I seem to be experiencing typical runners’ knee pain at a very convenient time—in terms of blogging about it, at least. (Not so convenient is the fact that my first triathlon is next Sunday.) Maybe it’s just the season for outdoor running and overuse injuries, or maybe it’s all the headlines about pain relief lately, but everyone seems to be talking about what’s safe, what works, and what’s best.

Painkillers: Are they safe?
First a federal advisory committee recommended that the government lower the daily recommended dosage of acetaminophen, based on the idea that it is relatively easy to overdose on the drug, and that it’s been linked to liver damage. Acetaminophen is in Tylenol, of course, but it’s also in plenty of other multipurpose medications.

That information led runners and other athletes—many of us who pop pills often to combat achy joints and muscles—to wonder exactly what we should be taking; after all, acetaminophen is supposed to be safer and gentler on the stomach than other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories like aspirin. Luckily, my friends at That’s Fit (who have a great triathlon training series going on, by the way) tackled this tough question just when I needed answers.

They interviewed Robert Sallis, MD, the codirector of Sports Medicine Fellowship at Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center, who assured them that Tylenol is still likely the safest choice for most people, and that athletes who take less than 2,000 milligrams a day (about six regular-strength tablets) shouldn’t worry. Of course, persistent pain is likely a sign of tissue damage, he added, so it’s best to get checked out if you find you’re turning to pills on a regular basis.

Next page: Muscle relaxing gels, stretching, and strengthening

A bright-yellow spice has generated a big buzz in research labs all over the country. It’s turmeric (Curcuma longa), a tropical plant that’s related to ginger, and it’s one of the many curative spices native to Asia, India, and China.

Indian cooks use turmeric powder liberally in cooking—it’s what gives curries that mellow yellow color. And for thousands of years Chinese and Indian healers have used turmeric’s dried root to treat conditions including digestive woes, wounds, arthritis, skin conditions, and menstrual problems. Those healers were onto something, say modern researchers and physicians.

Brand new research validates ancient science

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Just last week, a press release from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign appeared in my inbox. A biochemistry professor there, Lin-Feng Chen, PhD, and his team discovered more about how a key protein, NF-kappa B, works: They actually deciphered the molecular code that controls its function.

NF-kappa B is known as the master regulator of the immune system, and when activated it triggers the process of inflammation (a process that’s implicated in many chronic conditions that deteriorate health). “NF-kappa B, the protein central to the inflammatory process, has to be tightly controlled, otherwise things could go crazy within the body,” says Chen in the press release.

Next page: Targeting arthritis, depression, Alzheimer’s, and more

Laser acupuncture is what you get when you marry ancient healing wisdom to state-of-the art medical technology. It’s a good union: Turns out, the product of this mixed marriage is an effective treatment for painful conditions including carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, arthritis of the knee, and children’s chronic headaches.

Acupuncture, which practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have employed for 2,500 years, give or take a few centuries, is performed with hair-thin needles along invisible pathways (meridians) that traverse the body. According to TCM philosophy, qi, or vital energy, flows along these meridians. Sometimes, for any number of reasons, qi flow can become disordered or blocked; acupuncture normalizes qi imbalances that TCM practitioners believe can lead to illness. Acupuncture is clinically proven to be so effective that it’s transitioned from alt med to mainstream and is covered by many insurance plans. It’s used for conditions as diverse as arthritis of the knee and infertility.

I read the other day that Martha Howard, MD, medical director of the Wellness Associates of Chicago (see Dr. Howard’s protocol for beating winter blues) uses laser acupuncture to successfully treat carpal tunnel syndrome, which prompted me to learn more about this new-old treatment. What I discovered intrigued me.

Healthxp.com

Laser acupuncture 101
Laser acupuncture, which until now I was admittedly not very up on, uses low-level red-beam wavelengths that penetrate the skin shallowly to a depth of just 0.8 to 1 mm—roughly the thickness of five sheets of paper. It’s been around for years: The Chinese began studying it in the early 1970s, and in this country, Margaret A. Naeser, PhD, LAc, a research professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, has been researching it since 1984. In 2002, she proved that laser acupuncture treatments were more effective than sham treatments for reducing carpal tunnel syndrome pain.

My wonky self finds it fascinating that it’s easier to conduct studies on laser acupuncture than it is on needle acupuncture. Here’s why: With needle acupuncture, researchers have to come up with some kind of placebo treatment against which they compare the real treatment. Problem is, even when you needle someone in the “wrong” place (i.e., places not on the correct meridian point for the condition you’re treating) you get real effects that can throw off the study results. A placebo treatment is supposed to be totally inert, which so-called sham acupuncture can never really be.

But with laser acupuncture, you simply blindfold the participant or use some other device so she can’t see what you’re doing. Then you use a real acupuncture laser or a fake one—the participant will feel nothing at all, not even the slight twinge of an acupuncture needle. So you have a truly inert treatment against which to measure the real treatment.

Next page: Gentle enough for kids; effective for pain relief

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Technological advances can be a (literal) pain in the neck, thumb, and back, says American Physical Therapy Association spokeswoman Patrice Winter, a Fairfax, Virginia–based physical therapist. Here, the most common modern mal­adies and how to get relief. View the slideshow.

Here are the correct answers.

1. Before you start a new exercise routine to reduce your joint pain, you should:
a. Join a gym
b. Find a workout partner
c. Talk to your doctor
d. Buy new sneakers

Answer: c. Talk to your doctor.
It is wise for anyone to talk to a doctor before starting an exercise regime, but it’s especially important if your joints are injured by arthritis and your fitness level is low from taking it easy to stay out of pain. Ask about exercise time and weight limits, motivational support, and appropriate after-exercise pain treatment.

2. The goal of exercising to help your arthritis should be to improve your:
a. Flexibility
b. Strength
c. Cardiovascular health
d. All of the above

Answer: d. All of the above.
Exercise will help improve your joints’ range of motion, strengthen the muscles around the joints (which protects them and improves function), increase your aerobic fitness, and help you lose weight (which reduces the stress on your joints).

3. One of the best ways to stick to your exercise goals is to:
a. Join a group
b. Exercise at the same time every day
c. Work out in the morning
d. Join a gym

Answer: a. Join a group.
Group participation is an important motivator for people who want to begin exercising, losing weight, and changing their habits. Arthritis, like any chronic pain condition, can be an isolating disease, so finding support will not only help you achieve your fitness goals, but it will also help you tackle this disease. Ask arthritis clinics, community centers, physical therapy clinics, and gyms to recommend group programs.

4. True or False: Yoga is often a good exercise for people with arthritis.
a. True
b. False

Answer: a. True.
Although yoga often conjures images of difficult postures requiring expert execution, beginning-level yoga classes emphasize stretching, whole-body well-being, and group practice—which can all be relevant to some arthritis sufferers. Few studies have been done, but the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center recommends yoga to its patients.

5. Which of the following sports was found in recent research to benefit some people with arthritis?
a. Boxing
b. Tennis
c. Swimming
d. Jai alai

Answer: c. Swimming.
A small 2007 Australian study found “significant” benefits from swimming because it is low-impact and supports the body. Check with your local community center, YMCA, or a nearby pool for arthritis-focused facilities and sessions.

6. Before exercising, people with arthritis should:
a. Apply ice packs to joints
b. Apply gentle heat to joints

Answer: b. Apply gentle heat to joints.
The Mayo Clinic’s arthritis center advises a 20-minute joint-warming routine before you begin—warm towels, hot packs, etc. This, says the center, may be followed by a post-exercise ice-pack cooldown. Go easy: Neither the heat nor the cold should be painful.

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Many well-designed studies agree that for mild to moderate depression, St. John’s wort works, but does it stand up against prescription drugs like Prozac and Zoloft? Some studies say it does. A 2005 Cochrane study found that it is equally effective as some tricyclical antidepressants—and with fewer side effects. In the drug group, 23% reported agitation, upset stomach, dizziness, fatigue, anxiety, and sex problems. Among those taking St. John’s wort, only 8% described side effects, most often an upset stomach. Similar results have been found in a study comparing the herb with the drug Zoloft. But recent research from the National Institute of Mental Health warns that St. John’s wort isn’t much help when it comes to major depression, and it is not a proven therapy for depression in general. See your doctor if you suspect you are suffering from the disease.

Dosage: In most studies showing benefits, people were given 900 milligrams of the herb a day.

Caveats: St. John’s wort interacts with many medications, including birth control pills, possibly reducing their effectiveness, so talk to your physician or pharmacist before mixing meds with this or any other herb. Also, as with other life-threatening illnesses, don’t self-medicate depression; talk to your doctor first.

In the past year, some of the biggest headlines in pain management have been about fibromyalgia (chronic bodywide pain in joints, muscles, and tendons) and CFS, two conditions that strike women at as much as six times the rate of men. After years of failing to take these conditions seriously, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups have recently mounted aggressive public-information campaigns alerting women to the prevalence of these conditions and the importance of accurate diagnosis and treatment. Experts have also made dramatic gains in finding treatments that work by focusing on the sleep problems and physical weakness that seem to fuel these diseases.

Marly Silverman of Pompano Beach, Florida, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and CFS more than 10 years ago. “It felt like acid chemicals going through my veins,” she says, describing the excruciating pain that forced her to quit her job as vice president of a bank after fruitlessly seeking treatment from a variety of specialists. Today, Silverman manages her pain with a plethora of remedies, including painkillers, anti­spasmodics (muscle relaxants), and lidocaine patches for localized pain. To speed research into these complex and mysterious illnesses, Silverman founded PANDORA, a patient advocacy and research organization that cosponsors a national conference on the latest research into these and related neuroendocrine immune conditions.

In studying other immune-triggered conditions such as Crohn’s Disease—which also affects women at two to six times the rate of men—experts have made a similar breakthrough. Instead of treating digestive symptoms such as gas, diarrhea, and constipation (common in Crohn’s and IBS), experts realized the culprit might be an underlying food sensitivity, most likely to wheat gluten, milk protein, or one of several other common allergens. What happens, integrative pain specialist Deborah Metzger says, is that an overreactive immune system protests against the irritating foods, causing systemic inflammation throughout the body. She says that in recent years she’s had great success by putting patients on the Sugar Busters diet, which eliminates sugar, white flour, and other suspect foods. Metzger’s advice: Find a doctor who will analyze all aspects of your lifestyle rather than just medicate pain symptoms.

 
By Melanie Haiken

You’ve got achy shoulders from carrying the kids, the groceries, or your incredibly heavy handbag. You look for the right pill to pop, but what should you take? Aspirin? Ibuprofen? Or, you’re about to get your period. You know you’ll get killer cramps or that nasty headache any minute now, but nothing you take seems to help once the pain hits.

You’re not alone: Many women have a tough time finding the right kind of relief for their pain—and for good reason: Until recently, experts hadn’t actually studied women’s pain specifically, and most research wasn’t conducted with a woman’s hormones and physique in mind. All that’s changing, though. Docs now know that to banish our aches, they must develop treatments formulated for women’s bodies. What’s more, researchers are also looking for—and finding—ways to head pain off at the pass, so those of us with chronic troubles like migraine, fibromyalgia, or backache don’t have to be hobbled by pain on a daily basis. Here, how the new research will help you live an (almost) pain-free life.

 
By Melanie Haiken