What is Trigeminal Neuralgia and How is It Treated?
Trigeminal Neuralgia is an uncommon disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of lancinating pain in the trigeminal nerve distribution. Typically, brief attacks are triggered by talking, chewing, teeth brushing, shaving, a light touch, or even a cool...
What is Myofascial Pain Syndrome and How is It Treated?
Myofascial Pain (MPS) is a noninflammatory disorder of musculoskeletal origin, associated with pain and muscle stiffness, characterized by the presence of hyperirritable palpable nodules in the skeletal muscle fibers, which are termed MTrPs. These trigger points are...
How Do You Treat a Hypnic Headache?
Hypnic headaches also known as alarm clock headaches are a rare type of primary headache that occurs during sleep and tend to wake the person up, seen particularly in elders. These headaches only occur when a person is asleep (Sleep Foundation, 2023). Amongst patients...
Eagle’s Syndrome: What is It and How is It Treated?
Eagle's syndrome, also known as stylohyoid syndrome, styloid syndrome, is caused by an elongated or disfigured styloid process, or a calcified stylohyoid ligament (Egierska D et al 2021). The abnormality or elongation leads to orofacial and cervical pain that are...
Does Childbirth Lead to Low Back Pain Later in Life?
Many women suffer from low back pain, but they may not know how it all began. Some of the women know exactly where it started, starting with pregnancy and never going away. There is new research on how childbirth impacts low back pain later in life, which may surprise...
Guided Self-Help Programs for Chronic Pain Patients
Millions of people suffer from chronic pain, which is the leading cause of disability in the country. To manage it and find some relief, they must have various tools at their disposal. The more empowered they feel to take action to help themselves, the better off they...
Virtual Reality May Help With Chronic Pain Management
We know that millions of people love virtual reality, including being able to play games or take a virtual ride on a roller coaster. In recent years, technology has been explored for helping people who are experiencing pain. Several research studies have shown that it...
The Impact of Chronic Pain on Healthcare Workers
When we think about chronic pain, we tend to think about those outside the healthcare industry experiencing it while those in the industry help them manage it. We may not realize that healthcare workers may also experience chronic pain, which may impact their...
Why is a Tongue Evaluation Important?
Your mouth is one of your body’s most important warning systems. Tongue lesions may indicate a local disease process or an overall systemic issue. Approximately 15.5 percent of US adults present with tongue lesions according to the National Health and Nutrition...
Can You Get a Headache From Headache Medication?
People with a primary headache disorder, such as migraine or tension-type headache, might be experiencing undesirable pain secondary to the intake of acute headache medication. This is called a medication overuse headache (MOH) or transformed headache. MOH is a...
Biofeedback Therapy for Chronic Pain
Biofeedback is a way for an individual to self-regulate their physiologic response to pain with the help of a feedback system. Patients can receive auditory, visual, or tactile feedback information about how their body is reacting (ie. muscle tension or heart rate)....
Does Sleep Deprivation Lead To More Chronic Pain?
Sleep is vital to humans, and some consequences result if we go without it for too long. This leads some to wonder if not getting enough sleep impacts pain sensitivities and one's experience with chronic pain. Researchers set out to review the published studies on the...
Afraid To Exercise Due To Chronic Pain?
Most people know that being active and exercising is good for one's health. Getting enough exercise has many benefits that help people feel good and live healthier lifestyles. Those who suffer from chronic pain they are afraid to exercise because they fear the session...
Integrative Therapies to Help Manage Chronic Pain
With millions of people suffering from chronic pain in the country, more attention is being put on what can be done to help manage it. While pharmaceuticals may have once been center stage, many people are seeking other ways they can help find pain relief, with the...
Does Pain in Childhood Predict Pain in Mid-Life?
When it comes to chronic pain, the focus is often put on adults, but some children suffer from it as well. In fact, according to research published in the March 2021 issue of JAMA, it is estimated that between one-quarter and one-third of children may experience...
What Is Central Sensitization (CS)?
Central sensitization is an amplification of neural signaling within the central nervous system that elicits pain hypersensitivity. (Woolf, 2011). It is a pathological phenomenon that represents both structural and functional changes in the CNS and leads to increased...
The Blinking Eye
Blepharospasm [aka, blinking eye] is a focal dystonia involving the orbicularis muscle causing repeated and abnormal movements of the eyelids. Patients with blepharospasm may be characterized by various types of involuntary activation of periocular muscles, and not...
Alpha-Lipoic Acid: Nature’s Relief for Burning Mouth Syndrome Sufferers
For those of you fortunate enough not to have heard of Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS), let me introduce you to this debilitating pain condition. BMS is characterized by a burning sensation in the tongue and/or other oral mucosal areas. It is often associated with dry...
How to Conduct an Intraoral Dental Screening
An intraoral dental screening should be a routine part of any dental assessment: checking and recording the presence or absence of any abnormalities. The importance of regular dental examinations has been emphasized by the many studies which show positive outcomes for...
What is “Cheerleaders’ Syndrome”?
Idiopathic Condylar Resorption (ICR), aka, “cheerleaders’ syndrome", is an uncommon aggressive degenerative joint disease that most frequently occurs in teenage girls during the pubertal growth spurt. In patients with ICR, a decrease in the mandibular ramus height...
What is Herpes Zoster?
Herpes zoster is a neurocutaneous disease that is caused by the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) from a latent infection of dorsal sensory or cranial nerve ganglia following primary infection with VZV earlier in life. (Schmader et al 2007). Major risk...
Masseter Muscle Hypertrophy: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment Options
Though the masseter muscle doesn’t have the same claim to fame as say biceps, it plays an important role in our ability to function on a daily basis. Humans have two masseter muscles, one on each side of our face. The masseter muscles are a set of powerful muscles...
A Glimpse into Occipital Neuralgia
If the patient experiences a sharp pain in the back of the neck, close to the nuchal line, and it radiates to the parietal and frontal areas, the clinician should consider the possibility of occipital neuralgia. Occipital neuralgia (ON) is a primary headache disorder...
Can Quitting Smoking After Cancer Diagnoses Help You Avoid Severe Pain?
Millions of people smoke and some are diagnosed with cancer each year. Regardless of the type of cancer they are diagnosed with, researchers wondered if quitting smoking following the diagnoses would help lead to the person experiencing less severe pain. They...