The Clinical journal of pain
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The underlying mechanism of trichodynia (scalp/hair pain, is unknown). The aim of this study was to characterize chronic trichodynia and to conduct, for the first time, sensory testing in patients with trichodynia to learn about possible underlying mechanisms. ⋯ The cranial hyperalgesia and allodynia, the generalized hyperalgesia, and the correlation between hyperalgesia and chronic pain suggest that trichodynia is related with both peripheral and central sensitization, respectively. The coexistence of hair cycle abnormalities and chronic pain might suggest a common denominator for both phenomena, possibly mediated by proinflammatory agents. Clinical implications are discussed.
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Review Meta Analysis
A systematic review and meta-analysis of yoga for low back pain.
To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of yoga for low back pain. ⋯ This systematic review found strong evidence for short-term effectiveness and moderate evidence for long-term effectiveness of yoga for chronic low back pain in the most important patient-centered outcomes. Yoga can be recommended as an additional therapy to chronic low back pain patients.
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This study examined the effects of exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) on the physiological and perceptual responses to 30 minutes of submaximal cycling at 60% of oxygen consumption (VO2 peak). ⋯ These findings indicate the elevations in RPE after EIMD are likely a consequence of the EIMD with the most likely explanation being an increase in localized pain before and during cycling exercise.
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Changes in activity frequently occur as a consequence of ongoing pain. Three activity patterns commonly observed among individuals with ongoing pain are avoidance, overdoing, and pacing. We conducted 2 studies investigating these activity patterns, their interrelationships, and their associations with key psychosocial factors. Study 1 describes the development of a measure, the Patterns of Activity-Pain (POAM-P), to assess these activity patterns; Study 2 examines the psychosocial correlates of these activity patterns. ⋯ The POAM-P has excellent psychometric properties and may be useful in clinical practice to identify activity patterns associated with poorer functioning and to evaluate interventions intended to modify these activity patterns. The present results support previous findings linking avoidance and various negative outcomes. These results also provide evidence that pacing may be related to positive outcomes after treatment.
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Multicenter Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Establishing an optimal "cutoff" threshold for diagnostic lumbar facet blocks: a prospective correlational study.
Diagnostic medial branch blocks (MBB) are considered the reference standard for diagnosing facetogenic pain and selecting patients for radiofrequency (RF) denervation. Great controversy exists regarding the ideal cutoff for designating a block as positive. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal pain relief threshold for selecting patients for RF denervation after diagnostic MBB. ⋯ Employing more stringent selection criteria for lumbar facet RF is likely to result in withholding a beneficial procedure from a substantial number of patients, without improving success rates.