Pain physician
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Exercise- and Stress-Induced Hypoalgesia in Musicians with and without Shoulder Pain: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Study.
Professional and pre-professional musicians are characterized by physical and psychological demands inherent to their musical activity, and therefore at risk for developing performance related musculoskeletal pain. Physical and psychological demands are known to influence human pain modulation. ⋯ In musicians with and without regional shoulder pain, no significant differences were found with respect to pain modulation during a physically and an emotionally stressful task. Both interventions adequately activated central and widespread pain inhibitory mechanisms in both groups.
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Percutaneous endoscopic interlaminar discectomy (PEID), which poses advantages for certain types of herniated disc, is gaining wider acceptance in clinical practice. We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of the PEID technique in treatment of calcified lumbar disc herniation. ⋯ The PEID technique is an effective method in the treatment of calcified lumber disc herniation, although the rate of postoperative dysesthesia is higher in this group during the early postoperative period. Long-term TCM administration may be related to the calcification of herniated lumbar discs.
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Headache is one of the most common debilitating chronic pain conditions in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. Conventional pharmacological treatments have not been shown to be effective in alleviating debilitating mild traumatic brain injury related headaches (MTBI-HA). Therefore, the development of an innovative non-invasive therapy in managing MTBI-HA is needed in the field of pain management. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) utilizes a basic electromagnetic coupling principle in which a rapid discharge of electrical current is converted into dynamic magnetic flux, allowing the induction of a localized current in the brain for neuromodulation. The treatment is currently FDA approved for treating depression in the United States. Recent meta-analysis studies have implicated its usage in chronic pain management. ⋯ rTMS offers a non-invasive treatment option for MTBI-HA. The tested treatment protocol was well tolerated by the patients and can be adopted for future randomized controlled studies in further validating the treatment efficacy.
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Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) is a novel nondestructive interventional technique for the treatment of neuropathic pain (NP). However, this intervention is still lack of relevant regulation and the mechanism of action is insofar not clear. Historically, most studies have reported that PRF can relieve reduce hyperalgesia in multiple NP animal models by acting on the dorsal root ganglion. However, a few recent studies have shown that PRF can effectively treat hyperalgesia in pain models by a direct application on injured peripheral nerves. ⋯ The findings suggest that the application of PRF at the impaired SN relieved reduced the CCI-induced NP by through regulating the upregulation of the GDNF expression in the nervous tissues.