Fiscal crises, world hunger and wars populate headlines, yet unrelenting pain is a major healthcare issue, according to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Chronic pain afflicts 43 percent of the U.S. population. Legions of people around the globe endure unrelenting pain every day.
If you are among that tally, the good news is pain management has come a long way in the past decade. Here’s a look at new technologies for the most common chronic pain conditions:
- Arthritis: Physicians at New York-Presbyterian Hospital apply ultrasound technologies to the task of pinpointing inflammation so medication can be precisely targeted to the inflamed area. This approach also reduces the need for imaging technologies. Rita Tikofsky, who suffers from an arthritic shoulder, found the new therapeutic approach decreased her pain level.
- Migraines: Research underway into possible applications for using chili oil has garnered attention from Big Pharma. Amgen, Inc., isn’t the only pharmaceutical company analyzing ways to prevent or mitigate migraines. Targeted applications of chili oils may prove key to increasing blood flow, which delivers pain medication more rapidly. This strategy could possibly head off a pounding migraine before it turns into a lengthy bout of debilitating pain.
- Fibromyalgia: This painful chronic condition poses a complex puzzle to pain researchers, as multiple factors appear to be at play. Further confounding the development of a treatment protocol is the fact that researchers have not found a simple solution. So don’t be surprised if your physician applies a multi-therapeutic approach. There’s good news on the horizon: With so many sufferers, a lot of brainpower is being applied to solving the causes of this mysterious and complex condition.
- Back pain: Enough research on this topic has been produced to populate a small town’s library shelves because the causes of back pain are many, as are the therapies. Habits, a physically challenging job or degeneration of the joints may be the problem. Or it could be related to posture, mental state or emotional trauma, as back pain is a catchall disorder. That’s why it’s critical to find a doctor or medical facility with extensive experience in administering back pain remedies.
- Soft-tissue injuries: In times past, many patients with suspected injuries to soft-tissues, such as ligaments and tendons, went under the knife just to determine the cause. Current imaging technology has come a tremendously long way, allowing a physician a detailed glimpse of internal tissues with no significant harm to the patient. The vast trove of data these technologies yield is a potent weapon against the bane of back pain.