A Returning

I have been away. I have often thought of how to begin this blog again after a long hiatus and then more time would pass and there it stood waiting for me to speak, write, and reach out. The reason for my silence is the same reason for beginning this blog. Living with chronic illness…

Reducing Chronic Pain Through Meditation

A great article came out last week in The Atlantic detailing the therapeutic effects of meditation.  The article, written by Brian Steiner, discusses one woman’s familiar journey with persistent pain and then delves deeper into how meditation alleviates chronic pain both physiologically and psychologically. Particularly, meditation alters the level of activation in the primary somatosensory…

She is Me: Obstetric Fistulas in Low-Income Countries

I was very upset at having to deal with people’s disgust and disdain for me, so I decided to go and make a shelter and wait for certain death. The labor lasted for a week. The baby died in my womb. After the doctor took it out, I felt something leaking. I was living with…

The Relationship Between Physical and Emotional Pain

Earlier this week, I published a post entitled: “The Love Blog! The Therapeutic Qualities of Love?”  In that piece, I researched and wrote about how viewing a romantic partner’s photograph reduced pain levels evidenced by verbal reports and fMRI imaging.  Furthermore, women who held the hand of their partner in pain had brain regions responsible…

The Love Blog! The Therapeutic Qualities of Love?

Much has been written and studied about the positive benefits of love. Specifically, the act and expression of love stimulates the limbic region of the brain responsible for emotion, attention, and motivation, the autonomic nervous system which serves in stress reduction, and positive hormonal stimulation such as oxytocin which aids in social bonding.  On the…

Where are the Chronic Pain Patients?

A very interesting op-ed piece came out in the Washington Post this week discussing the controversy over the new pain medication, Zohydro.  The author of the article, Maia Szalavitz, makes the argument that amidst all the voices weighing in about opiate use chronic pain patients are all but eliminated from the discussion.  Szalavitz also writes that…

Organizing the Biological Landscape of Endometriosis: One Researcher’s Fresh Approach to the Disease

A researcher and a patient, Linda Griffith, is studying how the painful disease of endometriosis can be understood through analyzing the disorder using methods from the field of biological engineering.  There is still much to be learned about what causes the disease. Likewise, there is very little that has been accomplished in the way of treatment…

Trading Food for Medication: the Intersection of Poverty and Pain, Conclusion

Last week, I wrote about the strong correlation between lower socioeconomic status and the experience of higher pain levels.  Particularly, that those who live in poverty are exposed to higher incidences and a greater degree of chronic pain than their more affluent counterparts for a variety of reasons including occupational hazards, less access to interdisciplinary…

University of Arizona’s Professor of Pharmacology and Anesthesiology Receives Grant to Develop a Chronic Pain Drug That Targets Brain’s Own Signals

Chronic Pain in the News: This is a wonderful and exciting article about a $2.5 million, five-year grant to study pain that was awarded to Dr.  Frank Porreca at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.  The article also defines chronic pain and explores avenues of current and future treatment. http://www.gvnews.com/news/local/seeking-relief-ua-grant-targets-chronic-pain/article_d3bbb676-935c-11e3-9b82-001a4bcf887a.html

Pain is a Disease–TED talk with Dr. Elliot Krane

A close friend of mine sent me this enlightening brief lecture.  It is one physician’s take on the cause of persistent pain even after an injury has healed and the potential treatment for it. Have a relevant article, link, or book title you wish to share? Message me here.

Trading Food for Medication: The Intersection of Poverty and Pain, Part 1

Chronic pain syndrome is an extremely complicated diagnosis and the treatment of its symptoms requires an interdisciplinary approach ranging from primary care physicians, physical therapists, anesthesiologists, and psychologists.  Likewise, understanding the barriers to the treatment of chronic pain requires teasing out a similarly convoluted picture.  Therefore, I’ve decided to write about the extremely complex and…

The Atlantic Article: “Parenting Through Chronic Physical Pain”

Once a week, I like to post an article on the current research or innovations in the treatment of chronic pain conditions.  Sometimes, an article such as this comes along that is not only beautifully written but allows you to see a piece of yourself in its words regardless of the subject.  Here is an…