Archive for the ‘Back Pain Plano’ Category
The 5 things you should know about chronic pain from BecomePainFree.com
Only sufferers of chronic pain know the implications of pain in every aspect of life. Family members and friends of someone with chronic pain may sympathize to some extent, but it’s difficult to truly understand how chronic pain affects someone. If you have a friend or family member suffering from chronic pain — whether caused by an accident or injury, or another health condition such asfibromyalgia — use these tips to understanding chronic pain to help you be most supportive to your loved one.
1.Don’t pass chronic pain off as “all in your head.” People who suffer from chronic pain are rarely fabricating or exaggerating their symptoms. Conditions causing chronic pain can make an individual truly miserable. Many cases of chronic pain are difficult to diagnose, and thus management and treatment is far more challenging than in cases of acute pain, where the source of pain is easily diagnosed.
2.Chronic pain is different from acute pain. Acute pain lasts for a brief period of time, perhaps following an injury or accident. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is persistent and can even be permanent. We have all felt acute pain at some point in time, but only those with chronic pain know what it is to be in pain constantly.
3.Chronic pain may be caused by or the cause of other health conditions. Difficulty sleeping and depression are two conditions that often plague sufferers of chronic pain. Chronic pain can create a vicious cycle for the sufferer, for example: chronic pain leads to sleep disturbances, whereas lack of sleep can exacerbate chronic pain. The same is true of depression; it can be caused by or the cause of some chronic pain symptoms.
4.Every person’s pain is different. We all experience and express pain differently. Some people may be more tolerant of pain in specific parts of the body, while other people may express discomfort with pain in the same area or caused by the same condition.
5.Chronic pain is emotionally exhausting. Imagine that you are in pain or don’t feel good for months or years on end, with no relief. Constant pain wears on the emotions and can lead to depression and anger. Treatment for chronic pain often means treating each symptom and effect of that pain, including mental health issues such as depression.
Chronic pain is a lonely condition. If someone you know or love is suffering from chronic pain, don’t try to compare their pain to your own experiences, or assume their pain is all made up. Rather, offer your care and support. Be willing to listen when they need to talk and supportive throughout treatment programs.
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Painkiller abuse and addiction
Prescription drug abuse is the use of a medication without a prescription, in a way other than as prescribed, or for the experience or feelings elicited. (www.drugabuse.gov) Many patients are hesitant to take opioid medications and many healthcare providers are hesitant to prescribe them, for fear of the patient becoming addicted. In order to reduce the risk of a patient becoming addicted to painkillers, doctors should screen patients for risk factors of addiction, including family history of drug abuse, abuse, neglect, past trauma or mental illness. Physicians should also monitor patients for signs of painkiller abuse and addiction.
Signs of painkiller abuse or addiction include:
- Frequent requests for refills
- Neglecting responsibilities and/or abandoning hobbies
- Drug use causing problems in relationship
- Built up tolerance to medication
- Taking medication to avoid or relieve withdrawal symptoms
- Loss of control over medication use
- Bloodshot eyes, pupils larger or smaller than usual
- Changes in appetite or sleep patterns
- Sudden weight loss or weight gain
- Mood swings, irritability, lethargy
Preventing prescription painkiller abuse
If your doctor has prescribed painkillers to treat your chronic pain, take steps to ensure you are using the medication appropriately. Always follow the directions for use on the label of the medication, be aware of potential interactions with other drugs you may be taking, and never stop taking or change the dosage of a prescription painkiller without the direction of your physician.
Before you begin taking any medications, inform your doctor of any prescription, over-the-counter medicines, or dietary and herbal supplements you are currently taking.
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Adult Stem Cell Therapy to Treat Back Pain, Stem Cell, Spine Stem Cells, Stem Cell Treatment
Adult Stem Cell Therapy that doesn’t require FDA approval to treat lumbar and cervical spine conditions resulting from injury or aging, and is also involved with an FDA clinical trial investigating the use of Adult Stem Cells.
These stem cells are autologous – they are taken from an adult patient and returned to that same patient in a concentrated form to the damaged area in a 30-minute procedure. This type of adult stem cell therapy does not require FDA approval to administer.
When it comes to stem cells, there is often a lot of mystique surrounding them. We hear from the media that we can create a human being out of a bundle of cells, which is not necessarily true. We also tend to look at embryonic stem cells as being the only type of stem cell. With these types of embryonic stem cells, one idea is to be able to create a liver or kidney in a Petri dish, which is not controllable or feasible at this point, and the work being done by the BecomePainFree.com medical group.
When we look at stem cell types, we have embryonic stem cells on one hand and adult stem cells on the other. The characteristics of each of these are not like other cells. For instance, a liver cell can divide but it will only ever be a liver cell. These stem cells, both embryonic and adult, can turn into different types of cells. The embryonic stem cells can really turn into any cell type, but adult stem cells are limited as far as the cells they can turn into. This depends upon environment or niche and what they are already programmed to become. A lot of people think there is a lot of promise with embryonic stem cells and there is, although we are not quite there yet.
We are still at the forefront of stem cell technology and embryonic stem cells in particular. With those cells, we do not have the ability to control what types of tissue they turn into. For example, we could be trying to manipulate these cells to turn into kidneys, but they might start to develop as pancreatic cells, which is troublesome. Another key with all stem cells is that they can proliferate quite a bit, usually at a higher rate than just a regular somatic cell. Although this sounds good at first glance, the issue with this, particularly with embryonic stem cells, is we cannot control that division. Hence, these cells can keep going and going without dying. In the normal bodily process, cells are programmed to die after a certain time, but these embryonic stem cells can evade that action and continue dividing, which takes on the characteristic of cancer cells. In some animal studies, an issue that keeps arising is development of tumors in some of these animals. It is difficult to predict if tumors are going to form when using some sort of embryonic stem cell treatment. This is still a scary area through which we are still trying to navigate.
However, the focus of the BecomePainFree.com medical group is on adult mesenchymal stem cells. On the whole, the media does not give a lot of attention to these kinds of stem cells, as using them avoids any kind of ethical or controversial issues. There is a great amount of research being done on adult mesenchymal stem cells, however, because they are very powerful.
First off, we can control what cell type they turn into much more easily. For example, the treatment used by the BecomePainFree.com medical group focuses on Mesenchymal precursor cells (MPC). Mesenchymal means these cells are not going to turn into any kind of blood product such as a red blood cell or white blood cell, although they are derived from bone marrow. The fact that they are precursor cells means these MPCs are only going to differentiate into one of a few cell types. They are either going to become bone cells, i.e., osteoblasts, or chondrocytes, i.e., cartilaginous tissue such that we see in intervertebral discs and joints, etc. All of that really depends on the environment in which we place these adult stem cells where it is well suited to do this. For example, we can inject these MPCs into a bone fracture, and because the cells are surrounded by bone tissue, these cells will receive signals from the surrounding cells that tell them to turn into bone. However, the cells we use will be injected into a disc or joint, and the cells composing the disc and joint tissue will signal the stem cells to develop into similar tissue. Again, there is no chance of any sort of pancreatic cell or nerve cell type spontaneously forming because we are using certain adult stem cell types, which are limited and cannot turn into anything like that. In addition, as the tissue surrounding the disc and joint is relatively avascular, there is not really any worry of these cells migrating through the blood stream to somewhere else in the body and causing any sort of problem. As far as the proliferation issue with embryonic stem cells, we have not seen this issue with adult stem cells in terms of dividing exponentially without ceasing. There is almost a preset limit to how many times these adult stem cells will divide.
Become Pain Free | Pain Specialist in Texas
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Adult Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cell Spine Surgery, Stem Cell Injections, Stem Cell Injection
Contrary to what most people believe, there are two types of stem cells used in the advancement of modern medicine. At Minimally Invasive BecomePainFree.com, we are helping pave the way for the advancement of medicine using the most viable, and ethical method of stem cell healing called Adult Stem Cell Therapy. In living organisms, an adult stem cell is an undifferentiated cell that can produce other cells that eventually make up specialized tissues and organs that they inhabit. Adult stem cells are found in some tissues in the adult body, such as the epidermis of the skin, the lining of the small intestine, and the bone marrow, where they act as natural healers in the regeneration of old or worn tissue.
Adult Stem Cell Therapy
Adult stem cells move throughout our bodies and have vast potential and limitless capabilities. Although recent advancements in modern medicine have made adult stem cell therapy more widely known, it has been used to successfully treat cancer patients for over 40 years. At Minimally Invasive BecomePainFree.com, we strive to be on the forefront of the advancement of medicine for the sake of our patients. We fully understand the importance of the discovery, and practice, of unlocking the body’s secrets to heal itself, and using the adult stem cell treatment approach allows us to do so.
In this process, called adult (mesenchymal, multipotent) stem cell therapy, we use the patients’ own stem cells to allow for the healing and regenerating process for both minimally invasive surgical and non-invasive procedures for treating the injured, damaged, or painful areas due to aging or degeneration in the spine, knees, hips, shoulders, feet and ankles. Once injected, they function as the building blocks for tissue re-growth and increased blood flow to the ailing areas. The goal of the treatment is to replace damaged cells and to promote the growth of new blood vessels and tissues in order to help the target organ function at a largely improved capacity. The risk of rejection by the patient’s body is virtually non-existent, since the Adult Stem Cells received are directly from the patient. We use a highly advanced method of extracting the adult stem cells from the patient, and recycling them in their own bodies without manipulation during the procedure. This process makes our stem cell treatment safe, ethical, and effective in fulfilling positive medical outcomes. It is important to note that adult stem cell therapy is not controversial because it involves the use of a patient’s own blood and NOT derived from embryos.
General Advantages of Adult Stem Cell Therapy:
- Natural and Ethical: Regenerative solutions replace damaged cells and tissue by making the most of the body’s natural regenerative potential, not just implant a temporary or artificial fix, and does so using the patient’s own stem cells, not taken from an embryo.
- Safe and Effective: Because the Adult Stem Cells are derived directly from the patient’s own blood, there is virtually no possibility for rejection, as compared to donor replacement organs and blood transfusions.
- Positive Side Effects: Stem cells also behave like beacons that alert the body to send its own regenerative resources to the site and reactivate the healing process in situations where the body would not have done so voluntarily.
- Proven Results: Clinical results thus far have proven positive. Remarkably, no patient has responded negatively to the cells and the small percentage of patients who did not respond to treatment showed no negative side effects.
- Another Chance at Life: With no side effects, when conventional methods fail, the risk is considered low, compared to possibilities.
- The Sooner, the Better: Treatment now, is better than treatment later. Just as with other medical treatments, time can make symptoms and complications more advanced and even harder to recover from.
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Texas Spine Consultants, Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon, Spine Fellowship Trained, Dr. Huntly Chapman M.D.
Dr. Huntly Chapman M.D.
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Dr. Chapman is an expert in handling worker’s compensation cases, a certified life care planner and is frequently sought out for his expertise in orthopedic surgery.
Dr. Chapman is an avid golfer and loves to fish.