REMEDY
Welcome to Remedy, a blog by U.S. Pain Foundation. Remedy features information about promising treatments, tips and strategies for self-management, unique perspectives from patients, clinicians, and caregivers–and much more. To submit an article idea, email us.
Please note: U.S. Pain Foundation does not endorse any specific treatment options; blog posts are educational only. Views expressed by authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the organization.
Life after vaccination
By: Ellen Lenox Smith As my husband and I get closer to receiving our second of our two-dose COVID-19 vaccination, we are beginning to accept that we might just have been the lucky ones to return to living a “new” normal. Over 500,000 have lost their lives, but I can’t help but feel grateful along...
Let’s reconsider how we evaluate nontraditional therapies
By: Malcolm Herman The National Institutes of Health is comprised of 27 institutes, all of which deal with specific disease conditions and general health. There is no institute for chronic pain. One of the institutes is the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). NCCIH...
Service dog separations
By: Ellen Lenox Smith We were recently enjoying watching the new show “Transplant” when in one scene, my heart sank and tears began to flow. They showed a scene in the hospital with a young man and his parents getting the news that he was nearing the end of his life due to cystic fibrosis. And if...
Support groups and feeling understood
Support group leader Mary Beth Lewis shares how chronic pain support groups helped her find a supporting community.
The athlete
By: Sheila Borgman The rollerblades were not to blame. It’s true they played a key role in my injury, but it was hardly their fault. They’d been buried in our garage for nearly three decades. In October of 2018, I was on vacation in Borrego Springs, California, where my husband, John, and I had...
10 best apps for people with chronic pain
Take a look at these apps that can help you live better with chronic pain.
Six emotions that drive chronic pain
By: Cindy Dawson Pain is meant to protect us by alerting us to make necessary adjustments to alleviate or tend to a problem within our bodies. But sometimes chronic pain goes into overdrive, escalating to an unbearable eight or nine, even when there is not a specific, physical catalyst. Looking...
Have you been judged, too? Can we forgive?
By: Ellen Lenox Smith So many coping with an invisible chronic condition not only have to face how to adjust to pain and disability but also how to cope with the judgmental comments we experience. “Gee, you look fine; Go take a walk; Stop stressing; What a whiner;” etc. I have not met a person...
The caregiving conundrum: Who is a caregiver?
By: Malcolm Herman One day I’ll write the definitive best-selling book about caregiving (yes, another one!) full of helpful tips, like take care of yourself, accept offers of help, eat your veggies, and so forth. But after thinking about the subject one way or another for 25 years, I have come to...
Jumping through hoops: Expectation vs. reality
By: Angelica Heidi Brehm When I was a child, I was often told, “Life isn’t fair!” I think the intent of the comment was to provide me some comfort while dealing with life’s hardships or to connect me with the rest of humanity, who were also experiencing difficulties. The result, however, was a...
My IC journey: Finding hope in community
By: Nina Torres In 2016, I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (IC), also known as bladder pain syndrome. I was diagnosed at 24 years old; however, I have felt this pain since childhood. Interstitial cystitis is a chronic bladder illness that affects 3-6% of women in the United States. It...
A pharmacist answers your OTC questions
In October, U.S. Pain hosted a webinar, “Pain relief in your pharmacy aisle: A pharmacist discusses OTC options,” with Jeffrey Fudin, PharmD. The discussion covered different classes of over-the-counter (OTC) medications, what may work best for certain types of pain, the pros and cons of various...