Articles: pain-clinics.
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The aim of the study was to assess short-term changes in shoulder muscle activity elicited by dry needling in chronic unilateral shoulder pain (USP) patients. ⋯ A single application of real dry needling resulted in clinically significant changes in the short term. No differences were detected in muscle activation in the infraspinatus or deltoid muscles. Complementary interventions and longer follow-up times may be required to observe changes in muscle activity.
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Chronic pelvic pain (CPP), despite its high prevalence, is still relatively poorly understood mechanistically. This study, as part of the Translational Research in Pelvic Pain (TRiPP) project, has used a full quantitative sensory testing (QST) paradigm to profile n = 85 women with and without CPP (endometriosis or bladder pain specifically). We used the foot as a control site and abdomen as the test site. ⋯ The data suggest that participants with CPP are sensitive to both deep tissue and cutaneous inputs, suggesting that central mechanisms may be important in this cohort. We also see phenotypes such as thermal hyperalgesia, which may be the result of peripheral mechanisms, such as irritable nociceptors. This highlights the importance of stratifying patients into clinically meaningful phenotypes, which may have implications for the development of better therapeutic strategies for CPP.
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A critical aspect for most human pain research is the ability of participants to communicate their first-person, experiential perspective to a third-person observer. This communication is frequently accomplished via pain ratings. The scale type can influence the communication of pain experiences and can contribute to gender differences in pain. This study examined the role of gender on pain ratings using noxious and innocuous stimuli across two types of rating scales. ⋯ There are differences in the usage of rating scales in which ratings for auditory, visual and noxious somatosensory stimuli are higher with NRS compared to VAS. Choosing a rating scale for research or clinical use should take this different item functioning into account.
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This article summarizes the many initiatives and achievements of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) in pain education worldwide since 1973. These range from major events such as the World Congress on Pain that attracts thousands of attendees to the more intimate and focused Pain Schools and Pain Camps. ⋯ The unique contribution of IASP to the study of pain is reflected in its consistent focus on a biopsychosocial approach to pain, the promotion of interactions between basic scientists and clinicians, as well as multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaborations. Details of these rich offerings can be found on the IASP web site, and this article provides a guide for those seeking to access them.