Other Electrotherapy Treatments

Electrotherapy treatments can be helpful with providing some relief certain conditions. Chronic back or leg pain can be aided by electrotherapy, called PEMF, by promoting promoting bone growth and strength. Other forms of electrotherapy are used to help circulatory disorders, improve range of motion, and reduce muscle spasms. Both forms of electrotherapy help aid the healing process and promote faster healing times in cases of chronic or persistent pain conditions.  Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, interferential current, and galvanic stimulation are some of the electrotherapy treatments that may be helpful in certain situations. Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy Aids in Bone Fusion…
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Ice or Heat for Lower Back Pain?

Ice or heat? Which do you use when treating lower back pain? Both can provide effective relief. Cold and heat therapies treat different aspects of lower back pain; and using them in tandem can be effective. Ice therapy can help minimize inflammation and swelling. And heat therapy can help stimulate blood flow to the area to encourage healing. Dr. Castillo usually recommends alternating ice and heat therapies, in 10 minute sessions per therapy.  Cold and heat therapy may both provide effective relief from your lower back pain—but how do you know which one to use?  Read on for helpful advice…
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Concussion Care

A concussion is a brain injury caused by a blow to the head or a violent shaking of the head and body. While there's no specific cure for concussions doctors often recommend rest and restricting activities to allow the brain to recover. This means one should temporarily reduce sports, video games, TV, or too much socializing. Medications for headache pain, or odansetron or other anti-nausea medications can be used for symptoms.  And while there is no specific cure for concussions Dr. Castillo thinks treatments like Platelet Rich Plasma therapy and Stem Cell therapies may help treat concussions and help patients…
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Stem Cell-Rich Prolotherapy and Platelet-Rich Plasma for Musculoskeletal Pain

Many people have heard the term “platelet-rich plasma” in news stories in connection with athletic injuries, however, not all may realize that when platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is injected into and around a joint, it is actually a type of prolotherapy. In fact, PRP has been used as a formula in prolotherapy since around 2005. The approach has been shown to be effective not only for older injuries but also for recent ones, making it ideal for athletic injuries. It has also successfully been used in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) and helpful for cartilage repair. Not All Platelet-Rich Plasma Is…
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TMS Protocol May Be Effective in CRPS

The use of a novel frequency pairing for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may effectively relieve upper and lower extremity pain associated with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), according to a study published in Neuromodulation. The TMS protocol used in this study consisted of initial intermittent theta bursts (ie, burst of three 50-Hz pulses every 200 ms, 2 second-long trains repeated every 10 s, total of 600 pulses, delivered at 70% of the resting motor threshold [RMT]). This was followed by a 10-Hz stimulation (duration, 10 s; intertrain interval, 30 s; total pulses, 2000; delivered at 80% of RMT). Muscle activity was monitored throughout…
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Light Therapy to Treat Neuropathic Pain

For someone with peripheral neuropathy, even the slightest touch can cause burning, stinging or shooting pain, usually in the hands or feet. The pain is caused when the peripheral nervous system is damaged by diabetes, shingles, chemotherapy or some other medical condition. About 8% of adults worldwide suffer from some form of neuropathy. Medications prescribed to dull the pain – such as opioids, anti-depressants or gabapentin (Neurontin) -- often prove to be ineffective, don’t last long or have unwanted side effects. Scientists in Italy have now discovered an experimental way to treat neuropathy that provides pain relief for weeks at…
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Rheumatoid arthritis: Scorpion venom may help

The Indian red scorpion is one of the most dangerous scorpions in the world. Without treatment, a sting from this creature can kill a human in just 72 hours. But it's not all bad; a compound found in its venom could help to treat one of the most common and debilitating health conditions in the United States. In a new study, researchers have revealed how iberiotoxin, one of several compounds in the deadly venom of the Indian red scorpion, stopped the progression of rheumatoid arthritis in rat models of the disease. Study leader Dr. Christine Beeton, of the Baylor College of…
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Regenerative Medicine the Pain Management Alternative

Injuries happen to almost everyone, but for some they can be far worse. For those with chronic pain, arthritis and a host of other ailments, it can mean a lifetime of discomfort. While many of those symptoms can be treated, it’s often with invasive surgery or only partially effective treatments like cortisone shots. Regenerative medicine offers an alternative to going under the knife, while achieving lasting results. Relievus, a pain management and neurology specialist practice, offers these treatments at both its Havertown and Philadelphia locations. Here, clinician Dr. Uplekh Purewal offers insight. Q: What is regenerative medicine? A: It’s a form…
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Nerve cell therapy restores motor function

Regenerative therapy using millions of nerve cells, derived from human embryonic stem cells, restored two or more motor levels on at least one side, in four out of six patients with paralyzing spinal cord injuries, according to researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. In a press release, the medical center reported the 67% recovery rate is “more than double” the rates previously reported in matched historical controls and in published data in a similar population — patients who had lost all motor function below the location of their spinal injury. “Having worked on this research for more…
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Neuroscientists Focus on Cell Mechanism That Promotes Chronic Pain

Researchers have discovered a new pain-signaling pathway in nerve cells that eventually could make a good target for new drugs to fight chronic pain. The findings, published in the journal PLoS Biology by a UT Dallas neuroscientist and his colleagues, suggest that inhibiting a process called phosphorylation occurring outside of nerve cells might disrupt pain signals, and provide an alternative to opioid drugs for alleviating chronic pain. Dr. Ted Price, the study’s co-author and associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at UT Dallas, said the finding is significant. “We found a key new signaling pathway that can be managed,” Price…
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