WELCOME to the July 16-31, 2008 edition of Pain-Health-News, your very best resource for tips, techniques and information on dealing with PAIN. Whether you suffer from chronic, temporary or transient pain, you'll find helpful information right here. I collect links to news and resources all over the internet, sort out what I think may be most useful and post it in monthly listings. And I'll occasionally write an article or send a special email about things I think are important.
	Hi, I'm Bonnie Boots, publisher of Pain-Health-News. "Everything's Going To Be OK" I read those simple words on a bumper sticker as I was waiting in traffic and they had a profound and immediate effect on me. It had been a hectic morning filled with all sorts of business and personal problems. I was on my way to the pharmacy to sort out one of them--a mix-up in my prescriptions. I was annoyed and upset and feeling the first twinges of a headache. My aggravation grew as I swerved to avoid one car running a red light and barely missed another making an illegal u-turn. As I pulled into the turn lane to enter the pharmacy, my frustration, and likely my blood pressure, were soaring… and then I saw it. A car in the lane next to mine displayed one tiny bumper sticker. It was so plain I almost ignored it, just a dark blue background and some simple white lettering. "Everything's going to be OK," it said. The minute I read those words, I let out a deep sigh and felt myself begin to relax. I'd known, of course, that I was upset, but I hadn't realized how tense my back and shoulders had been. The longer I looked at that bumper sticker and the more those words sunk into my mind, the more I began to feel that everything really is going to be OK. Stupid, really, to let a few problems upset me so badly. "I've faced worse things than this and survived," I told myself. "All I have to do is work through this. Everything is going to be OK.' I entered the pharmacy in a better frame of mind and easily sorted out the problem. Instead of unloading on the pharmacy clerk, I shared a silly joke. "After the morning I've had," she said, smiling," I really needed a laugh! " As I walked away, I heard her sharing the joke with her next customer. The woman that placed that bumper sticker on her car helped me have a better day, and through me at least two others. There's no telling how many people that woman and her bumper sticker influence as they travel. Words have a powerful impact on our thoughts and attitudes. And our thoughts and attitudes shape the decisions we make and the actions we take. So words create the world we experience. Sometimes we're aware of the impact words have on us, as when we purposely read positive books or magazines because we want to be uplifted. But more often we read with little conscious realization that every word is impacting on us in one way or another. We read, see and hear literally thousands of words every day, on billboards, in advertisements, in newspapers, emails and on TV. Sadly, the majority of the words we're exposed to are negative. The news is filled with frightening stories, because newscasters and newspaper publishers know fearful headlines are better at capturing our attention. Advertisements are filled with fearful messages because advertisers know that fear is a powerful motivator. And much of what people talk about each day is filled with fear and negativity because we talk about what's in the media. Fearful thoughts lead to stress and stress leads to pain. In fact, one of the first concepts I learned in pain management was the pain-stress-pain syndrome. Pain is stressful. Stress creates more pain. More pain leads to more stress. The only way to break the cycle is to begin by reducing stress. I thought back to all the bumper stickers I had seen at that intersection. One had a picture of a cell phone and said, "Shut up and drive, dammit!" Another said, "My kid can beat up your honor roll student." The others were equally aggressive and stressful. All but one. One tiny little car, an older model with a few bumps and dings and a paint job that had seen better days, was positively spreading the idea that "Everything is going to be OK." As Portia says in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," "How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world." I'm passing on that woman's good deed by giving you a printable PDF file that says "Everything's Going To Be OK" so you can print it out and put it where you'll see it often. Living with pain is stressful, making it easy to slip into fearful and negative thoughts. Keeping this simple, reassuring message around where you can see it is a good way to remind yourself that this, too, shall pass and everything really is going to be OK. Print it on whatever you have. Cut it out and put it where you and others will see it. And share the file with friends. Pass the word that everything's going to be OK!   Click here to download the PDF file for "Everything's Going To Be OK." The file prints 4 images on a single 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper. The resolution is 300 dpi, which will print on plain paper but is also high enough to print a clear image on shiny paper, card stock or even bumper sticker paper. To get the best results, be sure to tell your printer what type of paper you are printing on.

Links to current news on the internet ...the following links were current for July 16, 2008. Please remember that these links are provided for information purposes only. Use this news to find and begin researching helpful therapies and to open a conversation with your doctor about what may be available and appropriate for you.

Because sometimes, when you can't find the words to tell a doctor how you really feel, the right article can say it for you.

Here's a rare new story about a man with fibromyalgia. Why is it rare? Because women are more likely to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. That doesn't necessarily mean they're more likely to have it--just to be diagnosed with it. I love this man's use of an eye test as a metaphor for diagnosing pain. Read it to see what I mean...

Invisible illness
Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia,MO,USA
We can see a problem, and it makes sense that that problem could be causing chronic pain," said Erin Dannecker, a pain researcher and assistant professor at ...

Here's a doctors advice on why mental health counseling can be a good addition to your pain management program. I totally agree. Nothing can drive you crazy faster than being in constant pain!

David McMillian: Counseling could help relieve chronic pain
Shreveport Times - Shreveport,LA,USA
Apply around your sore muscles or inflamed area for pain relief. Try tai chi. This gentle exercise improves balance and increases flexibility. ...

Here's a great article in a newsletter for LPN's discussing the placebo effect and the power of the mind to create, control and reduce pain. This is must-reading for anyone that's every been told "It's all in your head."

Power of the Mind
ADVANCE for LPNs - King of Prussia,PA,USA
9 The medication dosage to give 50 percent pain relief was considerably higher in the hidden injection group compared to the open injection group. ...

Back pain? Here's an article by a doctor trained in Oriental medicine discussing a Swedish hospital study with patients who experienced chronic low back pain, doctors concluded that acupuncture provided long term pain relief.

Jennifer Dubowsky: How Acupuncture Can Relieve Back Pain
EmpowHer - Phoenix,AZ,USA
In a Swedish hospital study with patients who experienced chronic low back pain, doctors concluded that acupuncture provided long term pain relief. ...
 

Don't you love all the videos you can access on the web? Here's a video on neck and back pain relief...

Neck and Back Pain Relief Secret Revealed
This video will inform you on alternative treatments to drugs and surgery. It can help you better understand the how to relieve your symptoms from herniated and or bulging discs.

Provocative reading in this blog for health care providers--an article discussing the effects of disability, including chronic pain,  especially the way in which loss of abilities and loss of resources alter our self-image.

Effects of disability - diathesis-stress
By adiemusfree
My aim is not to suggest a ‘poor me’ attitude towards people with chronic pain, but instead to highlight how these demands might affect core beliefs. This is an important area for clinicians working with people experiencing chronic pain ...

Stop the presses! Chronic Pain Is An Unrelieved Epidemic!...Yes, I know this isn't news to anyone living with chronic pain, but it's a headline in the Orlando Medical News that apparently comes as a surprise to many in the medical community.

Do you feel your primary physician just doesn't know what to do with you as a patient with chronic pain? Then you're right--he or she doesn't have a clue. So says an article looking at studies reported in the June 2008 Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The report stated that a most patients with a chronic pain complaint are treated by general practitioners, and that general practitioners are often ill-prepared to know how to treat pain patients. The report whet on to review studies done on pain to see if any conclusions could be drawn on what treatments, ranging from traditional drugs and surgery to alternative medicine, are most effective at relieveing pain. Read "The Jury Is Still Out On How Best To Treat Chronic Pain" here.

I do not  presume to give medical advice to anyone. I simply present information that may be helpful. I know, from my own experience with chronic pain,  that you can never tell in advance where you will find the one bit of news that will help you turn a corner and make progress.

Please use this information to further your search for your own best health care. Be pro-active, be persistent --and be careful. There will always be people looking to take advantage of your need for relief.  Remember, using Google to check a person or product's background is your best defense against scams and frauds.

If you have questions or concerns about anything you find on my web site, you can contact me at any time by clicking here to open a pre-addressed email form or email me at bonnie at pain-health-news dot com.