Blog Articles About pain

New Ebook – 7 Facets: A Meditation on Pain

Pain is a funny thing. Not just to live with (in which case it’s not always very funny), but in terms of the myths and the silence surrounding it. Talking about pain is uncomfortable, especially for those who don’t have it. Pain is hard to understand. You can’t measure it, it’s difficult to describe and…

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A Problem & A New Vision for RA Pain Treatment

Updated August 30, 2020 “The type of pain associated with moderate-severe RA is comparable to bone cancer.” This is a quote from a HealthCentral article, now alas no longer on the site. The source of the quote was a rheumatologist treating the woman interviewed. And it has been reverberating in my mind since I first…

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Real RA: The Benefit of RA Hands

Sometimes, RA doesn’t just take. Sometimes, RA gives. When I still lived with my parents, I was in charge of pies. I’d found the perfect recipe for the crust and loved experimenting with different fillings. Our kitchen wasn’t very wheelchair accessible, so my mother would place the ingredients and tools on the dining room table…

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The graphic shows the torso of a white man in a white coat with crossed arms. The title of the post is Nothing More Than Feelings: How Doctors Minimize RA Reality. The post is about the concept of catastrophizing "When a patient feels it is okay to truly say how the disease impacts their life instead of feeling pressured to buck up and underreport their symptoms, the doctor is more likely to fully understand the patient’s reality." My take on the concept of catastrophizing in rheumatology.

Nothing More than Feelings: How Doctors Minimize RA Reality

Updated August 30, 2020 Catastrophizing is a popular concept in medicine, particularly when dealing with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic pain. You’ll find endless studies and articles on the concept, described as negative self statements, feelings or coping strategies. For instance, someone saying “this is the worst pain I’ve ever had” or “what if I can’t…

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Like Snow: 13 New Names for Different Types of Pain

Updated November 21, 2021 Most people have an only occasional experience with pain and as the language of a culture is shaped by the majority experience, our world lacks descriptors of pain beyond the basic – burning, stabbing and not much else. Those of us who live with chronic pain know that it is a multifaceted creature. Legend…

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