Blog Articles

Most people get a headache occasionally, but ongoing problems with head pain — or debilitating head pain — can benefit from medical intervention. Here’s when you should consider seeking help for your headache.

Maybe you’re struggling with joint pain that’s preventing you from enjoying life to the fullest. The good news is that there are several effective treatment options for arthritis. We briefly review them here.

When it comes to identifying fibromyalgia, there's no single test. That means symptomology plays an essential diagnostic role. While fibromyalgia can affect people differently, here are some of the most common signs.

There’s little question that a good massage can do wonders for making you feel better, but can it play a role in managing your pain? The answer is a resounding yes. Read on to learn more about how massage can manage your pain.

You’re tired of dealing with pain, but the potential risks that come with surgery or medications seem high. Why not explore a technique that has been helping people overcome pain for millennia — acupuncture.

New estimates place the numbers of Americans who are affected by arthritis at more than 92 million. Included in this incredibly high statistic are different types of arthritis. We outline them here.

There’s a good reason why the expression: “Pain in the neck” is so popular — any discomfort in this area can have a surprisingly significant impact on your life. When you experience neck pain, consider professional support and treatment.

Back pain is incredibly common and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. While sprains and strains make up the majority of injuries, here’s a look at lesser-known causes of back pain.

Fibromyalgia is primarily a chronic pain syndrome. But it can also have a far-reaching impact on your mental health and mood regulation. Here’s a look at what we know about fibromyalgia and your moods.

When sciatica strikes, even the slightest movement can send pain down your lower back and into your leg. To find relief, we’ve outlined six treatment options that will have you moving freely again.

When it comes to the difference between joint pain and arthritis, there are some subtle distinctions between these common problems. Here, we explore these differences and what we can do to bring you relief.

The goal of regenerative medicine is to tap the powerful resources already found within the human body. And this is certainly true of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. But is this approach to healing safe?

If you’re among the millions of Americans who struggle with joint pain, cortisone injections hold the key to regaining pain-free movement. Here’s a look at this first-line treatment option and whether you’re a candidate.

When one of the nerves in your neck is compressed, not only can it cause local problems, but symptoms can radiate out toward your arms and hands as well. Called cervical radiculopathy, here’s a look at how the issue develops.

Every day you get out of bed, hoping this will be the day that pain won’t get in your way. Yet, the pain persists. Here’s a look at the most common culprits when it comes to widespread pain, and what we can do about them.

While many situations in life can be considered a pain in the neck, actual neck pain can limit your life in significant ways. Here are five tips that go a long way toward preventing and remedying neck pain.

Arthritis, in all its many forms, can be a frustrating condition to live with — mostly because there’s no cure. That said, there are some effective ways for better managing joint disease, allowing you to remain healthy and active.

Americans are no strangers to headaches — more than 15% of adults report severe headaches or migraines. If you’re struggling with head pain, the good news is that we have a wide range of treatment options. Read on to learn more.

More than 20 million people in the United States report peripheral neuropathy, though many medical experts believe that this number may be far higher. Here’s a look at how you can recognize the signs of peripheral neuropathy.

If you’re struggling with sciatica, you understand how the pain and discomfort can hijack your life. To help you better control your sciatica pain, here are five lifestyle tips to help provide relief. Read on to learn more.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are a form of regenerative medicine therapy used to help treat a number of common conditions, from joint pain to sports injuries. Here’s what you need to know about PRP and whether it’s right for you.

If you’re suffering from debilitating neck or back pain, relief is likely your top priority. As you consider your options, explore what an epidural steroid injection can accomplish. Here are some myths and facts about this pain management technique.

Your knees play a large role in how you make your way through the world. So when knee pain strikes, it can have an enormous impact on your life. Explore here how viscosupplementation may provide you with much-needed relief.

Chronic back pain can be so severe and debilitating that you’ll turn to almost anything to stop it. But drugs can lead to long-term addiction and even death. That’s why many are opting for advanced spinal cord stimulators for drug-free relief.

In millions of Americans with IBS, it looks like these ‘itch’ receptors might be more present than in healthy people.

Conotoxins are bioactive peptides found in the venom that marine cone snails produce for prey capture and defense.

One of the worst symptoms associated with inflammation or cancer of the pancreas is severe chronic pain.

People with persistent back pain or persistent headaches are twice as likely to suffer from both disorders, a new study from the University of Warwick has revealed.

When you experience severe pain, like breaking or shattering a bone, the pain isn’t just felt at the sight of the injury.

Sonoma Magazine’s Top Doctor survey is submitted every year to Sonoma County doctors who are asked which medical specialist they would most often recommend to a loved one.

Cigarette smoke and environmental pollutants, for example, are rich in reactive electrophiles which can trigger TRPA1 in the cells that line the surface of the body’s airway

“Acupressure is similar to acupuncture, but instead of needles, pressure is applied with a finger, thumb or device to specific points on the body,”

Researchers used the National Health Interview Survey, a large national representative dataset from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to estimate the prevalence of chronic pain among cancer survivors.

Afflicting more than one billion adults worldwide, migraine is the third most prevalent illness in the world.

Pelvic pain associated with endometriosis often becomes chronic and can persist (or recur) following surgical and hormonal interventions.

Adolescent girls who reach puberty at an earlier age may also have a greater chance of developing migraine headaches, according to new research from investigators at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine.

An international team spearheaded by researchers at McGill University has discovered a biological mechanism that could explain heightened somatic awareness, a condition where patients experience physical discomforts.

Migraine sufferers who used a smartphone-based relaxation technique at least twice a week experienced on average four fewer headache days per month, a new study shows.

Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a standard treatment for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

A previously unknown autoimmune muscle disease involving sudden onset of debilitating muscle pain and weakness has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

For patients with severe, chronic back and leg pain, a new high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (SCS) technique provides superior clinical outcomes, compared to conventional low-frequency SCS, reports a clinical trial.

A woman in Scotland can feel virtually no pain due to a mutation in a previously-unidentified gene, according to a research paper co-led by UCL.

Furthermore, scientists observed that progression of these conditions occurred 40 — 70% more frequently in women than men.

For migraine sufferers with obesity, losing weight can decrease headaches and improve quality of life, researchers from Italy and the United States report.

Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis often are affected by functional disability a year or two before the disease is diagnosed, according to new Mayo Clinic research.

In a Journal of the American Geriatrics Society study, many well-functioning and highly active older adults experienced back pain, which was linked with poorer perceived and observed walking endurance.

Dr. Sanford is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology who specializes in and treats cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.

The researchers attribute this downgrading of the pain of girls and/or upgrading of the pain of boys to culturally ingrained, and scientifically unproven, myths like “boys are more stoic” or “girls are more emotive.”

Ancient acupuncture and modern myofascial pain therapy each focus on hundreds of similar points on the body to treat pain, although they do it differently, says a physician at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville who analyzed the two techniques.

A new study by researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Health Science Center at Houston and Baylor College of Medicine has produced evidence of the source of chronic pain in humans.

For the first time, researchers have evidence that fibromyalgia can be reliably detected in blood samples – work they hope will pave the way for a simple, fast diagnosis.

In a European Journal of Neurology study of 2,197 patients who experience migraines, alcoholic beverages were reported as a trigger by 35.6 percent of participants.

A new study, published Feb. 20, 2019, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, tracked the impact of a program for low-income, at-risk patients with chronic pain at Tom Waddell Urban Health Clinic, in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood...

A breakthrough test developed by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers to measure pain in patients could help stem the tide of the opioid crisis in Indiana, and throughout the rest of the nation.

After one night of inadequate sleep, brain activity ramps up in pain-sensing regions while activity is scaled back in areas responsible for modulating how we perceive painful stimuli.

Slowly but surely, the stigma surrounding marijuana use is losing its grip in the U.S.

Back pain is among the most frequently reported health problems in the world.

Scientists increasingly believe that one of the driving forces in chronic pain — the number one health problem in both prevalence and burden — appears to be the memory of earlier pain.

A growing body of evidence supports the effectiveness of botulinum toxin injections in reducing the frequency of chronic migraine headaches, concludes an updated review and analysis in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®.

You may have been on a long journey for a concrete diagnosis. Perhaps your physician suggested that your symptoms could possibly be due to CRPS–Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.

New research shows that chronic sleep loss increases pain sensitivity.

“Parents intuitively stroke their babies at this optimal velocity,” says senior author Rebeccah Slater, professor of pediatric science at the University of Oxford, who worked alongside collaborators from Liverpool John Moores University.

A minimally invasive procedure in which pulses of energy from a probe are applied directly to nerve roots near the spine is safe and effective in people with acute lower back pain that has not responded to conservative treatment.

Expect a shot to hurt and it probably will, even if the needle poke isn’t really so painful. Brace for a second shot and you’ll likely flinch again, even though — second time around — you should know better.

Almost 60 per cent of truck drivers in a recent study reported experiencing musculoskeletal (MSD) pain and discomfort on the job, even though it may be preventable.

Scientists have found a correlation between a disease involving chronic pain and alterations in the gut microbiome.

Researchers at Boston Medical Center found that frequent, persistent back pain is associated with earlier death in a study of more than 8,000 older women who were followed for an average of 14 years.

People with treatment-resistant back pain may get significant and lasting relief with dorsal root ganglion (DRG) stimulation therapy, an innovative treatment that short-circuits pain, suggests a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2018 annual meeting.

In a report today in Nature, scientists led by Zhigang He, PhD, and Clifford Woolf, PhD, of the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children’s, demonstrate that neurons that originate in the brain’s cortex influence sensitivity to touch.

The patient, missing his right arm, can see himself on screen in augmented reality, with a virtual limb. He can control it through the electrodes attached to his skin, which allows the patient to stimulate and reactivate those dormant areas of the brain. C

Ever wonder why some people seem to feel less pain than others? A study conducted at Wake Forest School of Medicine may have found one of the answers — mindfulness.

With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine have been working to find a safe, non-addictive pain killer to help fight the current opioid crisis in this country.

A fight with a spouse may end in hurt feelings, but for those with chronic conditions like arthritis or diabetes, those arguments may have physical repercussions as well, according to researchers.

This month is full with exciting new projects. Sadly we have to say good bye to one of our providers but we won’t let this slow us down in our efforts of keep offering our patients with the latest technology and advances in pain management.

Research published today reveals a potential mechanism for migraine causation which could explain why women get more migraines than men.

The word inflammation comes from the Latin word inflammationem, which means “a setting on fire.” Certainly anyone who has experienced the feelings of heat, redness, swelling, pain and burning that makes the origin of this word an accurate description.

In a new study published in the journal Peer J this week, researchers at UniSA’s Body in Mind Research Group have found people suffering osteoarthritis in the knees reported reduced pain when exposed to visual illusions that altered the size of their knees

A new study of injured athletes carried out by the University of Kent found they can benefit from using mindfulness as part of the sport rehabilitation process to improve their pain tolerance and awareness.

Stopping long-term opioid treatment does not make chronic, non-cancer-related pain worse and, in some cases, makes it better, Washington State University researchers have found.

The nauseating, often debilitating, headaches affect 15-20 percent of adults in developed countries, yet they remain stubbornly hard to explain.

Fibromyalgia and resistance exercise have often been considered an impossible combination.

Patients with low-back pain are better off seeing a physical therapist first, according to a study of 150,000 insurance claims.

At Summit Pain Alliance we are proud to take part in the evolution of medical technology.

Experiencing trauma as a child may influence how much pain an individual feels in adulthood, according to Penn State researchers. Gaining insight about who feels more pain and why is important as issues like the opioid crisis continue to escalate.

A female brain’s resident immune cells are more active in regions involved in pain processing relative to males, according to a recent study by Georgia State University researchers.

Imagine that the movement of a single hair on your arm causes severe pain. For patients with neuropathic pain — a chronic illness affecting 20 million people in the United States, with no effective treatment — this can be a daily reality.

In a study of 588 patients who attended an outpatient headache clinic, more frequent migraines were experienced by participants with symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Summit Pain Alliance announces participation in a new study and is currently enrolling patients with low back pain for testing Thimble Bioelectronics.

Pain can be valuable. Without it, we might let our hand linger on a hot stove, for example. But longer-lasting pain, such as the inflammatory pain that can arise after injury, can be debilitating and costly, preventing us from completing important tasks.

Reach for the hand of a loved one in pain and not only will your breathing and heart rate synchronize with theirs, your brain wave patterns will couple up too, according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

On Friday, February 23rd, Summit Pain Alliance’s last patient enrolled for the Evoke Study with Saluda Medical was implanted at Sonoma Valley Hospital by Dr. Eric Lee. This implant closes the door to new enrollments since enrollment has now been reached.

In a Journal of the American Geriatrics Society study, many well-functioning and highly active older adults experienced back pain, which was linked with poorer perceived and observed walking endurance.

New research reports that hyperreactive brain networks could play a part in the hypersensitivity of fibromyalgia.

Tai Chi, a low-impact mind-body exercise, can be as effective as neck exercises in relieving persistent neck pain, according to results of randomized controlled trial.

Sonoma Magazine’s Top Doctor survey was submitted to Sonoma County doctors who were then asked which medical specialist they would most often recommend to a loved one, and more than 300 professionals emerged as top docs in 50 categories of medicine.

In a pioneering study, researchers used fMRI technology to show that a person’s ability to reinterpret negative events and to control feelings influences how strongly a placebo will work to reduce pain.

Many patients live with low back pain that radiates to the buttock, groin, thigh, and even knees. The challenge for patients, and often their doctors, is determining the origin of the pain — the hip, the spine, or both.

Yoga and physical therapy (PT) are effective approaches to treating co-occurring sleep disturbance and back pain while reducing the need for medication, according to a new study from Boston Medical Center (BMC).

In the U.S., about 13 percent of women and 10 percent of men aged 60 or older have knee pain due to osteoarthritis (OA).