Over the past decade, physicians, patients and policy makers have expressed increasing concern about the high frequency of opioids being prescribed and the association between opioid use and poor outcomes. Rates of opioid prescriptions in the general population rose considerably from the 1990s through 2010, with a plateau in the early 2010s. In 2015, 38%…
Intensive Patient Education May Not Be Helpful for Acute Low Back Pain
Education with recommended first-line care may not improve pain outcomes in patients with acute low back pain. When comparing patients who received education with those who received professional consultation without information or advice, researchers found patient education was no more effective than placebo at reducing depression or incidence of chronic low back pain…
Social Media May Reduce Depression Risk for Older People with Pain
(Reuters Health)—Online socializing may weaken the tie between pain and depression for older people, a U.S. study suggests. People in chronic pain are at risk of depression to start with. When pain makes them stay home more, interacting with friends and family less, it only adds to this risk, the researchers write in the Journals…
Revised Application Expected for IV Meloxicam; Plus EU Approves Tildrakizumab
After meeting with the FDA, the makers of intravenous meloxicam plan to resubmit the treatment’s new drug application…
Art Tours May Have Analgesic Effect for Chronic Pain Patients
(Reuters Health)—Art museums may have an analgesic effect on chronic pain, a small study suggests. Chronic pain sufferers who took guided tours of art museums felt less discomfort and unpleasantness related to their pain shortly afterward, researchers found. The researchers invited 54 visitors to the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Calif., who reported experiencing chronic…
Anxiety, Depression May Help Predict Outcome of Low Back Pain Treatment
NEW YORK (New York)—Patients with anxiety and depression may be less satisfied than other patients with their chronic low back pain (CLBP) treatments, new research suggests. “Patients with anxiety/depression symptoms experienced more pain severity and more pain-related functional, social, and emotional disability, and they were less satisfied with care, compared with the other groups,” the…
Nonopioid Medication May Be as Effective as Opioids for Chronic Pain
A recent study compared the efficacy of opioids with nonopioid pain treatments in patients with chronic back pain and hip or knee osteoarthritis. After 12 months, researchers found that treatment with opioids was not superior to treatment with nonopioid medication, with only minor differences in patients’ functional responses to the medications…
Tai Chi at Least as Good as Aerobic Exercise for Fibromyalgia
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Tai chi improves fibromyalgia symptoms at least as effectively as aerobic exercise, according to a new trial. Aerobic exercise is the most commonly recommended non-drug treatment for fibromyalgia, Dr. Chenchen Wang of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and her colleagues note in The BMJ, online March 12.1 However, Dr. Wang…
Opioids No Better Than NSAIDs for Chronic Back or Arthritis Pain
(Reuters Health)—Acetaminophen, ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are better than opioids at easing the intensity of chronic pain in the back, knees or hips, a U.S. experiment suggests. And opioids are no better than these other drugs at reducing how much pain interferes with daily activities, such as walking, working, sleeping or enjoying…
What’s Driving the Pain? Alternative Approaches to Pain Management
Patients can experience many different types of pain, and some patients with chronic pain may believe that only opioids will help them. According to Kelly Weselman, MD, the best way to begin managing pain is to determine its root cause and communicate with the patient about the best approach(es) for decreasing their specific pain…