Chronic Pain Today

Here are a few free or low cost medicinal items that visitors to the Chronic Pain Today blog may be interested in:

Free Diabetic Actos for those in Need
http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/06/18/free-diabetic-actos-for-those-in-need/

This is income dependant but the forms are in the blog post that you can download and print off to send in to see about. Please read all the links that are highlighted in the blog post.

Free or Low Cost Lyrica for Fibro
http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/06/16/free-or-low-cost-lyrica-for-fibro/

This is income dependant but the forms are in the blog post that you can download and print off to send in to see about. Please read all the links that are highlighted in the blog post.

Free Insulin for Those in Need
http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/06/15/free-insulin-for-those-in-need/

This is income dependant but the forms are in the blog post that you can download and print off to send in to see about. Please read all the links that are highlighted in the blog post.

Free Kadian Co Pay Assistance Card
http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/07/01/kadian-copay-assistance-card-up-to-50-off/

There are few restrictions to this co pay assistance card. Kadian is a pain medication of morphine and if you are on it for chronic pain you will reap good rewards for getting this card.

Free 5pack Humalog Kwikpen Insulin
http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/06/30/free-humalog-kwikpen-insulin/

Little to any restrictions on this one, other than it has to be a new prescription, the voucher runs out at the end of the year so please hit the blog post and get yours downloaded and printed off soon.

OTC (Over the counter) pain relievers have two main types; they are either NSAIDs or they are made with acetaminophen. OTC pain medications are analgesics. The word comes from the Greek an which means without and the word algos which means pain.

NSAIDS - these include all types of aspirin, ketoprofen, naproxen sodium, and ibuprofen. NSAIDs (or non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs) relieve pain and lessen the inflammation. While NSAIDS help more problems they are only for short term use due to prolonged side effects.

Acetaminophen - This drug goes under different brand names but they are all the same medicine. These will reduce pain but not the inflammation. It has the fewest side effects of OTC medications. Acetaminophen is the better choice for longer term usage.

For more prolonged information on NSAIDS and Acetaminophen check out the following blog posts:

http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/06/07/what-is-acetaminophen/

http://chronicpain.today.com/2008/06/07/what-are-nsaids/

We all need to stay educated and informed when we have a chronic pain illness. Keeping on top of things is paramount in a good pain management program. That being said, we also don’t want to have to break the bank to stay updated and informed. So here at Chronic Pain Today we’ve got a few free books and informational kits designed to help keep you going:

The Pain Foundation’s Chronic Pain Notebook - has logs and diaries, plus great information.

Free Chair Yoga for Good Living book - also from the pain foundation this book helps in exercise.

Health Central has a great 100 Questions and Answers about Crohn’s Disease and UC for free, just answer a few basic questions to receive.

Suite 101 has a Fibro online course that will work great with the free My Fibro Relief kit that is being offered online. Be sure to see the blog Happy Fibro Family for more personalized fibro information.

The Pain Foundation’s free Resource Guide (for 2007) is online and ready to be downloaded. Always has great information there.

Smokers suffer more chronic back pain. This was the result of the analysis of a questionnaire performed by Monique Zimmermann-Stenzel and her colleagues and published in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int, 2008; 105[24]: 441-8).

http://www.aerzteblatt.de/v4/archiv/pdf.asp?id=60552

In 2003, the Robert Koch Institute interviewed more than 8000 private persons in the course of a telephone health survey (GsTel03). This included questions on social and demographic themes, as well as health and life style. On the basis of the collected data, the authors examined whether there was an association between smoking and chronic back pain.

Their evaluation showed that smokers or former smokers suffer chronic back pain much more often than do non-smokers. The number of years the subjects had been smoking or had smoked was decisive. Subjects who had consumed tobacco for more than 16 years had a two-fold greater probability of suffering chronic back pain than subjects who had smoked for less than 10 years. The probability of back pain was further multiplied for subjects who had smoked for longer than 26 years. On the other hand, the frequency with which the subjects consumed tobacco and the quantities smoked did not play a role.

However, the authors pointed out that tobacco consumption does not necessarily cause chronic back pain. It is just as possible that people with chronic back pain smoke to alleviate the pain. The exact association between smoking and back pain will have to be clarified in appropriate studies. These could offer additional possibilities to prevent chronic back pain or smoking motivated by this.

For measurement of pain in people with dementia who cannot verbalize.

 

How to use scale: While observing the resident, score questions 1 to 6

 

Name of resident: …………………………………………………………………………

Name and designation of person completing the scale: ………………………….

Date: ….………………………………………

Time: ………………………………………

Latest pain relief given was…………………………..…………..….….at ………..hrs.

 

 

Q1.Vocalisation

eg. whimpering, groaning, crying

Q1 Absent 0

Mild 1

Moderate 2

Severe 3

 

Q2. Facial expression

eg: looking tense, frowning grimacing, looking frightened

Q2 Absent 0

Mild 1

Moderate 2

Severe 3

 

Q3.  Change in body language

eg: fidgeting, rocking, guarding part of body, withdrawn

Q3 Absent 0

Mild 1

Moderate 2

Severe 3

 

Q4. Behavioural Change

eg: increased confusion, refusing to eat, alteration in usual patterns

Q4 Absent 0

Mild 1

Moderate 2

Severe 3

 

Q5. Physiological change

eg: temperature, pulse or blood pressure outside normal limits, perspiring, flushing or pallor

Q5 Absent 0

Mild 1

Moderate 2

Severe 3

 

Q6. Physical changes

eg: skin tears, pressure areas, arthritis, contractures, previous injuries.

 Q6 Absent 0

Mild 1

Moderate 2

Severe 3

 

Add scores for 1 – 6 and record here Total Pain Score ______

 

Now tick the box that matches the Total Pain Score

0 – 2 No pain ___

3 – 7 Mild  ___

8 – 13 Moderate ___

14+  Severe ___

 

Finally, tick the box which matches the type of pain

Chronic  ____

Acute  ____

Acute on Chronic ____

 

 

Dementia Care Australia Pty Ltd

Website: www.dementiacareaustralia.com

Abbey, J; De Bellis, A; Piller, N; Esterman, A; Giles, L; Parker, D and Lowcay, B.

Funded by the JH & JD Gunn Medical Research Foundation 1998 – 2002

(This document may be reproduced with this acknowledgment retained)