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Happy (Pain-Free) Holidays!

Starting in November through the year-end, many of us are constantly on the go. We’re on our feet while shopping, cooking and going to parties. We’re traveling more and we’re often feeling more stress, which can lower our tolerance for pain. Pain can put a damper on the season and you want to be enjoying time with family and friends, not skipping out on parties or struggling to through the pain. Here are some tips to stay pain-free while shopping, cooking and traveling. Shopping and Cooking During the holiday season, extra trips to the grocery store and the mall are inevitable. Minimize the chance of a pain flare-up by: – Going shopping during off hours to secure a closer parking spot and avoid waiting in long lines – Making a list of what you need to avoid extra wandering – Using a shopping cart even if you only need a few things—this will keep you from placing extra strain on your arms and shoulders – Making multiple trips—you may need to go gift shopping one day and food shopping the next. And, don’t try to save time by bringing everything in at once; the extra trips to and from the car are worth the time For many families, the holidays aren’t the same without those special dishes or cookies. If you are the one responsible for these (or other) essential items, enlist help. Cooking for the holiday should be enjoyable. If you are making a stew or a roast, enlist others to help with the chopping, or do the prep work the night before you plan to cook. Having all of the...

How to Tackle Arthritis Pain

If you are one of the 40 million people in the U.S. dealing with arthritis, you know that when left unmanaged, arthritis pain can affect your ability to do what you love. Arthritis simply means joint inflammation, but the word has become a blanket term for arthritis itself and more than 100 rheumatic diseases and conditions that affect joints, the tissues surrounding joints and your connective tissue. The good news is that because so many Americans are dealing with arthritis pain, there are numerous solutions, from changes in diet to TENS technology, to help you live each day with less pain. Here are some ways to handle arthritis pain. Adopt an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Do you know that what you eat can impact your arthritis pain? The Arthritis Foundation recommends the following foods to help you reduce inflammation and combat pain: Fish Some types of fish are good sources of inflammation-fighting omega-3 fatty acids, and consuming these fatty acids have been found to lower the presence of two inflammatory proteins: C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6. If you’re not a fan of fish or you’re a vegetarian, try these other foods with high omega-3 fatty acid content: Flaxseed oil and flaxseed—Avoid cooking the oil itself. Instead, add the oil to smoothies, salad dressing or soup. Use flaxseed meal in bread, cake, muffin, pancakes, meatloaf or cookie recipes to get the omegas and an added boost of fiber. Chia seeds—Add chia seeds to oatmeal, smoothies or yogurt. You can also use chia seeds to make pudding. Fresh Basil—Add basil to salads or pasta dishes. Cloves—Cloves can add flavor to rice, beets and even...

4 Natural, Drug-free Therapies for Pain Management

While some prescription medications are effective and helpful in pain management, there are a number of reasons you may wish to avoid turning to drugs to get relief. Medications can come with unpleasant side effects, be costly or interact with medicine you may need to take for other conditions. Luckily, there are a lot of great ways you can manage your pain without taking medications. When trying NON-DRUG therapies, be open to ideas that you may not fully understand and go in with an open mind. If a certain a treatment is helping you feel better, the “how it works” becomes far less important than the fact that it does work. Here are four Adrug-free pain management treatments you might not have tried, or maybe you tried it years ago at your healthcare provider’s office. Acupuncture Acupuncture, one of the oldest healing practices in the world, is becoming so commonplace that many insurance carriers now cover treatments and an estimated 3.1 million Americans have had acupuncture treatments—70% of them seeking help with pain, according to the National Center of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine. Here’s a quick overview of how acupuncture works: It is based on idea that energy, or qi, travels our bodies on paths called meridians and that illness (or pain) occurs when that flow is disrupted. The idea is to find the cause, in addition to treating the symptoms. “Acupuncture and herbs are an intriguing alternative to pharmaceuticals. They certainly have been proven to treat pain in numerous scientific, double-blind studies. More importantly, however, is the face that traditional medical systems, like Chinese Medicine, try to address...

Moist Heat and TENS Therapy

How to Use Moist Heat for Pain Relief Applying moist heat, like a microwaveable heating pad,  is an easy, affordable, and safe way to obtain pain relief.  Heat should be used with caution.  A hot pack should be applied with additional toweling so that comfortable warmth is achieved without the potential for burns.  Heat can be applied any amount of time, but increased length of application can increase the risk for burns, especially when the heat source is constant, such as with a plug in heater.  Heat can also increase swelling in an injured area. How Moist Heat Works to Reduce Pain Moist heat has been shown to increase local metabolism and blood flow.  This can assist with increasing circulation to an area, in general allowing for increased nutrient flow to the area while helping to flush out pain substances.  Both of these processes can help to relieve pain. Moist Heat Works Well with TENS Therapy Moist heat can also aid in muscle relaxation by decreasing tissue tension and spasm while increasing tissue extensibility, which often assists in pain relief.  Heat can be used in conjunction with a TENS unit.  While TENS can be used for symptomatic pain relief, moist heat can add additional therapeutic benefits.  The electrical impulses from the TENS unit excite the sensory nerves.  This can provide varying degrees of pain relief by activating the body’s natural pain relieving system and/or the nervous system’s ability to use the electrical impulses to interfere with the pain messages being sent to the brain. Moist Heat is Not Recommended for Everyone People with certain conditions should also be very...

If you have arthritis, can TENS therapy help?

Here’s some expert advice. There are many arthritic diseases, which cause non-inflammatory or inflammatory joint pain. Osteoarthritis causes degeneration of one or more joints, while rheumatoid arthritis can be experienced in many regions of the body. Either variety is a common cause of joint and muscular pain, stiffness and limitation of mobility that can interfere with the normal basic activities of daily living (ADLs). Many people with arthritis tend to take medication which can cause dependency and side-effects. If you are concerned about taking too much medicine, you should consider TENS therapy. TENS, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy, can help to control arthritis pain without the use of additional drugs as well as reduce the amount of medication and related side-effects. Advice on how to use TENS for arthritis If your arthritic pain is confined to a single region, a TENS unit may help reduce your pain. Just place the electrode pads above and below or parallel to the involved joint. If your arthritic pain is in multiple areas, such as from rheumatoid arthritis, I recommend pad placements in this order. First apply the pads to the most painful region, followed by other areas as needed. If you have arthritic pain at the hip or knee, it is also possible that TENS applied to the low back can decrease pain. This occurs because the nerve supply to those joints originates from the lumbar spine. If you are active and have arthritis in the knee, you can improve mobility during and immediately after a TENS therapy session. The American College of Rheumatology recommends patient instruction in the use of...

How To Combat Boomeritis

When it comes to exercise, baby boomers can feel damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Yes, we’re supposed to stay active, but as the body wears out, it’s all too easy to go overboard. Medical professionals have even coined the term boomeritis to describe the aches and pains afflicting those who are 55 going on 25—that is, who overestimate what they can accomplish on the dance floor, open road, or basketball court. In 2009, the National Institutes of Health issued a comprehensive online handout on sports injuries. Though it covers all age groups, some of the advice is critical to boomers. For example, after a hard workout and more-than-usual pain, you may want to know whether to head for the doctor—or, as usual, just your medicine cabinet or TENS machine. The problem, for those of us who love to exercise, is—well, we love to exercise, doing that particular sport, type of training, or dance. We have a hard time cutting back or cutting out. I hated to quit my flamenco dance classes, but I came to think they’d caused or aggravated my hip bursitis and low back pain. (Also, I was discouraged by the teacher’s comment that it takes 25 years to learn flamenco—so I’d be 80 by the time I was ready for the spotlight.) Now I take dance that’s slightly easier on my hips. Another way to lessen discomfort is cross-training. But even activities that are supposed to prevent injury, like yoga and Pilates, can produce pain when they’re overdone or done incorrectly. (Check out the New York Times’s incendiary 2012 “How Yoga Can Wreck...

10 Tips for TENS Pad Placement

Do you suffer from muscle pain?  It’s possible that your muscle pain came from an injury, strain or overuse.  Today, many Americans turn to FDA cleared TENS devices (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) to relieve muscle pain in the lower back, hips and arms.  The use of TENS at home may be part of the overall treatment program developed by a physical therapist like myself, a physician or chiropractor.  These professionals understand the musculoskeletal system and know how to most effectively place the electrode pads onto your skin for optimal pain relief. You can also buy a TENS unit over the counter (OTC) from your local drugstore to use at home. Yet, without the advice and training of a healthcare provider, you may not feel comfortable about where to place the electrode pads.  I would like to allay some of your fears with a little professional advice about electrode pad placement. In order to obtain the best degree of pain relief with TENS, I recommend the following TENS pad placement guidelines: 1. Take note of exactly where your pain is located.  Outline the most concise and tender area of the pain. 2. Always use two pads (one channel) or four pads (two channels) at the same time depending upon the type of TENS unit that you have as it will not work with just one pad. 3. You can alter the flow of the electrical sensation if you change the distance between the electrode pads and/or the direction of the pads. 4. The pads can be placed in one of three directions 1. vertical   2. horizontal   3.  angulated. 5. The...

How to Relieve Sciatic Pain and Chronic Back Pain Naturally

A large percentage of people in the United States will experience back pain at some point in their lives.  A percentage of those will go on to experience multiple episodes of back pain and/or chronic back pain.  Consult with a healthcare provider such as a physician or physical therapist in order to have it evaluated and treated before it becomes a chronic issue. What are common types of back pain?  You may notice many small episodes of back pain at first.  It’s possible that the pain may then lead up to intense back pain with spasm.  In some cases, back pain may be accompanied by gluteal or leg pain.  This is commonly referred to as sciatic nerve pain.  Any of these symptoms may occur after heavy lifting, repetitive lifting, and/or sitting for prolonged periods of time, especially with poor postural habits. Remember that there are both natural and medicinal options for back pain treatment. If you are concerned about taking too much medicine, it’s good to know that there are a number of drug-free options available. One of the most important ways to treat back pain naturally is to address your posture.  Sitting upright in a chair and using a lumbar support can help to relieve back pain.  Make sure that you assess your desk at work, your computer use at home, and how you sit in your car or on public transportation.  It is also important to move out of the sitting position as frequently as every 15 minutes, especially if your pain is acute. Bed rest may help acute back pain, but make sure it is for...

What is a TENS Unit

What is a TENS unit? TENS, or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, is the use of electrical impulses delivered by a TENS unit via TENS electrodes placed on the skin in order to create alterations in pain perception.  A home TENS unit is easy to use for symptomatic pain relief including joint pain and muscle pain. How to use a TENS unit? Place the electrodes according to the instructions included with the unit in order to ensure safe and effective use of the TENS unit.  Slowly turn the intensity up until you first feel a tingling or buzzing sensation.  You can then continue to increase the intensity until it feels strong but comfortable.   TENS units often have different programs that feel different (pulsing versus tingling, constant versus on and off).  Trying these different programs give you the opportunity to see what feels the best and provides the most pain relief. How long do I use the TENS unit? It is a good idea to start with a 10-15 minute program to see how your body responds. In total, it is safe to use for up to 30 minutes. How does a TENS unit work to relieve my pain? The electrical impulses from the TENS unit excite the sensory nerves.  This can provide varying degrees of pain relief by activating the body’s natural pain relieving system and/or the nervous system’s ability to use the electrical impulses to interfere with the pain messages being sent to the brain. Is a TENS unit ok for me to use at home? There are a number of reasons to try a home TENS unit to assist...