Could the answer to easing the tough-to-treat chronic pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia be found in edibles and other products containing CBD?

A new study from Michigan Medicine examined whether people using potentially addictive painkillers like opioids could get relief by replacing those narcotics with over-the-counter cannabidiol (CBD) treatments.

There's recent research "suggesti...

A new research review offers good news for migraine sufferers: There are more pain-relieving options than ever.

In an analysis of over 100 published studies, researchers found that several drug classes showed good evidence they ease the pain of a migraine-in-progress.

Some of those medications have only become available in the past few years, opening up new options for migraine suff...

Suffering through a case of COVID-19 unleashed a host of other health problems in hundreds of thousands of Americans participating in the largest study yet of the long-term effects of coronavirus infection.

Tracking the health insurance records of nearly 2 million people who caught the coronavirus last year, researchers found that one month or more after their infection, almost one-q...

Just a fraction of older Americans with arthritic knees try physical therapy, pain-relieving injections or other more conservative measures before undergoing knee replacement surgery, new research shows.

And this may be driven by what type of doctor they see to treat their achy knees, as well as where they live, the study findings suggest.

Knee osteoarthritis occurs when the cartila...

Many patients who are prescribed opioids after surgery could get the same level of pain relief with non-opioid alternatives such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen without the risk of addiction, researchers say.

"Opioids have been a routine part of postsurgical pain care for decades, but the risk that they could lead to persistent use has been clearly documented," said lead author Dr. Ryan How...

U.S. adults with cerebral palsy aren't getting adequate physical therapy, according to a new study.

While they're more likely than other adults in community-living situations to have debilitating pain from musculoskeletal disorders, those with cerebral palsy receive significantly less physical therapy, a Michigan Medicine-University of Michigan team found.

For the study, the researc...

As a means of providing long-term relief from chronic pain, flotation tanks simply don't hold water, new research reveals.

Nearly 100 people plagued by longstanding pain underwent "flotation restricted environmental stimulation therapy" (REST), and the results were disappointing, at least over the long term, German researchers found.

The treatment involves floating inside a soundpro...

People with spinal cord injuries can overwork their shoulders as they move about in a wheelchair, and that often leads to chronic shoulder pain.

However, a small study suggests that an injection of the patient's own fat cells can help ease the pain.

The injected cells cushion the joint and may repair it, the researchers explained. Most important, they said that the procedure - calle...

When young women land in the emergency room with chest pain, they wait longer and get less treatment than their male counterparts, a preliminary study finds.

Using a federal survey of U.S. hospitals, researchers found that younger women with chest pain were treated less urgently than men their age. That included a lower likelihood of receiving standard tests for diagnosing a heart attack....

That growling dog may actually be terrified of you.

Fear and age-related pain are among the reasons why dogs are aggressive toward people, a new study suggests.

The findings could help two-legged folks better understand and prevent aggressive behavior, such as growling, barking, snapping and biting, according to Finnish researchers.

"Dogs' fearfulness had a strong link to aggr...

Older women with low levels of vitamin D may have more pain after total knee replacement than those with adequate levels of the nutrient, a new study suggests.

Vitamin D is an important part of a healthy diet, and its benefits include protecting against bone disease and maintaining soft tissue health.

Estrogen deficiency, inactivity and a lack of sun exposure have been linked w...

Getting a prescription for an opioid painkiller from your dentist could put you or your family at risk for an overdose, a new study warns.

The finding is based on an analysis of data from 8.5 million Americans who had teeth pulled or 119 other types of dental work between 2011 and 2018. All had Medicaid or private dental insurance.

"Our paper shows that when patients fill dental opi...

CBD is all the rage, and millions of people are turning to it for a host of reasons, including pain relief.

But despite CBD's popularity and widespread use, new research finds it's actual benefits are less clear.

The bottom line? CBD -- and your expectations about whether it will help (the "placebo effect") -- can make pain feel less bothersome, but it doesn't appear to reduce pain ...

Herbal kratom is used by less than 1% of the U.S. population, but the rate is much higher among those who misuse opioid painkillers, a new study finds.

Kratom is used to manage pain and opioid withdrawal. However, it carries the risk of addiction and harmful side effects, which has led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration to identify kratom as a "d...

Neck pain? Poor posture can cause it, but may not be the only reason why, new research suggests.

Lifestyle is a key culprit -- particularly long periods of time spent hunched over handheld devices or working on computers. So a team at Texas A&M University set out to learn just how big a part personal factors play in neck pain.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments in whi...

As if the headaches and stuffy nose aren't bad enough, chronic sinus trouble often leaves patients foggy-headed and depressed. Now, new research suggests one possible reason why: Sinusitis may trigger changes in brain activity.

"Chronic sinusitis is incredibly common," said study lead author Dr. Aria Jafari. Upwards of 11% of all Americans are affected, added Jafari, an assistant profess...

An emerging technology could zap your post-op pain away -- little or no opioids needed.

The technique is called percutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation. It involves inserting a small wire next to a nerve and using a stimulator to deliver a mild electrical current to the affected area, interrupting pain transmission.

A team led by Dr. Brian Ilfeld, of the University of California, ...

In news that should reassure many pregnant women, having an epidural during childbirth won't increase the child's risk of autism, researchers report.

The new findings refute a widely criticized 2020 study that said epidurals were associated with a 37% higher risk of autism.

Experts said that study didn't account for numerous socioeconomic, genetic and medical risk factors for autism...

Dermatologists liken skin to a window that can reveal what is going on inside the body, and a rash that sometimes follows a COVID-19 vaccine is one example.

When you get the shot, your immune system activates, preparing to recognize and fight off the virus in the future. This response and the inflammation that goes with it can occasionally result in a rash. But experts say as long as it h...

In a discovery that shows carpal tunnel syndrome doesn't strike just office workers, researchers report that people who work in construction or manufacturing have a higher risk of carpal tunnel syndrome than those with desk jobs.

Why the higher rates of injury among manual laborers? Investigators found such work requires lifting, gripping and forceful wrist motion, all of which are associ...

Fast-paced walking is painful for the millions of people with peripheral artery disease (PAD). But new research shows that a slower, pain-free pace won't cut it if improvement in mobility is the goal.

The study included more than 300 of the roughly 8.5 million Americans with PAD. It's a condition in which plaque build-up in arteries slows the flow of blood to the legs.

"People ...

In January, the coronavirus swept through Brian and Maria Padla's family of seven in Philadelphia, starting with their oldest daughter, 16, and then infecting Brian, Maria, and their four younger children.

The virus seemingly came and went without much fanfare for the family. During their two-week-long quarantine, the kids spent a day or two with runny noses and low-grade fevers. Brian an...

There's no cure for endometriosis, but women have several treatment options for the painful condition, an expert says.

With endometriosis, tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus grows outside of it, where it can reach the fallopian tubes, ovaries, bowel, bladder, diaphragm and, more rarely, other parts of the body. It can reduce fertility.

Symptoms can include chronic p...

Using cellphones to track patients' painkiller use, a new study found more than 60% of opioid painkillers prescribed to surgical patients after their procedures went unused.

That has implications for the ongoing epidemic of opioid misuse in the United States, where unused medications can be diverted to others. Giving surgical patients only the amount of pills they need could help curb the...

For those who suffer painful arthritis in their aging knees, new research suggests a noninvasive treatment might deliver lasting relief.

Called genicular artery embolization, the roughly two-hour catheter treatment involves a once-and-done injection of tiny hydrogel particles into arterial pathways in the knee joint. The goal: To decrease overall blood flow in the joint, and thereby marke...

For many, it's like emerging suddenly from a long, dark tunnel.

Some people who've been laid low for months by so-called "long haul" symptoms after a coronavirus infection say that within days of getting their COVID-19 vaccine, those symptoms nearly disappeared.

Speaking withThe New York Times, Bridget Hayward, a 51-year-old operating room nurse in Alexandria, Va., said tha...

A new type of surgery offers amputees better control of muscles that remain after surgery, and of their prosthetic limbs, its inventors say.

The standard surgical approach to amputation has changed little since the American Civil War, according to developers of the new approach. In their small study, the new procedure also helped curb pain and sensations like the troubling "phantom limb" ...

Opioids and arthritic knees are a costly mix, new research claims.

"These data offer new evidence of the magnitude of the societal burden generated by opioid use and misuse, and could be used to educate health care providers and health policy decision makers on the best alternatives to opiate use," said lead investigator Elena Losina. She's a professor of orthopedic surgery at Brigham and...

People taking statin drugs often complain of muscle aches, but a new study finds the medications are unlikely to be the culprit.

The results come from a trial involving patients who had quit taking their statins, or were considering quitting, due to muscle pain.

The researchers found that those aches were just as likely to flare when the patients were given a placebo (inactive pills...

It's been nearly a year since David Speal, 38, first fell ill with COVID-19, but a racing heartbeat remains a regular reminder of his brush with the new coronavirus.

Even the littlest thing -- not eating at the right time, not drinking enough water, too much exercise, a stressful encounter -- can send Speal's heartbeat soaring as high as 150 beats per minute.

"My autonomic nervous s...

You finally managed to score an appointment to be vaccinated against the new coronavirus and you're a little nervous about side effects, so taking a painkiller right before you get your shot seems like a smart idea.

Not so fast, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, the agency is telling people not to take pain medications like Motrin, Advil or Tylenol before ...

Heart surgery can be stressful, but researchers may have found a way to reduce patients' anxiety and postoperative pain -- without any extra side effects.

A team from the Netherlands found that the simple act of listening to music around the time of surgery may help patients as they recover.

"This is a fascinating question for heart surgeons because we perform the most invasive proc...

Most folks are familiar with the havoc that high pollen levels can wreak on their lungs, but new research suggests they can also exacerbate a painful pelvic condition in some people.

"Our study provides evidence to suggest increased pollen counts may trigger symptom flares in people living with UCPPS [urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome]," said researcher Siobhan Sutcliffe, of Washingto...

Chronic lower back pain can make the most routine tasks difficult. But a new study suggests patients can learn new, practical and less painful ways to move through individualized "motor skills training," or MST.

A two-year study of nearly 150 patients found that MST appears to better relieve disability from lower back pain than a more common but less-tailored exercise regimen broadly focu...

Millions of Americans suffer from the pain of arthritic knees. But an innovative exercise regimen may help relieve discomfort and improve knee function, a new study finds.

The program is called STEP-KOA (short for stepped exercise program for patients with knee osteoarthritis). It starts with gentle exercises at home and, if needed, moves to phone consultation and in-person physical thera...

Chronic pain can be excruciating, debilitating and hard to describe.

Yet the best way to get the right treatment for the exact pain you're experiencing is to put those symptoms into words, so your doctor can pinpoint a diagnosis and help you find relief.

The Arthritis Foundation created a guide with suggestions for communicating your discomfort. Included are questions ranging from, ...

A mind-body practice that combines meditation and yoga might help people better manage migraine pain, a new clinical trial finds.

The trial, which tested the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), found that the approach helped relieve migraine sufferers' depression and disability. It also boosted how they rated their quality of life.

MBSR is a standardized, eight-wee...

Sickle cell disease increases the risk of death or serious complications from COVID-19 infection, a pair of new studies suggests.

People with sickle cell disease -- a genetic blood disorder predominantly found in Black people -- are 6.2 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than the general Black population of the United States, one study found.

"Sickle cell disease patients should...

Working from home may take its toll on mental and physical health, but making some tweaks to your workspace and your headspace may help maximize the potential benefits and minimize any downsides, a new survey suggests.

Nearly 65% of people who were working from home due to COVID-19 restrictions reported new physical woes including "tech neck" and lower back pain, and about 74% said they h...

Could a genuine smile be the key to getting a less-painful vaccination? Researchers from University of California, Irvine, say yes.

That genuine smile, which brings up the corners of the mouth and creates crow's feet around the eyes, can reduce the pain of a needle injection by up to 40%, and also blunt a stressful needle-related physiological response by lowering the heart rate, the rese...

Virtual reality glasses or hypnosis can relieve pain and anxiety in people having short medical procedures, a new study finds.

For those getting an IV catheter or stitches to close a wound, for example, these distraction techniques reduce the need for painkillers, say researchers in Belgium.

The study is by Dr. E. Kubra Okur Kavak and her colleagues from Brussels University Hospita...

A procedure that "stuns" pain-sensing nerves might offer relief to people with severe arthritis of the hip or shoulder, a small, preliminary study suggests.

The procedure is a form of radiofrequency ablation, where doctors use needles to send a low-grade electrical current to nerves that are transmitting pain signals from the arthritic joint to the brain. The current heats and damages the...

Among high school seniors, nearly a third of those who misuse prescription opioids use heroin by age 35, a new study shows.

"It is a very timely study given the number of adolescents and young adults who were overprescribed opioids and who are now aging into adulthood," said study author Sean Esteban McCabe, director of the Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking and Health at the...

A culture of toughness and resilience is encouraged among elite college rowers, but it can keep them from reporting injuries, a new study finds.

There's an overall myth among athletes that admitting pain is a sign of weakness and failure, the researchers said.

Irish and Australian rowers in this study felt compromised by lower back pain, which is common in the sport, the st...

Giving fewer needle sticks to premature newborns in the intensive care unit may improve growth of a key brain area, a new study suggests.

The thalamus relays sensory data from the body to the rest of the brain, where it registers as pain, touch or temperature.

For the study, researchers compared 86 premature infants who had a catheter placed in their central veins and cen...

Marijuana is fast becoming a favorite medication among older Americans, a new study finds.

Cannabis is being used to ease problems such as pain, sleep disturbances and psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression, researchers say.

Among more than 550 patients surveyed, 15% had used cannabis within the past three years, and 50% of users said they used it regul...

About 30 million U.S. adults live with osteoarthritis and the pain and stiffness it causes, a new survey finds.

And nearly one-third of these people said their symptoms are not well-managed, according to the Arthritis Foundation survey of almost 2,000 adults. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage cushioning the joints gradually wears down, leading to swelling, and limiting a person's abili...

CBD has been widely marketed as a cure-all for whatever ails you, and a new study finds many Americans are buying the sales pitch.

Researchers tracking a Reddit forum on CBD found many folks discussing use of cannabidiol to treat conditions for which there are proven, safe and effective medicines and therapies.

Forum participants said they were using CBD for mental and emotional...

Cutting back on booze may reduce chronic pain and use of other substances among U.S. veterans who are heavy drinkers, according to a new report.

The study included about 1,500 veterans who completed annual surveys between 2003 and 2015, and reported heavy drinking in at least one of those surveys.

"We found some evidence for improvement of pain interference symptoms and subs...

People using cannabis for pain may still be taking opioid painkillers, a new study suggests.

Researchers looked at cannabis and nonprescription opioid use among 211 individuals in the New York City area. Over 90 days, the investigators found that opioid use was at least as high when cannabis was used as when it wasn't, regardless of participants' pain levels.

"Our study is...