I don't remember what it feels like to live without pain. At 15, I began feeling aching, stabbing, and burning sensations in my lower back and down my legs. Swallowing a few Aleve didn't help—in fact, nothing did. If I sit or stand for any period of time, or lift something heavy or fall, I pay for it, sometimes for weeks or months. I've slept on the kitchen linoleum, because the carpet felt too soft to stand.
For 17 years, I went to doctor after doctor, undergoing scans, physical therapy, and just about every "alternative" treatment that promised relief. Despite some amazing doctors and the expensive tests at their disposal, they could never see anything wrong, so I never got a diagnosis.
That is, until a couple of years ago, when a routine CAT scan finally caught a structural problem with my spine. Because of that, I qualified to have a spinal cord stimulator, an electronic device used to treat chronic pain, implanted into my back. Although I was scared to go under the knife, I was more than willing to become a cyborg in order to find even partial relief. And this type of therapy might also be able to help some of the 100 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain.
More ...
https://www.popsci.com/spinal-implant-back-pain/
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Friday, August 23, 2019
NPR-IBM Watson Health Poll: Pain In America : Shots - Health News : NPR
At some point nearly everyone has to deal with pain.
How do Americans experience and cope with pain that makes everyday life harder? We asked in the latest NPR-IBM Watson Health Poll.
First, we wanted to know how often pain interferes with people's ability to work, go to school or engage in other activities. Overall, 18% of Americans say that's often a problem for them. Almost a quarter – 24% — say it's sometimes the case.
The degree to which pain is a problem varies by age, with 22% of people 65 and older saying pain interferes often with their daily lives compared with only about 9% of people 35 and younger.
Once pain strikes, how do people deal with it?
The poll found that 63% of people had sought care for their pain and 37% hadn't. Younger people were less likely to have pursued care.
More ...
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/08/21/753080611/poll-nearly-1-in-5-americans-says-pain-interferes-with-daily-life
How do Americans experience and cope with pain that makes everyday life harder? We asked in the latest NPR-IBM Watson Health Poll.
First, we wanted to know how often pain interferes with people's ability to work, go to school or engage in other activities. Overall, 18% of Americans say that's often a problem for them. Almost a quarter – 24% — say it's sometimes the case.
The degree to which pain is a problem varies by age, with 22% of people 65 and older saying pain interferes often with their daily lives compared with only about 9% of people 35 and younger.
Once pain strikes, how do people deal with it?
The poll found that 63% of people had sought care for their pain and 37% hadn't. Younger people were less likely to have pursued care.
More ...
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/08/21/753080611/poll-nearly-1-in-5-americans-says-pain-interferes-with-daily-life
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)