6 Sites for Checking Out Your Hospital
Are you scheduled for back surgery or considering it? In addition to a thorough check of your surgeon, you should probably check out your hospital too. While the surgeon is arguably the key factor in the procedure itself, the hospital staff, environment, and guidelines can impact things like choice of medication and use of antibiotics – choices that can cause variances among different hospitals, such as post-op infection rates for back surgery patients.
Back Pain and Holiday Blues: 18 Tips to Reduce Your Holiday Stress
Ah yes, the holidays are upon us once again, and with them the holiday blues. Not everyone is in festive spirits, especially those of us with chronic pain. Often, chronic back pain leads to depression, and alternately depression can worsen physical pain. The added anxiety and stress of all the holiday planning and expectations can intensify feelings of sadness.
Consumer Reports for Pain Medications?
Sure. Savvy consumers often look to the expertise of Consumer Reports before buying a car, a washing machine, or a video camera. But what about for pain medications?
Well, Consumer Reports is also in the medication rating business and has issued another report in their free medication series that covers drugs for Nerve Pain and Fibromyalgia.
Cyber Hugs: How Online Support Groups Help with Chronic Pain
If you're dealing with chronic pain, you probably already know what a devastatingly lonely experience it can be. Even with the most supportive family and friends, you still feel alone, because they don't know – they can't know – what it's like to endure chronic pain each and every day of your life.
For Health Information, Enter Wikipedia at Your Own Risk
Thanks to KevinMD for highlighting a hilarious post by anesthesiology resident Michelle Au about residents using (aka misusing) Wikipedia to look up health information.
For Physicians: Paging Dr. Google
As you may know, Google is the preferred search engine for finding online health information among both health professionals and consumers. At least in the U.S., Google has become the de facto search engine for most search activity.
But how accurate (and helpful) is the information contained in Google’s health search results? A recent study decided to put Google to the test.
Google Health Weighs In on Online Patient Information
One of the clearest, most understandable posts I've seen yet about the challenges of managing your health - especially if you have a chronic or serious condition - posted by Roni Zeiger, M.D., of the Google Health Team . IMO Dr. Zeiger hit the nail squarely on the head with this simple statement:
Incredibly Effective Ways to Check Out Your Surgeon
When it comes to selecting a surgeon, I'll take skill over personality anytime. But the $64,000 question is, how do you assess a surgeon's skill? When you buy a new TV or vacuum cleaner, you can rely on Consumer Reports and talk to friends who have the same model. But there's no "Consumer Reports" for doctors, and it's infinitely harder to find someone you know and trust who has had the same surgery for the same condition.
Pain is Inevitable. Suffering is Optional.
That sentiment, from The Dalai Lama, sums up the gist of a lot of our message board posts. Contrary to what many people think (at least from what surgeons tell me), message boards aren’t just for people hopped up on pain meds or whining. At least on our board, positive thinking is rampant – exactly the kind of support that helps people with back pain deal better and heal better…
