Deaths from prescription painkillers and opioids in the United States have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Stanford pain psychologist Beth Darnall, PhD, has seen …
Category: Pain
Stanford’s free Back Pain Education Day returns
Pain is the pits and, in the U.S., one of the most common forms of disabling discomfort is back pain. To address this widespread problem, Stanford …
“Like the surprise of being stabbed”: Ranking the pain of insect stings
If you want to put your pain in perspective, take time to read any of the 78 descriptions of pain compiled by Justin O. Schmidt, PhD, …
Computer-based program helps physicians monitor and treat chronic pain more effectively
Few things hit the pause button on life quite like pain and, of all the types, chronic pain is perhaps the most disruptive and frustrating. …
Headache 101: On migraines, pain medicine and when to visit a doctor
I'm a stomachache gal; when something is troubling me, my tummy lets me know. So I've always felt a mixture of curiosity and puzzled empathy …
Pain: When the professional becomes personal
For 10 long months, Philip Pizzo, MD, suffered from incapacitating nerve pain. Even worse, top medical experts were stumped. He describes his ordeal in a …
Stanford expert on back pain: “The important thing for people to know is that it’s treatable”
September is Pain Awareness Month and later this month, Stanford will host a Free Back Pain Education Day. The event, sponsored by the Division of …
More benefit than bite: Potential therapies from “pest” animals
A painful spider bite can make you question why such creatures exist. Yet just because "pests" like spiders, scorpions, and snakes lack the appeal that …
Comfort care: “We always have something to give”
SMS (“Stanford Medical School”) Unplugged is a forum for students to chronicle their experiences in medical school. The student-penned entries appear on Scope once a …
Advances in diagnosing and treating a painful and common jaw disorder
On New Years Eve, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea shared with her Twitter followers that she was diagnosed with a temporomandibular joint dysfunction (often referred to …
Graduate student explains pain research in two-minute video
Earlier this year I wrote about some fascinating research from the lab of chemist Justin Du Bois, PhD, who has been working with naturally occurring toxins …
Miniature wireless device aids pain studies
Here’s one thing I didn’t know: For every person who goes to the doctor to be treated for chronic pain, less than a half get …
New painkiller could tackle pain, without risk of addiction
Stanford researchers uncover painkiller and pain pathway of particular interest to millions of Asians with alcohol-metabolizing enzyme mutation.
Stanford researchers uncover painkiller and pain pathway of particular interest to millions of Asians with alcohol-metabolizing enzyme mutation.
More attention, funding needed for headache care
In case you missed it, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story over the weekend on migraines - and researchers' ongoing search for a cause …
Study shows women prefer less-intense pain at the cost of a prolonged labor
As a friend's due date approached, she confided in me that the thought of going into labor was terrifying. It was her first pregnancy and …
Finding relief from lower back pain
If you thought a pain in the neck was inconvenient, try on chronic lower back pain for size. (Just kidding – both sound uncomfortable.) In a …