How to Effectively Taper Off Opioids and 3 Tips For Living Happily Ever After Without Them

Chronic opioid therapy is not a long-term solution for pain. And it shouldn’t be the first choice in the treatment for those with chronic pain. The recommendations in this blog post focus on pain lasting longer than 3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing, outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and […]

5 Powerful Ways to Reverse the Nocebo Effect and Feel Better

Are you ensuring that the language you use when conversing with your patients is having a healing effect? If not, your lack of awareness may be the reason some of your patients have a difficult time managing their chronic pain. Your words are very powerful and have the ability to heal or harm. The language […]

The Myth of the All-Powerful Painkiller

If you suffer from chronic pain of any kind you probably remember when your doctor diagnosed you with it. You may have many questions about the diagnosis and prognosis and wondered how you’d get your life back. You or your practitioner (or both of you) probably discussed painkillers. Maybe you’ve had someone else in your […]

Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction and Real World NSAID Use

Research suggests that both traditional and selective COX-2 inhibitor NSAIDs can increase the risk of acute myocardial infarction. An instance of the heightened risk associated with prolonged NSAIDs use can be seen in the case of rofecoxib (Vioxx, Ceoxx, and Ceeoxx), which was withdrawn from the market in 2004 due to concerns about increased risk of myocardial […]

Anger: How it makes pain worse and how to stop it

Anger can be one of the biggest roadblocks to recovering from chronic pain. People are angry for many reasons— either at the system for not helping them or failing them, at themselves, at their circumstances or at other people. We all feel anger during our lives, but we face additional challenges if anger becomes chronic. […]

Make it a Habit: 3 Tips for Living Pain-Free

There are 3 P’s of living with less pain— Pacing, Patience and Persistence. I have seen many patients overcome chronic pain, all of whom have embodied these traits. The 3 P’s help create small, sustainable change in your daily life to begin ending the pain. Do you seek to alleviate your pain? Does it feel…