Pain : Treatments

Treatment of either acute or chronic pain may involve several different approaches to therapy.

There are many drugs aimed at preventing or treating pain. Nonopioid analgesics , narcotic analgesics, anticonvulsant drugs, and tricyclic antidepressants work by blocking the production, release, or uptake of selected neurotransmitters. Drugs fro...

There are many drugs aimed at preventing or treating pain. Nonopioid analgesics , narcotic analgesics, anticonvulsant drugs , and tricyclic antidepressants work by blocking the production, release, or uptake of neurotransmitters. Drugs from differ...

Both physical and psychological aspects of pain can be dealt with through alternative treatment. Some of the most popular treatment options include herbal therapies, nutritional therapies, homeopathy, acupressure and acupuncture , massage, chiropr...

Massage therapy is the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of normalizing those tissues and consists of manual techniques that include applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, and/or causing movement of or to the body.

Detailed information on massage therapy as a form of alternative therapy

Massage therapy can be used to increase blood flow, relax muscles, relieve stress and revitalize the body.

Massage therapy is the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body, consisting primarily of manual (hands-on) techniques such as applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, and moving muscles and body tissues.

Pregnancy massage is the prenatal use of massage therapy to support the physiologic, structural, and emotional well-being of both mother and fetus. Various forms of massage therapy, including Swedish, deep tissue, neuromuscular, movement, and Oriental-based therapies, may be applied throughout pregnancy as well as during labor and the postpartum period.

Pregnancy massage is the prenatal use of massage therapy to support the physiologic, structural, and emotional well-being of both mother and fetus. Various forms of massage therapy, including Swedish, deep tissue, neuromuscular, movement, and Oriental-based therapies, may be applied throughout pregnancy as well as during labor and the postpartum period.

Massage therapy is the scientific manipulation of the soft tissues of the body for the purpose of normalizing those tissues and consists of manual techniques that include applying fixed or movable pressure, holding, and/or causing movement of or to the body.

While there may not be conclusive evidence from studies to support it, massage can help relieve pain and muscle discomfort, and may reduce stress as well.

I have a deep muscle massage every month or so. After my sister had a stroke, I started worrying that my massages could loosen any plaque in my carotid arteries, which could make me have a stroke. Could this happen?

More than half of American adults seek medical treatment for back pain at some point in their lives.

Russian massage is a system of therapeutic and sports massage developed in the former Soviet Union. It uses a variety of manipulations of the body's soft tissues to achieve benefits, including stress reduction and relief from muscle aches.

Stone massage is a form of bodywork that involves the application of heated or cooled stones (thermotherapy) to the body during deep tissue massage.

Sports massage is a form of bodywork geared toward participants in athletics. It is used to help prevent injuries, to prepare the body for athletic activity and maintain it in optimal condition, and to help athletes recover from workouts and injuries. Sports massage has three basic forms: pre-event massage, post-event massage, and maintenance massage.

Detailed information on acupuncture, including what acupuncture feels like, how acupuncture affects the body, what conditions may benefit from acupuncture, and considerations when choosing acupuncture

Acupuncture, one of the main forms of therapy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been practiced for at least 2,500 years. In acupuncture, certain points on the body associated with energy channels or meridians are stimulated by the insertion of fine needles. Unlike the hollow hypodermic needles used in mainstream medicine to give injections or draw blood, acupuncture needles are solid. The points can be needled between 15 and 90 degrees in range relative to the skin's surface, depending on treatment. Acupuncture is thought to restore health by removing energy imbalances and blockages in the body. Practitioners of TCM believe that there is a vital force or energy called qi (pronounced "chee") that flows through the body, and between the skin surface and the internal organs, along channels or pathways called meridians. There are 12 major and 8 minor meridians. Qi regulates the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical harmony of the body by keeping the forces of yin and yang in balance. Yang is a principle of heat, activity, brightness, outwardness, while yin represents coldness, passivity, darkness, interiority, etc. TCM does not try to eliminate either yin or yang, but to keep them in harmonious balance. Acupuncture may be used to raise or lower the level of yin or yang in a specific part of the body in order to restore the energy balance. Acupuncture was virtually unknown in the United States prior to President Nixon's trip to China in 1972. A reporter for the New York Times named James Reston wrote a story for the newspaper about the doctors in Beijing who used acupuncture to relieve his pain following abdominal surgery. By 1993, Americans were making 12 million visits per year to acupuncturists, and spending $500 million annually on acupuncture treatments. By 1995, there were an estimated 10,000 certified acupuncturists practicing in the United States; as of 2000, there were 20,000. About a third of the credentialed acupuncturists in the United States as of 2002 are MDs. Acupuncture's record of success has been sufficiently impressive to stimulate a number of research projects investigating its mechanisms as well as its efficacy. Research has been funded not only by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), but also by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute of Dental Research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In 1997 a consensus panel of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) presented a landmark report in which it described acupuncture as a sufficiently promising form of treatment to merit further study. In 2000, the British Medical Association (BMA) recommended that acupuncture should be made more readily available through the National Health Service (NHS), and that family doctors should be trained in some of its techniques.

Acupuncture is often used to treat addiction, chronic fatigue, and digestive, emotional, gynecological, musculoskeletal, neurological, and respiratory problems.

Acupuncture is one of the main forms of treatment in traditional Chinese medicine . It involves the use of sharp, thin needles that are inserted in the body at very specific points. This process is believed to adjust and alter the body's energy flow into healthier patterns, and is used to treat a wide variety of illnesses and health conditions.

Researchers found that those who received the acupuncture treatments had 22 fewer days of headache per year than those who did not receive acupuncture.

Acupuncture is one of the main forms of treatment in traditional Chinese medicine. It involves the use of sharp, thin needles that are inserted in the body at very specific points. This process is believed to adjust and alter the body's energy flow into healthier patterns, and is used to treat a wide variety of illnesses and health conditions.

Acupuncture, one of the main forms of therapy in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has been practiced for at least 2,500 years. In acupuncture, certain points on the body are stimulated by the insertion of fine needles. Unlike the hollow hypodermic needles used in mainstream medicine to give injections or to draw blood, acupuncture needles are solid. The points can be needled between 15° and 90° relative to the skin's surface, depending on treatment. Acupuncture is thought to restore health by removing energy imbalances and blockages in the body. Practitioners of TCM believe that there is a vital force or energy called qi (pronounced "chee") that flows through the body and between the skin surface and the internal organs, along channels or pathways called meridians. There are 12 major and eight minor meridians. Qi regulates the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical harmony of the body by keeping the forces of yin and yang in balance. Yang is a principle of heat, activity, brightness, outwardness, while yin represents coldness, passivity, darkness, interiority, etc. TCM does not try to eliminate either yin or yang, but rather keep them in harmonious balance. Acupuncture may be used to raise or lower the level of yin or yang in a specific part of the body in order to restore the energy balance. Acupuncture was virtually unknown in the United States prior to President Richard Nixon's trip to China in 1972. A reporter for the New York Times named James Reston wrote a story for the newspaper about the doctors in Beijing who used acupuncture to relieve his pain following abdominal surgery. By 1993, Americans were making 12 million visits per year to acupuncturists, and spending $500 million annually on acupuncture treatments. By 1995, there were an estimated 10,000 certified acupuncturists practicing in the United States; as of 2000, there were 20,000. About a third of the credentialed acupuncturists in the United States as of 2002 are MDs. Acupuncture's record of success has stimulated a number of research projects investigating its mechanisms as well as its efficacy. Research has been funded not only by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), but also by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the National Institute of Dental Research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. In 1997, a consensus panel of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) presented a report in which it described acupuncture as a sufficiently promising form of treatment to merit further study. In 2000, the British Medical Association (BMA) recommended that acupuncture should be made more readily available through the National Health Service (NHS), and that family doctors should be trained in some of its techniques.

AcupunctureAcupuncture is an ancient form of Chinese medicine. Behind this treatment is the belief that energy (or "life force") flows throughout your body.

The belief that acupuncture can lower blood pressure has been tested by studies, but the conclusions regarding its effectiveness are divided.

Research shows that acupuncture can reduce pain and improve function in people with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Has acupuncture been used in the treatment of non-diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy affecting the feet? If so, has it been successful?

Can acupuncture help with withdrawal from drug addiction? Diana Post, M.D., is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Does acupuncture help with menopause symptoms like hot flashes? Diana Post, M.D., is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Is there any clinical evidence of acupuncture mitigating asthma attacks? Catherine Ulbricht, Pharm.D., is a senior attending pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an assistant professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, and the University of Rhode Island. She is a founder of Natural Standard Research Collaboration, which provides high-level complementary and alternative medicine content for health-care institutions. She also is a member of the board of directors of the Integrative Medicine Alliance, and chief editor of the Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy.

Is there any evidence that acupuncture can help patients with epilepsy? Diana Post, M.D., is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Hydrotherapy, or water therapy, is the use of water (hot, cold, steam, or ice) to relieve discomfort and promote physical well-being.

Hydrotherapy, or water therapy, is the use of water (hot, cold, steam, or ice) to relieve discomfort and promote physical well-being.

Hydrotherapy, or water therapy, is the use of water (hot, cold, steam, or ice) to relieve discomfort and promote physical well-being.

To keep stress at a minimum and reduce its effects on your life, you need to find and practice healthy ways to manage it.

You're familiar with the symptoms of stress -- a pounding heart, increased perspiration, tight neck and shoulder muscles, anxiety and fear. But you may not know how to prevent or relieve these symptoms.

Relaxation therapy is a broad term used to describe a number of techniques that promote stress reduction, the elimination of tension throughout the body, and a calm and peaceful state of mind.

Experts say that effective relaxation requires more than simply vegging out in front of the TV set. It means learning a few relaxation techniques to combat stress -- a condition recently linked to a host of physical and emotional problems like heart disease, headaches, asthma and insomnia.

Relaxation therapy is a broad term used to describe a number of techniques that promote stress reduction, the elimination of tension throughout the body, and a calm and peaceful state of mind.

Working in a high-stress environment can take a toll on your mental and physical health. It can also take the joy out of life—if you let it.

Spinal manipulative therapies are those that are used on the human skeleton, particularly the spinal area, to relieve muscular or skeletal pain , relieve tension, improve the mobility of joints and, in the case of the oriental therapies, to "unblock energy channels." The idea behind spinal manipulation is that when the vertebrae are subluxated (misaligned), the resulting pressure on nerves can have negative effects on organ system function and general health, in addition to impeding proper joint motion.

Chiropractic is from Greek words meaning done by hand. It is grounded in the principle that the body can heal itself when the skeletal system is correctly aligned and the nervous system is functioning properly. To achieve this, the practitioner uses his or her hands or an adjusting tool to perform specific manipulations of the vertebrae. When these bones of the spine are not correctly articulated, resulting in a condition known as subluxation, the theory is that nerve transmission is disrupted and causes pain and illness manifested in the back as well as other areas of the body. Chiropractic is one of the most popular alternative therapies currently available. Some would say it now qualifies as mainstream treatment as opposed to complementary medicine. Chiropractic treatment is covered by many insurance plans. It has become well-accepted treatment for acute pain and problems of the spine, including lower back pain and whiplash . Applications beyond that scope are not supported by current evidence, although there are ongoing studies into the usefulness of chiropractic for such problems as ear infections, dysmenorrhea , infant colic , migraine headaches, and other conditions.

Chiropractic is from Greek words meaning done by hand. It is grounded in the principal that the body can heal itself when the skeletal system is correctly aligned and the nervous system is functioning properly. To achieve this, the practitioner uses his or her hands or an adjusting tool to perform specific manipulations of the vertebrae. When these bones of the spine are not correctly Points on the spine that correspond to various organs and their functions according to chiropractic medicine. ( Illustration by GGS Information Services, Inc. The Gale Group .) articulated, resulting in a condition known as subluxation, the theory is that nerve transmission is disrupted and causes pain and illness manifested in the back as well as other areas of the body. Chiropractic is one of the most popular alternative therapies currently available. Some would say it now qualifies as mainstream treatment as opposed to complementary medicine. Chiropractic treatment is covered by many insurance plans. It has become well-accepted treatment for acute pain and problems of the spine, including lower back pain and whiplash. Applications beyond that scope are not supported by current evidence, although there are ongoing studies into the usefulness of chiropractic for such problems as ear infections, dysmenorrhea , infant colic , migraine headaches, and other conditions. Patients continue to visit chiropractors with complaints of headaches and pain or injury to the neck, middle back, arms, or legs.