Chronic Pain up Almost 40% among U.S. Workers in Past 10 Years
Persistent, chronic pain has risen dramatically among full-time U.S. workers in the past 10 years, but most workers in pain still go to work rather than call in sick, leading to a growing trend of presenteeism – a negative impact on work despite being physically present at the job.

These data are from a 2006 national survey conducted by Harris Interactive on "Pain in the Workplace" (www.painandwork.com), sponsored by PriCara, Unit of Ortho-McNeil, Inc., and conducted in partnership with the National Pain Foundation (NPF). Click here to read more survey results.

New Educational Information on Arthritis
The National Pain Foundation has partnered with HealthXplorer in a new educational campaign about rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis on the HealthXplorer web site. The three-part educational series focuses on

• an explanation of what rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis are;
• what causes the diseases;
• who is affected;
• signs and symptoms;
• long-term effects;
• current treatment options;
• an overview of how biologic therapies work in slowing or stopping the progression of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis;
• how to better manage your disease;
• benefits of range of motion exercise;
• dealing with the emotional toll of the disease; and
• much more.

Visit the HealthXplorer web site to see these educational videos.

New Consumer Guide for Choosing Pain Medicine for Osteoarthritis
The Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research, part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has developed new consumer guide for choosing pain medicine for arthritis and non-traumatic joint disorders. The guide is available on the agency's web site at http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/dsc/products.cfm.

February 15th Only —
National Toll-Free Hotline to Address Back Pain Among Baby Boomers
Back pain among baby boomers will be the subject of a toll-free national hotline on Thursday, February 15, from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time, sponsored by the American Physical Therapy Association's Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy Sections.

The toll-free number is 1-877-NEED-A-PT (633-3278). Physical therapists will be on hand to answer questions about injury prevention, exercise, and ways to prevent back pain. The hotline is offered as a public service to help people learn how to minimize back pain and is not a substitute for a visit to a physical therapist or other health care professional.

Source: American Physical Therapy Association

Supplemental Therapy Can Help Ease Pain for People with Temporomandibular Joint Disorder
A new supplemental therapy that teaches pain coping and biofeedback skills can reduce pain, the potential for chronic pain and health-care costs for millions of Americans suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), a common jaw disorder, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report. The condition, which is associated with jaw or facial pain, affects more than 10 % of Americans, making it the second-most common pain-causing muscular and skeletal condition, behind low-back pain

Researchers at UT Southwestern evaluated the supplemental therapy, called early biopsychosocial intervention, to see if it helps ease TMD pain. The intervention teaches a combination of coping techniques and tips on controlling stress-related bodily functions.

Trial participants — 20 men and 81 women who ranged in age from 18 to 70 — were divided into two groups. One group got an intervention and standard dental care and the other received standard care alone. The results, described in a study appearing online in the Journal of the American Dental Association and in another study published in the journal's March 2006 issue, show that those who received the intervention had significantly lower levels of pain and fewer doctor visits.

Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center

New Pain Medication Causes Fewer Gastrointestinal Problems than Traditional NSAIDS
A new cox-2 pain medication called etoricoxib causes fewer upper gastrointestinal problems than the traditional pain medicine diclofenac but cox-2 medications have been linked to heart problems, the researchers.

"In the trial, there was a difference in the overall events between the two drugs," said lead researcher Dr. Loren Laine, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. "There was not a significant difference seen in the more serious and less common events, like major bleeding. The difference was largely seen in the uncomplicated ulcers, which are symptomatic but not generally life-threatening."

For more information, visit National Institutes of Health. The study is published in the Feb. 10 issue of The Lancet.

Source: National Institutes of Health

The Mind as Medicine — Guided Imagery Can Help Ease Pain
Guided imagery, a type of mind-body therapy that uses visualized images to communicate to the housekeeping systems of the body, is making its way into traditional medical settings and finding numerous applications from sports psychologists using it to enhance athletes' physical performance to cancer centers using it to relieve patients' pain and nausea.

In one study, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that more than 30% of U.S. adults have used some form of mind-body medicine, a category that includes guided imagery, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

"People are just now taking a very serious look at it," said David E. Bresler, co-founder of the Academy for Guided Imagery, in Malibu, Calif., and author of the book Free Yourself From Pain. "There are a handful of hospitals around the country and around the world that are starting to implement these programs," he said.

For more information, visit National Institutes of Health.

Source: National Institutes of Health

Take More Breaks to Avoid Back Injury at Work
Workers who lift for a living need to take longer or more frequent breaks than they now do to avoid back injury, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Ohio State University. The study also suggests that people who are new on the job need to take breaks even more often than experienced workers, and that the risk of injury is higher at the end of a work shift.

People who participated in the study lifted boxes onto conveyor belts for eight hours, while researchers measured the amount of oxygen that was reaching the muscles in their lower back. The oxygen level indicated how hard the muscles were working, and whether they were becoming fatigued, explained William Marras, professor of industrial welding and systems engineering at Ohio State. His research and others' has shown that muscle fatigue is linked to back injury.

Despite the fact that the study participants were performing the same job at the same pace all day, their back muscles needed more oxygen as the day went on. Taking a half-hour lunch break helped their muscles recover from the morning's exertion, but once they started working again, their oxygen needs rose steeply and kept climbing throughout the afternoon.

Taking half-hour breaks instead of the standard 15 minutes might help reduce back injury, Marras said, although he acknowledged that such long breaks might not be practical in industry. He pointed to other studies, however, which showed that shorter breaks, taken more frequently, have a similar positive effect.

Source: The Ohio State University