pain

Swearing Can Reduce Pain Levels

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

SwearingAlthough the theory hasn’t been tested on patients with chronic pain, a study published in the American Pain Journal suggests that swearing makes pain more tolerable.

For their study, researchers asked two groups of people to stick their hands in a bucket of ice cold water. Both groups were told to remove their hand from the bucket when the pain became unbearable, but one group was asked to repeat a word that may describe a table, while the other group was encouraged to repeat one swear word while their hand was in the water. After the groups were recorded, they switched roles and repeated the exercise.

Swearing Study Results

As you might imagine, participants in the swearing group were able to hold their hands in the water for a longer duration than the non-swearing group. What you might not have guessed is just how long the swearing group could hold out. On average, swearers lasted an extra 31 seconds in the cold hand challenge, and 3 out of 4 people lasted longer in the bucket when they swore.

Interestingly, researchers noted that people who reported swearing more frequently on a regular basis were less effective cursing was during the cold hand endurance test. They believe people who frequently express their anger in a verbal manner seem to be more sensitive to acute and chronic pain. On the flip side, those who don’t regularly swear were able to better tolerate pain when they cursed.

The reason swearing can help ease your pain is because it can activate your brain’s endogenous opioids, which act as a natural pain reliever. These chemicals mimic the effects of morphine and oxycodone, albeit on a smaller scale. That said, like a lot of medications, once your body gets used to it, the effects may not as successful at relieving pain. Researchers believe that higher doses or more vulgar words may be needed to achieve the same effect, which can cause people to unknowingly start to add more cursing to their regular speech.

In all, letting out a curse word after hitting your thumb with a hammer may help you better handle the pain, but you shouldn’t sit on the couch all day cursing your arthritis.

Related source: Time

Healthy Eating and Our Joints

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

What we eat does make a difference in how we feel. The diet most of us eat is probably not healthy. The most common problem is we eat too much food, and that can make us obese. Extra weight does stress the body, especially the joints. From the lumbar, through the hips, knees, ankles and feet, the body does feel extra pounds and may wear out early. The types of food we eat also make a difference. Taking care of ourselves better may reduce the need for costly medical intervention.

Chronic Joint Pain and Food

Chronic pain is a huge problem in the United States, as an estimated 63 million people suffer from chronic joint pain according to the CDC (Center for Disease Control). Injury and wear and tear over time leads to inflammation in the joints. Inflammation then leads to bone and cartilage damage, which causes the pain we feel. If we can reduce or prevent inflammation in our joints, we can reduce the damage. Some of the foods we eat tend to stimulate inflammation; others are known to reduce it. Vitamins and supplements have not been conclusively shown when in pill form to be helpful.

The compounds in our food do make a difference. For our bones and joints, the helpful compounds include:

  • Omega-3 fatty acids
  • Sulfur
  • Calcium
  • Vitamin D
  • Fiber
  • Anthocyanin

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential in cells and they help control inflammatory cytokines. There are many sources of these fatty acids, especially in fish like salmon, herring and other cold-water fish. Eggs and flaxseed are also high in Omega-3 fatty acid. Calcium is an essential mineral necessary for bone health and is necessary in electrical signal transmissions in muscles and nerves. Diary sources like milk, yogurt and cheese as well as many green vegetables have large amounts of calcium. Vitamin D best comes from exposure to sun. Sulfur is a mineral used in connective tissue including cartilage, ligaments and tendons. It is found in many foods, including eggs, fish, and many green vegetables. Anthocyanin is an antioxidant compound found in fruits that have pits like plums, cherries and peaches, and many berries including blueberries and raspberries. Anthocyanin works to stop production of cytokines that lead to inflammation.

Healthy Foods for pain

Foods to avoid that affect our bones and joints include: refined sugars, simple carbohydrates, unhealthy fats and food sensitivities. Glucose, or simple sugars, in higher levels are considered pro-inflammatory and can stimulate cytokines production. Simple carbohydrates are found in food like cake, white bread, cookies, many cereals and crackers and are easily digested to simple sugars and then become pro-inflammatory like glucose. Unhealthy fats are Omega-6 fatty acids, like corn oil, and are found frequently in fried foods. Omega 6 fatty acids tend to trigger release of cytokines. Food sensitivities are individual foods that trigger problems for some people like gluten or MSG.

So if you’re dealing with chronic pain, the first thing you’ll want to look at is what you’re putting in your body. Change your eating habits, and you may notice a reduction in your chronic pain!

Could A Pinched Nerve Be Causing My Pain?

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

A pinched nerve is one of the more common reasons people experience back pain. Because your back is such a complex structure, it doesn’t take much for it to get out of whack. When there’s too much pressure on the nerve – be it from bones, cartilage, muscles or tendons – it can get compressed and cause pain. Although your back is one of the more common places for a pinched nerve to occur, compressed nerves aren’t isolated in your back. You can also suffer pinched nerves in your neck, legs and arms.

Symptoms of Pinched Nerve Pain

Common symptoms of a pinched nerve include:

  • Numbness or decreased sensation in the affected area.
  • Sharp, tingling or burning pain in the area.
  • A tingling or a “pins and needles sensation” in the area.
  • Muscle weakness.
  • Shooting pain or sensation in the back, neck, arm or leg.
  • Worsening pain while sleeping.

Movement can exacerbate or alleviate symptoms, but exercise and activity is almost always recommended. Movement will usually help loosen the tissues that are pressing on the affected nerve. As we’ve mentioned before, exercise and physical activity is great for combating pain-related conditions.

Pinched Nerve

Treating Pinched Nerves

Unless pain is severely debilitating, most people try to let the condition heal on its own. As you might have guessed based on the above paragraph, physical therapy is one way people try to correct their pinched nerve. A PT can teach you specific exercises to strengthen and stretch muscles to relieve pressure on the nerve.

In additional to physical therapy/activity, a common treatment option for those suffering from a pinched nerve is anti-inflammatory medications. If inflammation is the root cause of the pressure, NSAIDs can be the perfect remedy. More often than not, though, anti-inflammatory medications need to be paired with other treatment options to fully fix the issue.

One final non-surgical treatment option for pinched nerves is a corticosteroid injection. The injection can minimize pain and discomfort as well as reduce inflammation in the area. If you have a fear of needles, the steroid can be taken orally as well.

Pinched Nerve Surgery

If your pinched nerve doesn’t improve after several weeks of conservative treatment, surgery may be your best bet. Surgery will free the nerve from its compressed state, and your doctor can remove scar tissue or problematic bones spurs that might be causing the condition.

As you might have guessed, the type of operation depends on where the nerve is located and what’s causing the compression. For example, a pinched nerve in the arm could be relieved by removing bone spurs, a compressed nerve in the back could be alleviated by removing a herniated disc, while a nerve issue in the wrist could be treated by cutting ligaments to give nerves more room to “breathe.”

If you have pain in your back, or you are experiencing similar symptoms in another part of your body, swing into a physical medicine specialist right away!

The Benefits Of Changing Your Diet

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

Diet and painMost people struggle with their diets. Eating healthy is always a challenge. With the typical American diet, the food is tasty, quick, and unfortunately, not the best for our bodies. The typical diet is high in carbohydrates, the wrong fats and not enough protein. The diet leads to obesity, anxiety, depression, heart disease, stroke, cancer and mental decline. If we could change our diet slightly, we may be much more healthy. Our diet only became bad over the last 100 years when switched from whole grains, vegetables, and meats to highly processed food.

Diet Options

The Mediterranean diet has been one of the better choices recently. The diet is high in fish oils, nuts and grains. Vegetable proteins are also a large part of the diet. It has been shown to be good for weight loss and to reduce cardiovascular disease. Recently it has also found to be beneficial for depression and anxiety control.

The paleo diet is another diet that earned praise of late. This diet was said to mimic the food choices of our hominid ancestors. The diet concentrates on nuts, berries, and meat. The protein may be red meat or seafood. A lot of the seafood is high in Omega 3 fats that are also good for the brain.

Healthy brain food includes seafood, greens, nuts, and beans, with some dark chocolate and wine. The healthier diets improve brain focus, energy and often lead to weight loss. Seafood is packed with protein and Omega 3 fatty acids, the latter is beneficial to maintain neuronal membrane structure. Seafood also has vitamin D and trace nutrients including iodine and chromium. Leafy greens are sources of fiber, folate, and multiple vitamins. Nuts provide protein, fiber, minerals, and healthy fats, and legumes can provide a healthy alternative source of protein.

Eating a healthier diet has many benefits. Combine a good diet with exercise, and one will move toward a better life with less disease, controlled weight and a brighter outlook with more energy. Change is difficult, but has many benefits.

Chronic Pain Is All About Being Resilient

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

Resilience is defined as the ability to weather adverse events and circumstances. When one has pain, resilience is the ability to cope with the pain and move forward in a positive direction. There are people who have chronic pain and who thrive in their lives. Others spend their time concentrating on every aspect of their pain and how their lives have changed and is controlled by the pain. The ability to be resilient is a skill, and an ability to deal with stress. Those who learn the skill of resilience can better survive the tough challenges life throws at them.

Resilient

The people I see on a daily basis have a varying degree of resilience. The most difficult people to treat are those with little resilience and ability to cope. The people who seem to do the best are those who have a high degree of resilience. Resilience takes some physical skills and a lot of mental capacity. Developing the mental ability may be natural, but is a topic many benefit from and can be taught often by psychologists.

New Research on Resilience

The newest research on resilience focuses on mindfulness. This is an area of psychology that has a person become aware of how they are responding to various situations and trains them refocus on appropriate responses and helpful approaches to problems. It also tries to diminish the emotional and irrational thoughts on a subject and replace them with practical solutions to a problem. In a way, focus on what you can change, and avoid becoming bogged down by your emotions.

A recently article in Time magazine listed ten expert tips for resilience. They are interesting guides in life and if put to use, may help improve the ability to handle stress and pain. Below are listed the tips from the Time article.

  • Develop a core set of beliefs that nothing can shake.
  • Try to find meaning in whatever stressful or traumatic thing has happened.
  • Try to maintain a positive outlook.
  • Take cues from someone who is especially resilient.
  • Don’t run from things that scare you: face them.
  • Be quick to reach out for support when things go haywire.
  • Learn new things as often as you can.
  • Find an exercise regimen you’ll stick to.
  • Don’t beat yourself up or dwell on the past.
  • Recognize what makes you uniquely strong and own it

Take these tips to heart, and you’ll notice that you’ll be better prepared to handle chronic pain.