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By Neen Monty Why have prescription opioids become virtually verboten? Is it safety? Partly. Evidence? Allegedly. The evidence is pretty thin. But let’s not overlook the less noble explanation: research dollars, commercial opportunity, institution building and careers. There is now an enormous scientific and commercial industry devoted to solving “the opioid crisis.” And that industry depends, at…
By Crystal Lindell When I first started taking prescription opioids on a daily basis in 2013, I didn’t hide that information from anyone. I told my friends at church, my family, and even my then-boss. I was in way too much pain to spend any energy worrying about what anyone thought about me or the pills I was popping. At the time, I was still working in the corporate world. And I quickly began to…
By Jennifer Oliva You might assume that what you tell a doctor stays between you, your physician and perhaps your insurer. But the reality is more complicated. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act , the federal privacy law that governs health information and is commonly known as HIPAA , is narrower than its reputation suggests. It regulates hospitals, physicians, insurers and…
By Pat Anson A recent DEA decision to classify the designer drug O-DSMT (O-desmethyltramadol) as an illegal Schedule One controlled substance gives us some insight into how quickly the agency may do the same for concentrated forms of the kratom alkaloid 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine). It also serves as a reminder of how misleading and inept the DEA and other federal agencies can be about their…
By Crystal Lindell When I was still working full-time in the corporate world, I often had to go to trade conferences where I’d spend 12-hour days walking a show floor the size of multiple football fields. I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and intercostal neuralgia, so even with very strong pain medication, it was often too much for me. I knew that using a walking aid, like a cane or even…
By Pat Anson Humanitarian. Philanthropist. Author. Historian. Friend. Those are some of the words that come to mind when I think of Dr. Forest Tennant, who died Thursday from complications of kidney failure. He was 85. Here are a few other words that describe him: Real estate investor. Mayor. Professor. Civic Leader. Veteran. Forest Tennant was many things to many people, but he is best known for…
By The Conversation Physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths commonly use dry needling to treat neck, shoulder, back and other types of muscle pain. It involves inserting thin needles into sensitive parts of a person’s muscle, often termed “myofascial trigger points”. The needles remain in the muscle for a few minutes and can be gently moved to create a twitch response in the muscle. This…
By Crystal Lindell People who have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic connective tissue disorder, are more likely to have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) – a chronic inflammatory nerve pain condition that is usually triggered by an acute arm or leg injury. That’s according to a new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine and the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, who…
By Pat Anson Dr. Lynn Webster has a unique perspective on the opioid crisis. As a pain management expert and prolific researcher, Webster was elected by his peers as president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) and developed the first Opioid Risk Tool , a questionnaire designed to assess a pain sufferer’s risk of opioid abuse. Like many other doctors involved in pain management,…
By Crystal Lindell Sunday was a boringly normal day for me — as someone who deals with chronic pain on a daily basis. When I woke up, it felt like someone had replaced my ligaments with concrete and I was being stabbed in the ribs. I limped to the bathroom. And for breakfast, I had four different pain-relieving drugs and a bottle of water. After that, I laid back down and slept for another three…
