At The Pain Center of Arizona, we are the first to bring you technological advances in chronic pain treatment. Our very own Dr. Siwek was featured on a recent episode of the hit television series The Doctors explaining how spinal cord stimulation works. We are the first in so many realms of pain management, and it seems that technology is continuing to astound us.

Researchers in Australia have devised a “smart chip,” as they’re calling it, that has the ability to ‘measure the properties of signals and pick out the ones that are carrying pain to the nerve center. When the chip detects a pain signal headed towards the brain, it shoots out a 10-volt electric pulse that blocks the pain signal.”

The amazing part about this little miracle, and what separates it from the EON Mini Neurostimulator, is that according to the researchers, can decipher between the bodies normal electronic signals and the ones that transmit pain. The Neurostimulator, or spinal cord stimulator, sends electrical pulses to the spinal cord to interfere with the nerve impulses that make you feel pain. With the Neurostimulator, it is a constant, although small, electronic pulses. With the “smart chip,” the electronic pulse is only distributed when pain signals are found.

Read the rest of this article at http://www.ThePainCenter.com.

If you’re in pain, there's a temptation to skip exercising. But exercise can often help reduce pain and improve your quality of life.  Just remember to pace yourself and consult a physician for advice.  Here are 10 types of exercise that can help get you moving:

Walking

This is a low-impact activity that's a good choice if you have the physical capability.  The benefit is that you can exercise almost anywhere: The mall, the local school track, or a parking lot.  

Swimming

Swimming is great for people who have osteoarthritis, who have musculoskeletal issues or any joint disease where any kind of impact may aggravate the underlying problem.  The reason: Swimming (and other forms of water exercise) defies gravity, so there aren’t any unpleasant and potentially damaging jolts to the joints. 

Yoga

The breathing component of yoga might be just as helpful to ease chronic pain as the movement and stretching.  Remember to be cautious when doing certain poses.  

Consulting a physician before beginning any yoga class is recommended.Yoga can involve very extreme ranges of motion involving the spine and other joints so there is a risk of injury.  Do whatever is a comfortable range of motion within your abilities.  Don’t push it unless you’re in very good condition.  Even someone who is bedridden could simply start with certain breathing exercises and focusing on different body parts, integrating this into either active or passive movements (such as contracting a muscle). 

Tai chi

There’s almost no one too old as long as you can move a little bit. It incorporates the body and the mind.  Tai chi reduces pain, stiffness and fatigue.  Tai chi also helps with building strength, endurance, and balance.

Aerobic Activity

In general, aerobic activities (which can include using the treadmill or riding on a stationary bike) are particularly good for anyone, including those experiencing pain. Strength-only training helped with pain, but that aerobic activity helped alleviate symptoms as well as improved physical function.  And besides helping your heart, the aerobics activates your endogenous opioid mechanisms…to reduce pain. 

Light-weight and Strength TrainingWeight training is particularly helpful for people suffering from arthritis.  The exercises strengthen the joints around the injury and that takes some of the stress off the joint when you’re using it.  Weights that are from an ounce to 5 to 10 pounds will help. However, it’s important to pace yourself when doing these exercises. Start with a can of soup, if you’ve been inactive for a long time, or try doing sit-ups or push-ups around the hours.

Rheumatoid arthritis is all over the news this week, and while it’s one of our most treated chronic conditions here at The Pain Center of Arizona, new studies and results are always of interest to us as well as our patients. The two studies that stand out this week deal with the relationship between smoking and RA, and the effectiveness of early diagnosis.

Early assessment of rheumatoid arthritis can reduce the amount of joint damage and improve the likelihood of disease remission without having to take disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, known as DMARDs, new research indicates.

The study, which lasted six years, showed that 12 weeks seem to be the magic number for rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. According to BusinessWeek.com, patients who were seen by a rheumatologist 12 or more weeks after RA symptoms began had a joint destruction rate 1.3 times higher than patients assessed within 12 weeks.

The study is published in the December issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.

"Early treatment intervention dramatically improves clinical outcomes in patients with RA," Dr. Michael van der Linden, of the Leiden University Medical Center, said in a news release from the journal's publisher. "Our study presents the first evidence that RA patients who have a delay longer than 12 weeks between first symptoms and visiting a rheumatologist have a higher rate of joint destruction and lower chance of achieving a sustained DMARD-free remission."

The findings "highlight the importance of reducing the delay in assessment by a rheumatologist and further studies could test whether accelerated treatment leads to improved disease outcomes in RA," van der Linden concluded.

Early diagnosis is key in many chronic conditions that we treat here at The Pain Center, and while your family physician might have the right intentions, many times he or she just doesn’t have the right tools to accurately diagnose chronic pain symptoms. Rheumatoid arthritis, along with CRPS and fibromyalgia often go misdiagnosed for far too long before patients seek out a pain doctor, and as this study points out, the longer it takes for conditions to get accurately diagnosed, the worse the outcome.

Talk to your Arizona pain specialist today.

Every year at exactly this time we start talking about holiday stress and it's affect on chronic pain. it's unavoidable, unless you stay locked up in the house, away from family, friends, shopping lines, traffic, holiday foods, cold weather, and, well pretty much everything that comes around this time of year. With thanksgiving just a few days away, we thought we'd dive into the topic of stress, chronic pain, and the holidays one more time.

Whether it's due to the cold weather, or the increased stress levels, chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia, CRPS, and rheumatoid arthritis always seem to get worse during the holidays. We're often bombarded with two questions during the week of Thanksgiving; can cold weather increase my amount of pain, and will stress make my pain worse? The simple answer to those questions is yes.

Just as you see a pitcher keeping his arm covered with a jacket when he's on the bench during a winter game, it's important that you avoid stiff muscles when the temperatures cool down. Muscle stiffness, of which you're probably already experiencing, will indeed get worse when temperatures cool down due to the lack of blood flow to the extremities. Now, we're not talking extreme levels of decreased blood to where you should be worried, but we are talking about just enough to increase pain from certain chronic conditions. It also doesn't help that pain receptors are more sensitive during the winter months when temperatures cool down.

So, to avoid increased chronic pain from colder weather simply stay on top of your symptoms. Take preventative measures to avoid increased pain before it happens. Stay hydrated with warm liquids, stay bundled up even when it seems that others aren't, and remember to stay active. Remaining active can keep your joints loose and flexible, which will keep blood flow moving to the extremities and help with pain management.

Now, when it comes to stress and the holidays, well that's a whole other blog.....Holiday Stress, Cold Weather, And Chronic Pain

Treating chronic pain involves many techniques, many disciplines of medicine, and a team of experts focused on one goal; managing your pain. In addition to everything that can be done from a scientific and medical standpoint, there is also evidence to show some out-of-the-box techniques can provide big results in reducing pain.

A CNN article published today refers to the idea of using “mind over matter” to combat chronic pain. Mindfulness, the Buddhist idea that through meditation we can be absolutely present in the moment and observe life in a “non-judgmental” way. “Mindfulness encourages you to accept who you are, and trust yourself. Don’t judge yourself for having the feelings you have – just allow yourself to feel them.”

Numerous studies have shown throughout the years that meditation and Mindfulness can have real health benefits for people suffering from pain by reducing stress and improving the immune system’s response to stress.

According to CNN, therapists have found uses for Mindfulness for post-traumatic stress disorder, pain management, eating disorders and anxiety. By seeing relationships with friends and enemies in a different light, and considering different approaches to situations, patients are able to overcome their pain by letting go of frustrations and anger. The simple, but incredibly difficult to achieve, idea of letting go of your anger can lead to less pain and a grander life.

To read this CNN article in full, visit http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/16/mindfulness.therapy.meditation/.>

For more information on pain management, visit http://www.ThePainCenter.com. 

Rheumatoid arthritis is common chronic condition that mostly effects the joints, tendons, muscles and ligaments of the extremities. The symptoms that accompany RA are just as bad as the condition itself; symptoms like restless leg syndrome, extreme fatigue, and now new research is showing atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the blood vessels) and heart risks.

Like a patient who suffers from diabetes, RA is not as simple as treating the condition, pain doctors have to also treat all of the resulting symptoms, and new research is showing that there might be even more resulting symptoms to worry about. According to BusinessWeek.com, inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis may damage more than the joints, but may increase the risk of atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the blood vessels, potentially increasing the risk of stroke and heart disease.

With advances in technology also come advances in research and thus a greater understanding of how the body works. Inflammation of the gums, gum disease for example, has also recently been linked to heart disease.

"There is some suggestion that inflammatory risk factors [such as those from rheumatoid arthritis] really only make a difference in people who have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease [such as obesity or a sedentary lifestyle], so it's important to control your traditional cardiovascular risk factors," said Dr. Jon T. Giles, an assistant professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology at Johns Hopkins University.

While the exact cause of RA is still unknown, symptoms include inflammation in the lining of the joints possibly insinuated by a compromised immune system. However stressful this new study might be to RA sufferers, there were positive results shown with drug therapy. Speak to your Arizona pain doctor today about your risk factor for heart disease.