Chronic pain is pain that lasts for more than three months. Learn more about symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments.
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Complex regional pain syndrome is an abnormal response by the body to pain.
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Everyone has experienced low back pain at one time or another. Most people can recover from low back pain with home treatment, such as changes in activity, weight loss, quitting smoking, and other steps. Sometimes medicine or surgery is needed.
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Back pain is common in pregnancy because of your changing body. Here are ideas on what you can do to cope.
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Foot pain is often caused by incorrect foot function. Shoes that don't fit well can make foot problems worse and, in some cases, cause them.
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Common hand problems include arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and ganglion cysts.
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Common knee problems include sprains, strains, torn cartilage, and arthritis.
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Patellofemoral pain syndrome means that you have dull pain around the front of the knee (patella). This is where the knee connects with the lower end of the thighbone (femur).
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Your neck is at risk for injury because of its location and range of motion. Neck pain can be caused by injury, age, or inflammatory disorders.
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Detailed information on shoulder pain and the most common types of shoulder problems.
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Pelvic pain is a challenging condition that can be due to many possible causes.
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Radiculopathy, commonly called pinched nerve, often occurs in the low back.
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Nearly everyone has suffered from a headache. This article discusses several types of headache, how they are diagnosed and treated.
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Cluster headaches are rare and cause severe pain that tends to recur in the same way each time. Cluster headaches occur in groups, or clusters, and each attack lasts about 1 to 3 hours on average.
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This often severe, throbbing type of headache is different from other types of headaches in that symptoms other than pain occur with the headache. Nausea and vomiting, lightheadedness, sensitivity to light (photophobia), and other visual disturbances are common migraine symptoms.
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Tension headaches are the most common type of headache. Stress and muscle tension are often factors in tension type headaches.
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A brain injury or some other health problem can cause growing pressure inside your skull. This dangerous condition is called increased intracranial pressure (ICP). It can lead to a headache. It can also further injure your brain or spinal cord.
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When you have cancer, it's important to talk about pain management with your healthcare provider. Even if pain can't be prevented, it can often be reduced or controlled. Here's what you need to know.
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The goal of pain control is to prevent pain that can be prevented, and to treat pain that cannot be prevented. It is possible that you will not have pain from chemotherapy treatments. But if you do, you can take steps to relieve it.
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If your child has moderate to severe pain, they may receive narcotics during and after surgery. If your child is in the ICU after surgery, they may receive sedatives along with pain medicines.
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It's normal to expect a certain amount of pain after surgery, but if the pain does not subside with pain medication, you may have a more serious problem. Your doctors and nurses will ask about your pain because they want you to be comfortable.
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When used to treat injuries at home, cryotherapy refers to cold therapy with ice or gel packs that are usually kept in the freezer until needed. These remain one of the simplest, time-tested remedies for managing pain and swelling.
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In the simplest of terms, an epidural corticosteroid (steroid) injection is a way to deliver pain medicine quickly into the body with a syringe.
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Corticosteroid injections can treat many skeletal, muscular, and spinal conditions. Some of these injections can be done by your health care provider during a routine clinic visit. Others need a referral to a pain specialist.
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When the disks themselves are causing back pain or pain radiating to the legs, healthcare providers sometimes do an intradiscal procedure to try to ease the pain.
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Neural blockades, commonly called nerve blocks, are procedures that can help prevent or manage many different types of intractable pain.
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Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a type of pain management that allows you to decide when you will get a dose of pain medicine. You don't need to wait for a nurse, and you can get smaller doses of pain medicine more often.
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This therapy targets the sympathetic nervous system, a series of nerves that spread out from your spine to your body to help control several body functions, including blood flow.
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Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, or TENS, offers pain relief for some people by sending low-voltage electrical current into the body.
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If you don't get relief from standard pain relievers, your healthcare provider may suggest injecting pain-relieving medicine into the site of the affected nerve.
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Spinal cord stimulation is one way to manage various types of pain. A spinal cord stimulator is an implanted device that sends low levels of electricity directly into the spinal cord.
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The biggest problem with palliative care is that many people are referred for care too late. By starting this type of care early, and by using the right type of pain management, nearly all pain problems can be relieved or reduced.
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Palliative care focuses on improving a patient's quality of life by improving the symptoms of his or her illness, such as pain, shortness of breath, and difficulty sleeping. It's used with a variety of ailments, including cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney failure, or congestive heart failure.
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OTC pain relievers can be divided into just 2 main types: acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, or NSAIDs.
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Lose weight if you need to, quit smoking, and ease the stress in your life. All these steps can keep your back pain-free.
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If you have back pain, you're not alone. Read on for a look at what causes back pain, as well as ways to keep your back healthy and keep back pain away.
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It can sometimes be confusing whether to use heat or cold when treating sore muscles or an injury. Here are facts to keep in mind.
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When a child has cancer or another pain-causing disease, one of their greatest fears is pain. Every effort should be made to ease the pain during the treatment process.
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A headache is pain or discomfort in one or more areas of the head or face. Headaches can happen once in a while. Or they may happen often.
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Many women have migraine headaches while pregnant. The good news is that you don't have to give in to the pain when it strikes. Know what pain-relief choices are safest for you.
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Talk with your baby's healthcare provider about being present as much as possible for the test or procedure. Child development experts say it's best to keep to a minimum the amount of time your child is separated from you at this age.
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Helpful tips on how to prepare your toddler or preschooler child for a surgery, test, or procedure.
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By age 7 or 8, school-age children are starting to develop coping skills as they think more logically and begin to understand cause and effect - if this happens, then that may happen. This way of thinking helps them find ways to cope with scary or stressful experiences.
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During the teen years, abstract thinking begins and teens can fully understand how parts of the body function, the medical problem they have, and the reason for the test, procedure, or surgery.
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Answer this one: What position is best for your back when you sleep?
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When you get a headache, it's not the bones of the skull or the brain itself that's hurting. The pain comes from pain-sensitive nerves located near the muscles and blood vessels of the face, neck and scalp. Find out more about headaches by taking this quiz.
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Many households in the United States have someone who suffers from migraine headaches. Take this quiz to test your knowledge of migraines.
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True or false: If the regular dose of OTC pain reliever doesn't relieve your pain, it's safe to take more.
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What's the most sensitive part of your body? Are women less sensitive to pain than men? Does everyone feel pain? Get answers to these and other questions by taking the pain quiz.
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