Diagnosis and Treatment of Centralized Pain and Neuroinflammation

Chronic pain may centralize in the spinal cord and brain leaving the patient with constant, neuropathic pain. The mechanism of this development is microglial activation and neuroinflammation. Successful treatment usually requires a special pharmacologic regimen that includes analgesics, neuropathic...

Virtual Reality and Chronic Pain: The Future has Arrived

Virtual reality (VR) has been used as a pain treatment technique in some settings for decades. However, the cost of the technology has traditionally been out of reach for almost all practitioners. This has changed in the last year as the hardware has become affordable and the possibility of using VR...

The Brain or the Body: What Is the Target for Pain Treatment

Historically, pain has been viewed as a symptom of perturbations in the tissues of the body, such that effective treatments would address the damage to the affected body region and pain relief would ensue. However, both clinical experience and the scientific literature are replete with examples of...

Words That Do No Harm

Using "the right language" to trigger positive physiological responses in patients is a wellestablished practice based on robust placebo research. The nocebo effect is less studied but should be considered in pain care. Healthcare providers and educators try to help patients understand their painful...

The Science of Mindful Meditation

This presentation will examine the uses and benefits of adopting mindfulness therapies within the scope of a comprehensive treatment plan. For people with persistent pain, practicing mindfulness meditation can be helpful, with moderate effects seen in reducing pain intensity. Compared to normal...

Nutrition for Chronic Pain

In the age of modern medical miracles, it is easy to forget that we change our body chemistry every time we eat. The quality and composition of our food has the power to increase or decrease body-wide inflammation. Yet most medical schools have only a few hours of learning time devoted to a topic...

Balancing Analgesia vs ORAEs in Postoperative Acute Pain

This presentation will review the consequences of not adequately addressing postoperative acute pain, strategies for balancing analgesia against opioid related adverse events in this setting, and new approaches on the horizon. Postoperative acute pain continues to be undertreated in a large number...

Neurochemical Imaging as a Probe of Chronic Pain and Its Treatment

Accumulating evidence suggests that widespread pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia display a generalized disturbance in central nervous system pain processing. Multiple lines of research have identified that the locus for many functional chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia, pelvic pain...

First Controlled Clinical Trial of Mindfulness Meditation Therapy

Anxiety and elevated stress levels frequently co-exist with various chronic pain conditions, and mindfulness meditation has been an increasingly popular therapeutic alternative. But evidence based support for its effectiveness has largely been lacking until the conclusion of a recent NIH-sponsored...

Meditation More Powerful than Medication?

A former Buddist monk and current Chief Zen Officer brings to light the enormous benefits of mindful meditation. It's not as difficult, or as "out there," as you may think, and may bring people in pain great relief.