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Doctors Told Me There Was Nothing They Could Do for My Chronic Pain. They Were Wrong.
Read More: Doctors Told Me There Was Nothing They Could Do for My Chronic Pain. They Were Wrong.As told to Nicole Audrey Spector It was a chaotic time. I was 45-years-old and working full-time with two kids โ one in high school and the other in elementary school. And being the pastor’s wife also had its demands. Both of my sons have hemophilia, a rare bleeding disorder. My youngest was in and…
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Does Chiropractic Work for Chronic Pain?
Read More: Does Chiropractic Work for Chronic Pain?Youโve seen videos on social media or experienced it IRL: The loud crack that can happen during a chiropractic adjustment. For some people, the thought of the spinal adjustment is jarring to say the least. For others, the crack or popping noise is the sweet sound of pain relief. Most people who turn to chiropractic…
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Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) 101
Read More: Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) 101September is Pain Awareness Month. Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a lot like it sounds and is a broad term for a wide range of conditions causing pain. The chronic pain condition usually causes long-lasting intense pain, swelling, sensitivity to touch or cold, and other symptoms in extremities โ the arms, hands, legs and…
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โHow Chronic Pain Changes the Brain
Read More: โHow Chronic Pain Changes the BrainSeptember is Pain Awareness Month Paula* started feeling pain in her shoulder late last year. It started as an ache, but it wasnโt long until routine things like waving to a friend or putting on a sports bra were too painful to do. She started having problems sleeping and paying attention at work because of…
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It Wasnโt Just a Pain in the Neck. It Was Fibromyalgia.
Read More: It Wasnโt Just a Pain in the Neck. It Was Fibromyalgia.As told to Jacquelyne Froeber I was lifting weights at the gym when I felt something rip in my neck. I wanted to scream, but the sudden burst of fiery pain took my breath away. โDonโt panic,โ I told myself. It was probably just a neck strain or a pinched nerve. I went home and…
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Redheads and Pain
Read More: Redheads and PainRebecca Sager, senior vice president of development for HealthyWomen, was in the prep room at the hospital getting ready to deliver her first child when the nurse came in and asked her an odd question. โAre you a real redhead?โ โYouโre going to find out in a minute,โ Sager quipped, knowing the nurse was there…
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Fast Facts: What You Need to Know About Gout
Read More: Fast Facts: What You Need to Know About GoutMedically reviewed by Paula Tanasa, M.D. If youโve ever woken in the night with a gout attack, or flare, you know how painful it can be. Gout causes pain in joints, often for the first time in the big toe โ and this pain can come and go throughout life. For some, managing these flare-ups…
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What You Need to Know About Gout
Read More: What You Need to Know About GoutMedically reviewed by Paula Tanasa, M.D. What is gout? Gout is a type of inflammatory arthritis that occurs when uric acid builds up in your blood and forms tiny, needle-shaped crystals that can deposit almost anywhere in the body, including in the joints, bones, heart, spine, kidney and eyes. These deposits can form visible lumps…
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Tech Solutions for Chronic Pain
Read More: Tech Solutions for Chronic PainBrittany Barreto, Ph.D., is a podcaster, an entrepreneur, and a molecular and human geneticist. (In other words, sheโs really smart.) Read her column here each month to learn about whatโs happening in the world of technology and innovation in womenโs health. For years I thought I had weak wrists. Sure, pushups and downward-facing dogs were…
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Childhood Trauma Can Lead to Chronic Pain
Read More: Childhood Trauma Can Lead to Chronic PainBy the time Cynthia Toussaint was 8 years old, she had experienced more trauma than many people do in a lifetime. Multiple members of her family lived with mental illness, and she witnessed repeated instances of domestic violence. She also saw her father kill himself and watched her mother battle addiction. As a result, Toussaint…
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Like Millions of Women, I Live With Chronic Pain โ and Iโve Had to Learn to Advocate for Myself
Read More: Like Millions of Women, I Live With Chronic Pain โ and Iโve Had to Learn to Advocate for MyselfFor more than 15 years, Iโve struggled to get treatment for multiple types of chronic pain. This journey has taught me how it feels to have my pain dismissed or ignored by the healthcare system and the hard lesson that I must be my own advocate with my medical team. Even though I grew up…
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Telehealth and Pain Management: What You Need to Know
Read More: Telehealth and Pain Management: What You Need to KnowThe last thing you want to do when youโre experiencing debilitating pain is hop on public transportation or get in the car (perhaps with kids in tow) to go see your doctor. Instead, today, you can log into a telehealth appointment with your healthcare provider (HCP) for assessment, pain medication prescriptions, and follow-up care all…
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Osteoporosis and Fractures: What You Should Know
Read More: Osteoporosis and Fractures: What You Should KnowDesign by Megan Schofield Medically reviewed by Ivy Alexander, Ph.D
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Gynecological Procedures Can Be a Real Pain
Read More: Gynecological Procedures Can Be a Real PainAs Sarah*, 32, suffered through pain during a colposcopy โ a procedure to examine the cervix, vagina and vulva for possible cervical cancer โ the healthcare provider (HCP) performing the procedure delivered a comment Sarah said sheโll never forget. โThese are the things we’re expected to go through as women.โ The doctor had been kind…
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Breast Surgery and Opioids: What You Need to Know
Read More: Breast Surgery and Opioids: What You Need to KnowErica Rimlinger didn’t know what to expect after her mastectomy. But she was feeling pretty anxious about the level of pain she’d be forced to experience. “My doctor gave me diazepam [a non-opioid medication used for anxiety, muscle spasms or seizures] to relax before I came to the hospital,” she recalled. “And then, before they…
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Short-Sleepers Are More Likely to Suffer From Irregular and Heavy Periods
Read More: Short-Sleepers Are More Likely to Suffer From Irregular and Heavy PeriodsBy Kat Kennedy, University of Arizona and Sara Nowakowski, Baylor College of Medicine The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea Menstruating women who sleep less than six hours a night tend to suffer heavier and irregular periods. That is the conclusion from our new study, which was recently…
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Bone health, Chronic conditions, chronic pain, COVID-19, healthy aging, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Osteoporosis, Pain, Pandemic, Real women real stories
It Wasnโt Muscle Damage: It Was Four Fractures and Osteoporosis
Read More: It Wasnโt Muscle Damage: It Was Four Fractures and OsteoporosisAs told to Liz Sauchelli It had been two weeks since I’d slipped on the front stairs of my home and my back was still in excruciating pain. The emergency room doctor I’d seen after my fall thought I had muscle damage and had sprained my back. He prescribed anti-inflammatories and painkillers without taking an…
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4 Things That Pain in Your Left Boob Might Mean
Read More: 4 Things That Pain in Your Left Boob Might MeanHave you ever felt quick, stabbing pain in your left breast? A pain that comes on fast, but leaves just as quickly? You’re not alone, so we decided to scope out the possible reasons why. Here are four possible causes of this mysterious pain. Pleurisy Pleurisy is a condition that causes sharp, stabbing pain under…
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The Pain Gap: Why Womenโs Pain Is Undertreated
Read More: The Pain Gap: Why Womenโs Pain Is UndertreatedWhen Karen Finney went into the hospital for brain surgery, she was well aware of the gender pain gap: women in pain are taken and treated less seriously than men in pain. Women of color are affected even more severely, and as a Black woman, Finney knew the hill to relief would be even steeper…
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chronic pain, Medication safety, Opioid use disorder, Opioids, Otc medication safety, Pain, Pain management, Prescription drugs, Research, Science, Substance abuse
Designing Less Addictive Opioids, Through Chemistry
Read More: Designing Less Addictive Opioids, Through ChemistryBy Aaron W. Harrison, Austin College What if there was a way for pain patients to get all the pain-relieving power of opioids with none of the addicting side effects? Opioids are one of the most powerful pain medications available, but millions of Americans have struggled with prescription opioid misuse after getting hooked on the…
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We Must Change our Relationship with Pain
Read More: We Must Change our Relationship with PainWe Must Change our Relationship with Pain โI am in so much PAIN Natalie, how did you thrive even with your injuries?โ 30-40 year old me didnโt understand โpainโ like I do now at 49. I used to think: it was not something that would happen to ME and I also believed it was peopleโs…
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Chronic conditions, chronic pain, Headache & migraine, Health disparities, Medication safety, Migraine, Opioid use disorder, Pain, Pain management, Policy, Prescription drugs
Breaking Barriers to Pain Treatment
Read More: Breaking Barriers to Pain TreatmentTen years ago, Jaime Sanders launched The Migraine Diva, a blog to chronicle her experiences as a young Black woman living with chronic migraine headaches. Her vulnerability and transparency about her life โ including battles with chronic pain, depression and anxiety, along with managing a household that includes her husband and children โ garnered a…
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Access, Access to health care, Affordability, Affordable care act, Chronic conditions, chronic pain, Health care, Health insurance, Keep the care, Medication safety, Pain, Pain management, Policy, Preventive health
Learn More About Chronic Pain
Read More: Learn More About Chronic PainReference: Chronic Pain Graphic
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Access, Affordability, Anxiety, Chronic conditions, chronic pain, Depression, Endometriosis, Health disparities, Medication safety, Opioid use disorder, Pain, Pain management, Policy, Prescription drugs
For Millions of Americans Enduring Chronic Pain, Support Is Overdue
Read More: For Millions of Americans Enduring Chronic Pain, Support Is OverdueCindy Steinberg was seriously injured in an accident 20 years ago, but she still lives with pain every day. “I didn’t know there was such a thing as living in pain all the time,” she said. When Steinberg had to stop working because of her pain, she started an informal pain support group at a…
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Chronic conditions, chronic pain, Endometriosis, Health disparities, Medication safety, Opioid use disorder, Pain, Pain management, Policy, Prescription drugs
Fast Facts: 10 Things to Know About Women and Chronic Pain
Read More: Fast Facts: 10 Things to Know About Women and Chronic PainAn estimated 50 million Americans live with chronic pain โ pain every day or on most days over the last six months. Of these, nearly 20 million have “high-impact” chronic pain that interferes with daily life or work. Women are more likely to experience chronic pain and more acute pain than men. Often, women’s pain…
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Chronic Pain Is a Disease โ and It Should Be Treated Like One
Read More: Chronic Pain Is a Disease โ and It Should Be Treated Like OneMore than 20 years ago, a heavy filing cabinet fell on Cindy Steinberg at her office and caused nerve and ligament damage to her back. The pain never went away. In the years after, she became an advocate for people who experience chronic pain and is currently the national director of policy & advocacy for…
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Why Clinical Trials Need to Emphasize Function Over Pain Measurement
Read More: Why Clinical Trials Need to Emphasize Function Over Pain MeasurementEveryone perceives pain differently. Whether they’re in pain from injury or illness, the amount of pain a person experiences is unique to the individual experiencing it. Levels of pain can also be influenced by genetic, cultural, social and psychological factors. This high degree of variability makes measuring pain on a clinical scale a challenge. That’s…
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Anxiety, Breast cancer, Breast cancer survivor, chronic pain, mental health, Pain, Pain management, Real women real stories, Self-Care
Chronic Pain Drove Me to Despair, but Cancer Taught Me to Heal
Read More: Chronic Pain Drove Me to Despair, but Cancer Taught Me to HealAs told to Diana Whitney Looking back, I had the perfect life. At 21, I was an accomplished ballerina, singer and actor — the triple threat. Then one day in ballet class, I tore my hamstring. I’d always worked through pain before, but this pain was different. I could no longer dance ballet six hours…
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Living with Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions
Read More: Living with Chronic Overlapping Pain ConditionsIn 1999, Lisa Schmidt went to see her doctor about headaches. But instead of diagnosing the migraine headaches Schmidt believed she was experiencing, the doctor thought she had a temporomandibular disorder (TMD, also commonly referred to as TMJ). He referred her to an orthodontist who could make a dental splint for her jaw. The splint…
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We Need to Raise Awareness of Womenโs Migraine Disease in the Workplace
Read More: We Need to Raise Awareness of Womenโs Migraine Disease in the WorkplaceI have a nursing colleague who works in the hospital nursery. She loves caring for the babies and their mothers, but going to work used to literally make her sick. That’s because she suffers from migraine disease, and the fluorescent lights in the nursery trigger her headaches. Before she was diagnosed and found a treatment…
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Chronic conditions, chronic pain, Headache & migraine, Health care, Health disparities, Migraine, Pain, Pain management, Policy
Suffering From Chronic Pain as a Black Woman
Read More: Suffering From Chronic Pain as a Black WomanEvery time Jaime Sanders visits an urgent care clinic, she makes sure she brings the three-ring binder that details her comprehensive medical care plan, including lists of medications, allergies and records of past doctors’ visits. Sanders knows she’s never guaranteed to find doctors who will take her migraine pain seriously and carries the binder as…
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Thereโs a Better Way to Treat Chronic Pain
Read More: Thereโs a Better Way to Treat Chronic PainA couple of weeks ago, I caught a tiny glimpse of what it’s like to live with chronic pain. For two days, I suffered the agony of an abscessed tooth before finally going to the emergency room and getting a prescription for antibiotics. I already had strong painkillers at home and the doctor told me…
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How I Found New Relief With Migraine Disease
Read More: How I Found New Relief With Migraine DiseaseI’ve lived with migraine for most of my life. The attacks started when I was 10 years old and plagued me throughout my teens. It’s difficult to describe how terrible and debilitating they were. I missed many days of school, sleepover parties and days lost during family vacations. I can remember being so sick and…
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In a World of Pain
Read More: In a World of PainWhen Marin Hinkle tells you about her work, family and friends, you can hear the excitement and love in her voice. But behind that serene smile you see on television, in her roles on shows such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Two and a Half Men,” is a woman who struggles daily with agonizing…
