WELCOME to the September, 2008 edition of Pain-Health-News, your very best resource for tips, techniques and information on dealing with PAIN. Whether you suffer from chronic, temporary or transient pain, you'll find helpful information right here. I collect links to news and resources all over the internet, sort out what I think may be most useful and post it in monthly listings. And I'll occasionally write an article or send a special email about things I think are important.
	Hi, I'm Bonnie Boots, publisher of Pain-Health-News. Last month I mentioned that I had unwisely done some yard work that would have been better left to a backhoe and managed to reanimate old back and knee injuries. The last month, then, has been one long battle against that dangerous part of myself that wants to slip into total immobility, swathed in heat packs and soothed with muscle relaxants. I have a terror of that side of my self. Once before it lured me into letting 2 years of my life slip by. All of us have that side. Pain, both physical and emotional, is the incantation that conjures it up. Once aroused, it begs us, even orders us to retreat, to cower, to give up and give in. You may remember hearing a news story from March 2008, about a 35-year old Kansas woman who sat on the toilet at her boyfriend's house for two years until he finally called police for help. Police said the boyfriend claimed the woman had gone into the bathroom, then refused to leave. He brought her food and water and begged her to come out, but she would not. He couldn't explain why he'd waited two years to call for help. A police spokesman stated they found the woman, clothed in sweat pants and top, seated on the toilet with her pants down around her ankles. She was disoriented and her legs appeared to have atrophied. Because her skin had grown around the toilet seat, the seat had to be taken to the hospital with her, where it was surgically removed. If you read this nearly unbelievable story in your newspaper or heard it on the evening news, you may have shaken your head in disbelief or laughed at the incredible circumstances. How can we explain the actions of these two people, the woman and her boyfriend, going on this way, day after day for two years? I don't believe this couple planned to spend two years of their lives waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. I imagine something happened that had her very upset. She ran to the bathroom and slammed the door and refused to come out. And an hour passed. Then another hour passed, and before long the day was gone and evening came. Then it was late at night, and the man and the woman still waited, waited for something to happen. Waited for things to be different. But the next day, things were still the same, and they were still waiting. Two years, waiting, while the sun rose and set seven hundred and thirty times, for things to change. Here's one thing we know for sure about this incredible story-things only changed when the boyfriend overcame inertia and took action, when he finally picked up the phone to dial the police and ask for help. It seems totally weird and incomprehensible. And yet how many of us are living our lives exactly the same way? We may not be stuck on the toilet seat, but we're stuck on something that holds us back and keeps us from getting on with our lives. And we're waiting, waiting for something to happen, for something to break the spell of whatever holds us back. When I first became a pain patient, I was stuck in that strange state of suspended animation. Pain medication robbed me of my normal high energy and made me passive, and I passively waited for someone, some doctor or nurse or therapist, to make things different. I waited for two years. I know how easy it is to get stuck, like a fly in amber, as days and then years pass and nothing ever changes. So I know this very well-- things only change when we overcome inertia and take action. When I overcame my inertia, when I stopped waiting for someone else to make a difference in my life, I discovered something amazing. The person I'd been waiting for was me. I got off the pot, so to speak, and kicked butt. I stopped taking narcotics and got out of the fog. I stopped being polite and passive. I changed doctors. Then I changed doctors again. And then I changed doctors again until I found professionals who could actually help me make progress. I read everything I could find on pain and healing and I tried, within budget and reason, anything that promised results. I don't know your story. I don't know your pain. I don't know what you're stuck on that holds you back. But I do know that if you want something to be different, if you want things to change, if you don't want next week or next month and next year to be just like today, you have to take action. You have to do something different, talk to someone different, read something different, try something different. Commit yourself to change and change will come. I'm not promising you life will be pain free. But I do promise that taking sustained action will generate a wave of change, a wave that will pick you up and sweep you away from whatever it is you're stuck on, until one day you find yourself standing on a new shore, seeing the sun rise on a new day…a day unlike any you've ever lived. And everything will be different. Bonnie Boots I only recommend things I know and trust, usually because I use them myself. Click here to learn the real reason I both use and recommend Synflex for healthy joints.

Because staying abreast of the news on pain treatment is a good way to keep yourself moving forward!

The following links were current for September 1, 2008. Please remember that these links are provided for information purposes only. Use this news to find and begin researching helpful therapies and to open a conversation with your doctor about what may be available and appropriate for you.

Because sometimes, when you can't find the words to tell a doctor how you really feel, the right article can say it for you.

Here's a GREAT news story that shows the power of the internet and why it's good to be involved. Read how a Boise, Idaho woman blogged about her unrelenting pain and found real help.

Boise woman to get free surgery after being on TV show
KTVB - Boise,ID,USA
Jamie Whinery of Boise will be getting free surgery to help her with chronic pain she's suffered from a rib injury years ago. BOISE -- A Boise woman was ... http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-sep1108-chronic_pain_surgery.6878fa53.html

Scott Mowbry attends a medical conference in Las Vegas and hears speakers advise that it's up to the pain patient to stay motivated and keep pushing for proper treatement..

Suffering Chronic Pain? Sorry, Much of the Burden to Get Better ...
By DrEddyClinic.com
As I sit through session after session at PainWeek, an annual medical conference held this year in Las Vegas, the message I hear is that much of the responsibility for effective chronic pain treatment rests on the patient’s shoulders. http://pokedandprodded.health.com/2008/09/05/suffering-chronic-pain-sorry%E2%80%94much-of-the-burden-to-get-better-falls-to-you/#more-1825

Find time to visit this interesting blog written by a psychiatrist who is herself living with chronic pain.

Invisible Illness: Strength Through the Struggle
By Kerrie
The writer of this post blogs anonymously as she is a practicing psychiatrist. Her practice focuses mostly on patients with chronic pain. Having chronic pain herself, her practice and blog reflect a deep understanding of its challenges. ...

http://www.thedailyheadache.com/

Here's an article you might want to share with your doctor about a developmental drug effective in chronic pain relief

Developmental Drug Effective in Chronic Pain Relief
MedPage Today - Little Falls,NJ,USA
11 -- A morphine pill with a built-in anti-abuse factor did better than placebo at relieving pain in patients with osteoarthritis, researchers said here. ...

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PainManagement/PainManagement/tb/10878

This article sites a study done in Canada. Pay attention if you're considering arthroscopic  knee surgery...

Arthroscopic knee surgery ineffective: study
Globe and Mail - Canada
Researchers found that patients who had arthroscopic knee surgery fared no better and had no long-lasting pain relief compared with those who were treated ...

So now what do you do...go chew on a tree?

Bark extract from pine tree may help reduce mild knee arthritis pain
Little About - Navi Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
Their pain had reduced and they did find some relief from knee arthritis. Moreover after stopping the pine bark extract treatment, the pain relief effect, ...

A newspaper article focusing on a 71-year old woman beautifully illustrates the importance of  a good attitude

Bill would boost research on chronic pain
Greensboro News Record - Greensboro,NC,USA
Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. The exact number is hard to pin down because the definition of chronic pain varies, says Dr. Andy ...

Here's an interesting article on treating phantom limb pain by retraining the brain, which has interesting implications for long-term chronic pain

Phantom Limb Cure: Retraining the Brain
Scientific American - USA
Regardless of the active component, this study gives insight into a possible mechanism of pain relief for people with phantom limb pain. ...

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=phantom-limb-cure-retrain-brain

Quote from article link below, "Most cancer patients said the main reason they did not take pain medication was because their healthcare provider did not recommend it," is a good reminder that you, as a pain patient, must be aggressive and persistent in demanding treatment.

Many cancer patients receive insufficient pain relief therapy
By admin
Pain is> Cancer Treatment Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia and the Radiation Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., sought to determine the main ...

Learn about Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week, a national initiative that will bring attention to "invisible" conditions like chronic pain...

HEALTH: Purpose from pain
Lancaster Newspapers - Lancaster,PA,USA
This week, Hornberger is participating in Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week, a national initiative that includes Internet seminars and online ...

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/227004

YOU MUST READ about this online art gallery for people suffering from pain...because unleashing your creativity is very healing!

Man uses art to describe chronic pain
Bradenton Herald - FL, United States
By SAM McMANIS - McClatchy Newspapers Words failed Mark Collen when his doctor had asked about his chronic pain. Strange, because Collen had always been ...

I do not  presume to give medical advice to anyone. I simply present information that may be helpful. I know, from my own experience with chronic pain,  that you can never tell in advance where you will find the one bit of news that will help you turn a corner and make progress.

Please use this information to further your search for your own best health care. Be pro-active, be persistent --and be careful. There will always be people looking to take advantage of your need for relief.  Remember, using Google to check a person or product's background is your best defense against scams and frauds.

If you have questions or concerns about anything you find on my web site, you can contact me at any time by clicking here to open a pre-addressed email form or email me at bonnie at pain-health-news dot com.