Mindfulness may help ease low back pain

Mindfulness may help ease low back pain

First off let me preface this by stating that patients should consult with their doctors about both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to help manage their pain. Mindfulness is not a panacea, it is an option for patients who are willing to explore non-pharmacological options for pain management. A number of recent scientific publications confirm that simple mindful actives help people manage their pain. Mindfulness meditation is a practice premised on directing nonjudgmental attention to arising sensory events, this reduces pain by distracting the mind from the pain sensations. 

Read More

What is carpal tunnel syndrome and what happens if I get it?

What is carpal tunnel syndrome and what happens if I get it?

"It often begins as an easily dismissed tingle in the thumb or an ache in the wrist. Building slowly but persistently to a searing, tearing pain from the wrist to the fingers. Culminating in sleepless nights, workless days and a numb but simultaneously excruciating, useless hand. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a painful and disabling condition. It’s also very common."

Image Credit - Blausen.com "Blausen gallery 2014". Wikiversity Journal of Medicine. DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 20018762. - CC BY 3.0.

Read More

How many genes does it take to make a person?

How many genes does it take to make a person?

"It’s natural to think of the history of life as progressing from the simple to the complex, and to expect this to be reflected in increasing gene numbers. We fancy ourselves leading the way with our superior intellect and global domination; the expectation was that since we’re the most complex creature, we’d have the most elaborate set of genes."

Read More

Massage therapy and non-specific low back pain

Massage therapy and non-specific low back pain

Non-specific low back pain is a difficult to treat global health burden, one of the reasons for this is that like the name suggests, there is often no clear identifiable cause. A multimodal therapeutic approach was found by the Cochrane Group to be one of the best approaches to managing low back pain. This involves a number of management strategies that include but are not limited to education, reassurance, analgesic medicines and a number of non pharmacological therapies

Read More