Neuropathic pain is a chronic pain condition caused by a damaged or dysfunctional nervous system. It is characterised by shooting and burning pain that lasts long after the initial onset. Common causes of neuropathic pain include: alcoholism amputation back, leg and hip problems chemotherapy diabetes facial nerve problems HIV or AIDS multiple sclerosis shingles spine surgery…
A group of German researchers recently published the results of a study looking into the benefits of meditation on people with chronic neck pain. The article was published in The Journal of Pain. They studied about 90 people who had neck pain for an average of 11 years. The average age of the participants was…
Scarlett McNally, a Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon, and her colleagues have spent 2 years analysing more than 200 separate pieces of research. The effect that regular exercise could have on our health is amazing. Exercise could: prevent type 2 diabetes reduce the risk of getting breast cancer by 25% decrease the risk of bowel cancer by 45% reduce the…
A study published this month in Arthritis Care and Research by Daniel Steffens et al. from the University of Sydney has looked at the risk factors that could lead to acute low back pain. Acute low back pain is back pain that comes on suddenly and resolves after a few days or weeks as…
Jacob Nota and Meredith Coles from the Department of Psychology at Binghamton University in the US have made some interesting discoveries regarding sleep duration and timing. Their research confirmed what others had already noticed, that rumination (repetitive negative thinking) was associated with reduced sleep duration. In addition to this, they found that the timing of…
A recent study by Shah et al. found that about two-thirds of patients attending a diabetes outpatient clinic reported shoulder pain and/or disability. They had significant restrictions in shoulder movement, decreased shoulder strength and hand grip strength. In addition to this, they had a greater likelihood of decreased sensation and limited mobility of the hand….
Dr Loren Fishman et al. studied a group of 25 patients with scoliosis. They taught the patients how to perform the side plank, which is a static exercise performed in Yoga and Pilates. The patients were then asked to perform the exercise once a day for as long as possible. They were instructed to only perform…
It’s well known that increasing the time spent doing moderate intensity physical activities has wide ranging benefits on health. Guidelines recommend 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity. What about those unable to engage in moderate or vigorous physical activities due to health issues? Could light physical activity work too? A study…
A study by Seppala et al, published in last month’s issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress, looked into the effects of yogic breathing on war veterans with post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). They found that after the course of controlled breathing exercises the test subjects had reductions in PTSD scores, anxiety symptoms, respiration rate, startle signs and…
Gothe et al. from the University of Illinois recently conducted a study to look into the effects of hatha yoga on cognition. They recruited 118 senior citizens (mean age of 62) and randomly assigned them to one of 2 groups: a hatha yoga intervention group and a stretching/strengthening control group. Each group took part in…