Pain Relief

Doctors think the chronic pain of "shoulder impingement" may arise from age-related tendon and muscle degeneration, or from a bone spur that can rub against a tendon.

Popular Surgery To Ease Chronic Shoulder Pain Called Into Question

7:44pm November 20, 2017

by Patti Neighmond

U.K. scientists say arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs or bits of ragged tissue in sore shoulders offered no more pain relief than than sham surgery in their randomized test.

Millions of Americans have chronic pain, and coming up with treatment that helps can be a challenge.

Health & Safety

Is There A Way To Keep Using Opioid Painkillers And Reduce Risk?

11:14am November 13, 2017

by Allison Aubrey

As a result of the opioid epidemic, doctors are being urged to turn to other medications to treat chronic pain. But that can be a challenge for people who have used opioid painkillers for years.

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The search is on for opioid alternatives that can block pain without causing addiction.

Brain Scientists Look Beyond Opioids To Conquer Pain

6:52am November 13, 2017

by Jon Hamilton

The search is on for opioid alternatives that can block pain without causing addiction. One promising candidate: snail venom.

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A 1980 letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine was later widely cited as evidence that long-term use of opioid painkillers such as oxycodone was safe, even though the letter did not back up that claim.

Doctor Who Wrote 1980 Letter On Painkillers Regrets That It Fed The Opioid Crisis

4:44pm June 16, 2017

In 1980, Dr. Hershel Jick wrote a one-paragraph letter about low rates of addiction among hospitalized patients given narcotics. It was later cited as evidence that long-term opioid use was safe.

Chart: Participants were much more likely to say the pain got better or went away if they made $50,000 a year or more.

Poll: Doctors Are Still Prescribing Lots Of Opioids For Low Back Pain

12:56pm May 19, 2017

by Nancy Shute

More than half of Americans suffer lower back pain each year, the latest NPR/Truven Health Analytics survey finds. And they're often not going for treatments recommended as safest and most effective.

The FDA expanded its warnings about prescription cough and pain medications that contain the narcotics codeine or tramadol.

Don't Give Kids Cough Syrup Or Pain Meds That Contain Codeine, FDA Says

8:17pm April 20, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

The agency expanded its warnings about prescription cough and pain medications that contain the narcotics codeine or tramadol, saying they can cause dangerously slow breathing in some kids.

Dr. James Baker holds a photo of his son, Max, who had been sober for more than a year and was in college when he relapsed after surgery and died of a heroin overdose.

How Do Former Opioid Addicts Safely Get Pain Relief After Surgery?

8:58am April 20, 2017

by Craig LeMoult

Max Baker got treatment for his opioid dependency and kicked the habit. He'd been clean for more than a year when a car accident and subsequent surgery returned him to addiction's spiral.

John Evard, 70, at the Las Vegas Recovery Center in Las Vegas last July. Evard, a retired tax attorney, checked into a rehabilitation program to help him quit the prescribed opioids that had left him depressed, groggy and dependent on the drugs.

Opioids Can Derail The Lives Of Older People, Too

4:29pm December 20, 2016

by Jenny Gold

Doctors have commonly managed the persistent pain of people over 65 with prescription opioids. But that has left some still in pain, and with a physical and emotional dependence that can ruin life.

Pfizer's Celebrex fared well in a safety study that compared the pain reliever with ibuprofen and naproxen.

Health & Safety

Safety Of Painkiller Celebrex Affirmed In New Study

6:52pm November 13, 2016

by Rob Stein

A large study alleviates concerns that Celebrex boosts the risk for heart attacks and strokes as much as Vioxx. But the findings raise some concerns about prescription doses of ibuprofen and naproxen.

Placebos are commonly thought of as fake treatments that people think are real. But they may be helpful even if you know they're fake.

Is A Placebo A Sham, If You Know It's A Fake And It Still Works?

3:35pm October 27, 2016

by Katherine Hobson

Most research on placebos involves people who think they're getting an active treatment, but aren't. But they may also work when people know full well they're getting a sham treatment.