescribe celecoxib (Celebrex) to relieve pain due to arthritis and other conditions. They like this nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) partly because it appears less likel…
Show 1195: Do You Need Spine Surgery?
People who have suffered with back pain for a long time may be told that spine surgery is their last resort. But far too often, spine surgery does not relieve back pain. Sometimes, people even feel wo…
Will Magnolia Compound Help You Control Pain?
Compounds used in traditional Chinese medicine are often new to Western medical science, even if they have been used for centuries. Increasingly, however, researchers are investigating these naturally…
Will Acupuncture Ease the Pain of Neuropathy?
Peripheral neuropathy, pain in the feet and legs (or occasionally even in the hands and arms), can be challenging to treat. Ideally, of course, the physician would identify what was causing the nerves…
Substitute Pain Relievers Appear in Suicide Atte…
Public health authorities have been working hard to control the opioid epidemic and reduce the number of people dying from narcotic overdoses. This effort has had some success, but it has also had som…
Stopping Ultracet (Tramadol + Acetaminophen) Led…
Almost everyone has heard about the opioid epidemic. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids.” …
Tramadol and Hypoglycemia: Beware Symptoms of Lo…
Tramadol has become one of the most widely prescribed pain relievers in the world. That’s because many doctors have become reluctant to prescribe opioids like hydrocodone. Physicians prescribe trama…