Archive for October, 2008

Sleep yourself better

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

Then, when it seems as though only an hour or so has passed, you’re awake again. Sleep is essential in this. If you’re walking around feeling like one of the living dead, you’ll feel less positive. That means taking drugs on top of the painkillers to help you sleep properly. Get proper medical advice. Some drugs interact when you mix them. Ultram is no exception to this rule. So ask your doctor before adding a sleeping aid.

Although the first thought when the pain starts is to take Ultram, an equally urgent problem is the need to get a good night’s sleep. When you have a fairly constant level of pain, sleep is the first thing to suffer. Sleep does not come until you are too exhausted to care any more.

Effective pain management is really the management of your feelings about the pain. To make the best recovery, you have to remain as positive as possible no matter what the world throws at you. There will be a short-term role for sleeping pills to restore your strength of purpose. Now, with Tramadol to help you through the first steps, it’s back to the drawing board to relearn how to move around with the least pain.

Doctors struggle to cope

Monday, October 13th, 2008

It’s a sad fact of life that not enough doctors are coming through their training and entering general practice. Those practitioners who remain find time in short supply. When one patient walks through the door for a consultation, tens more wait outside. The result is towns and cities find themselves without primary healthcare, an accelerating problem as older doctors retire. This makes pain controversial. How much time does it take to distinguish between the genuine patients who need drugs like tramadol to get a better quality of life, and the drug abusers who want to get high or the dealers looking for product to sell on the streets. There is an alarming rate of prescription medication abuse in the U.S. and the physicians don’t have the time to make a proper diagnosis. That means a quick prescription of tramadol instead of a more holistic approach. In a perfect world, the physician would look at the patient as a person losing mobility, under threat at work because the lifting and carrying is too difficult, friendships and marriage under pressure because this is all too stressful to manage. As it is, there is a single irony. The few doctors struggle to cope because so many people are in pain and need help.

Massage is good for you

Saturday, October 11th, 2008

On its site, the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) reports that more people are turning to massage therapy for medical purposes rather than for relaxation. But the baby boomers are more committed to massage than the young with an average seven session in the last year. This reflects a general trend. Its most recent survey reports 24% of adult Americans received one massage during 2007. More people now use massage as a component in their wellness programs or pain management strategies. This does not deny the importance of tramadol and other painkillers. They are complementary. Almost three-fifths reported an increase in referrals from healthcare professionals. The use of massage therapy in hospitals is also rising with a one-third increase in the number of hospitals nationally offering therapy for pain and stress management. This represents a groundswell in favor of physical therapy with 20% reporting that their doctors and healthcare providers had strongly encouraged massage. This is echoed in figures from the registered AMTA members. Curiously, 70% also make the service open to their own staff. If it was better integrated into healthcare, the AMTA believes there would be a significant improvement in quality of treatment for chronic pain and stress. Massage with a judicious use of Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

McCain ducks Viagra question

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Back in July, McCain was asked about his voting record on long term health insurance. With abortion such a extra important issue in the Presidential Election campaign, someone asked him a direct question - makes a refreshing change to find someone asking a politician for a straight answer on Viagra. It went along the lines, “Did you vote in the Senate against a proposal to require insurance companies to cover contraceptives?” To give you a little background information, most private medical insurance companies will not cover the cost of any contraceptive product but will pay for their male policy holders to get their Viagra. When women are good enough to be appointed as the policy makers, they can pay out for the women to get their contraceptives. Now far be it for me to suggest this is a tad sexist - men set the terms of every policy and they favor the men who pay the premiums. No. Perhaps that is fair.

Anyway, let’s not get into that. When asked the question, McCain gave one of those straight answers he is so famous for, “I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer because I don’t recall the vote.” The FDA is going to require a warning on labels. Looks like McCain has been using cheap Viagra just a little too long if he can’t remember how he votes on important political issues. And just so you don’t get confused, I’m against gender discrimination in any and every form.