20 ms·

How to deal with extreme physical pain

• hnruss 6y ago
  I am also recovering from a frozen shoulder, but thankfully it was not nearly as bad as the author. This is also my second time having it. Both times have required months of PT, mostly stretching and some strength training. As for the pain during PT, I found it helpful to talk to the physical therapist, which distracted my mind from lower-level pain. When the pain increased, I’d temporarily stop talking and free my mind of thoughts, trying to reach a near-meditative state. I’d let the pain come and go, like clouds in the sky. Some days that was easier than others. Perhaps it helped that I had already learned some meditative techniques years ago.
  • christiansakai 6y ago
    How do you recover from this? Isn’t this a genetic disease?
    • hnruss 6y ago
      In my case, the recovery required physical therapy. My shoulders have also improved somewhat on their own over time. From what I’ve read, it’s not genetic. My shoulder injuries were each caused by a specific physical event, and then gradual loss of range occurred along with increasing pain.
    • tejtm 6y ago
      Unknown. Most common in post menopausal women with an autoimmune disorder such as diabetes or thyroid problem. i.e. not me but I got it anyway. You "recover" when your body stops recognizing the soft tissue around your shoulder as the enemy and it has a chance to heal. For most it takes 9-18 months (per shoulder) and stops when it does regardless of physical therapy. The one thing that seems to help is a cortisone shot _early_ which seems to knock about three months off the the disease's course. Shots later do not have the same effect. Logically it is an auto immune response, to what I have no clue. Starts like any strain you don't quite remember how you got and just keeps getting worse. If you get it in one shoulder you are very likely to get it in the other. But you are more likely to recognize it early and get that cortisone shot.
• alexh1 6y ago
  Fuck. Shit sucks. I myself have dealt with long lasting (> 1 month) pain and it's horrific. Your whole perspective changes, you think life will never be the same. I can't imagine what it's like when these issues stretch into the years.
  • s5300 6y ago
    Sometimes it ends up being over a decade and more than half your life when you're not even in your mid 20's yet because U.S. healthcare accessibility is fucking garbage, especially for those with abusive domestic situations.
  • schoolornot 6y ago
    Had invasive surgery on my humerus that involved drilling & cutting into bone and muscle. The pain following the nerve block wearing off was indescribable. Groaning was about the most I could do. The pills might as well have been made out of sugar. You're right, perspective does change permanently. There weren't "seeing the light" moments but I certainly know now who my friends are. I have an interesting view of life now. The residual pain is a reminder that I don't have time for nonsense anymore. A pain in the arm is enough, I don't need a pain in the ass also. I'm also viciously dismissive now of any legislation or practices that limit controlled substances. I'm not an addict and I shouldn't be punished for other peoples acts.
    • stordoff 6y ago
      > I'm also viciously dismissive now of any legislation or practices that limit controlled substances. I'm not an addict and I shouldn't be punished for other peoples acts. I find myself agreeing with this. Opiate overuse and addiction is certainly a problem, but I also question some of the negativity I see regarding their use (from a UK perspective). I was on tramadol (200mg/day) for about six months, and was told, by my consultant, that coming off them "will be worse than quitting heroin". I just stopped taking them, and saw no ill effects. I've twice been on codeine (240mg/day) for around 8-12 months, and was given similar, albeit less severe, warnings about withdrawal. In both cases, there were no side effects upon stopping. I have to wonder if such warnings make withdrawal symptoms more likely through the nocebo effect[1]. They certainly have been misused in many ways, but they also have their place and make long-term pain much easier to deal with. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352765/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3352765/
• CobaltFire 6y ago
  I’m dealing with chronic pain that’s bringing my current career to its end. I’m still unsure how active I’ll be able to be in the future due to it. In my case it’s autoimmune; my body has decided it’s going to destroy itself from the inside out. Arthritis, psoriasis, GI issues. It’s getting worse fast enough that I’m being transferred to a hospital for care (Military, stationed overseas) and preparation for retirement. I had a bad day yesterday; out taking care of errands to leave and everything flared. Sometimes there’s no discernible reason. It damned near floored me, but since I don’t have a vehicle I had to walk the couple kilometers back. It’s hard to describe how much ongoing pain changes who you are. It’s a constant struggle to not be an asshole because DAMNIT JUST LEAVE ME ALONE. It’s overwhelming and demoralizing. That’s before we get to the questions of what can you still do to make ends meet.
  • hombre_fatal 6y ago
    It's a shame how hard it is to appreciate the times we're in good health. Though probably an essential adaptation else we'd be in sheer amazement at all times while healthy if we could truly internalize how bad things could get. How would we get anything done if we could truly marvel at peak health if we knew what ultimately awaited us somewhere down the road.
    • CobaltFire 6y ago
      I absolutely agree. The positive I take away from it is that I DO appreciate the good days, and my family, and the life I have more. It sounds trite, but the silver lining is there.
    • gavinray 6y ago
      "A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one."
      • geek_at 6y ago
        "My friend has cancer and he want's an Iphone"
  • 6y ago
• zdragnar 6y ago
  I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia ~15 years ago. Since then, having started an immunosuppressive for something else and it seemed to help with the pain- now the doctors think it is psoriatic arthritis. I am in constant, mild pain. Some days it is nearly, but not quite debilitating. Some people think I am making it up, exaggerating, or that it is all in my head. There is no certain test for either condition- in particular, fibromyalgia is basically a bucket you get tossed into if nothing else makes sense. I am definitely sympathetic to people with chronic pain, because i know first-hand the extent to which it changes your personality, stress and anxiety tolerance, cognitive ability and focus. You are not alone. It sucks, big time, but you are not alone.
  • stordoff 6y ago
    > or that it is all in my head I sometimes end up wondering that about myself. I have near-constant headaches of varying intensity (ranging from a barely noticeable ache to feeling like somebody a vice round my temples) with no known cause, and I occasionally find myself asking if I'm imagining it or it's psychosomatic. I think it stems from my frustration at not knowing the cause, but starting to doubt what you are sensing like that is an unpleasant feeling.
    • jaggederest 6y ago
      Well, if it makes you feel any better, being psychosomatic doesn't mean it's not "real", it just means that there's an extra step in the causality. Like psychosomatic itching - you are genuinely feeling the irritation, it's not imaginary, but you can retrain yourself not to indulge to fix it. The same thing is true with other psychosomatic illness. Many people act like psychosomatic illness is in the same category as malingering, delusion, or antisocial behavior. It's not. It's a real thing that you're really experiencing, not some kind of moral failing, it just happens to have a root in neurology and psychology instead of a different causative origin. Is a headache any less real or painful just because it's caused by stress instead of a hangover? I would say no, if anything, the opposite. Same goes for psychosomatic nausea, high blood pressure, eczema, psoriasis, pain, dizziness, any of at least a dozen things. They're real things you're experiencing, that might have more to do with mental health than physical health, depending on the exact situation. But they're still all real - nobody with high blood pressure from somatic issues is imagining their numbers higher. So, trust yourself. What you're feeling is genuine, regardless of the source - the fact that that source might be on one or the other side of the extremely fuzzy line of "mind versus body" is no reason to question your own experience.
• bichiliad 6y ago
  I didn’t realize how privileged I was until a relatively minor bike crash left me with a hard limp for a week or two. There’s a lot of lessons there (how can we design streets better? why don’t we focus on accessibility? why is the healthcare system hard to navigate?) but honestly the one that really hit me is how privileged I am to be healthy.
  • dheera 6y ago
    This also honestly makes me wonder how hard it must be for wild animals who get injured, and need to worry about predators throughout the whole recovery process.
    • Daishiman 6y ago
      There's a reason most wild animals don't live more than 5 or 6 years. Imagine living as long as a toddler, tops, because your body is completely worn out.
    • robotresearcher 6y ago
      A serious injury that limits mobility is certain death from starvation for many or most species. Adults of most species don't feed each other. This is true enough that finding a body or fossil with a healed fracture of a long bone is very interesting as it implies something about social behavior.
      • dheera 6y ago
        That's such a horrible death. Nature is brutal. One would wish there were a kill switch if you knew you were both in pain and going to die of starvation. Having that might even save some of your species members so that predators can't guess where the rest of the healthy ones are. It's also strange that social behaviors didn't evolve in more species. They seem to have the brains to migrate thousands of miles and borrow homes, yet they don't have the brains to help members of their species, which would help them proliferate.
  • m0zg 6y ago
• tejtm 6y ago
  oh my. yes. first it will end. Get full range of motion back? maybe not, but more than enough how much it will not hurt. Biggest thing I wished they mentioned is that constant pointless pain changes your brain in ways it is difficult to see from inside. Consider mitigating that earlier. If anyone is still tolerating you at home or work tell them I promise that you they knew will be back someday soon. (but no hugs) In the bright side once it has run its course through both shoulders you will never have to worry about getting it again.
• banana_giraffe 6y ago
  I have a chronic condition that causes pain. One of the things I've learned, in as much as I can, is I don't tell anyone. I'd rather be rude than explain I'm in pain. Not because I don't appreciate sympathy. Not because I'm ashamed. It's because I don't want your advice on how to make the pain go away or to deal with it. I'm tired of advice. I've got too much advice. I try things, I research issues. I talk to doctors. What your Aunt did that had a similar case to me 30 years ago to get better isn't interesting, it's an anecdote. I'm tired of hearing of woo remedies. If you have research, fine, I'll read it. One day. Maybe months from now. I am not your guinea pig. I am not going to change my treatment regimen based off your advice tomorrow. Sorry, had to get that off my chest. It's tiring. More so than the pain sometimes.
  • strstr 6y ago
    Good luck. I hope things take a turn for the better.
  • CobaltFire 6y ago
    Just want to voice my support. I deal with that too, and it’s almost as tiring as the pain some days.
  • gwbas1c 6y ago
    > It's because I don't want your advice on how to make the pain go away or to deal with it Banana_giraffe isn't alone. I had chronic obstructive sleep apnea and I quickly got tired of unsolicited woo-woo illogical suggestions to treat it. Exercise and meditation doesn't fix problems with bone structure.
    • Retric 6y ago
      Sleep apnea is like knee pain in that loosing significant weight either makes a huge difference, or does nothing. Unfortunately, if it doesn’t work for you people will still constantly bring it up.
      • treeman79 6y ago
• autarch 6y ago
  About ten years ago I had around 9 months (maybe a little more) of chronic testicular pain. It felt like someone had kicked me in the crotch about 10 minutes ago, all day every day. I've been in more pain from some injuries I've had (bike accident), but this lasted for much, much longer. It also made sleeping difficult, as for some reason lying down was extremely uncomfortable. I ended up sleeping in a chair for several months. I ended up cancelling a conference visit and talks just because I felt so awful and I wasn't even sure I could sleep in a hotel away from home. One thing I look back on and realize now is that it really changed my behavior. My temper was shorter and my judgement about how to interact with others was much poorer. Fortunately, it eventually resolved itself. I used to have flareups for a week or two every few months, then for a few days less often, and now it's been a few years since I've felt it. All of which is to say I feel for the author. This sort of thing sucks. For anyone else who's experienced any sort of similar pain, I would encourage you to continue looking for solutions. If you can, enlist family or friends to help you do so. I think that after a while you forget what it feels to be pain free, and it becomes easier to accept your current state. But once my pain resolved itself I realized how much of a difference it made in my life.
  • qppo 6y ago
    Another person with orchialgia here, it sucks. Mine's been on and off for almost 20 months now. After three urologists I found something that worked (and it's like a miracle). Something you touch on here implicitly is how much it changes little things in your life. For me it was long commutes, I can't sit for extended periods of time. What I would add is that doctors can be great for things they recognize and can treat. With something like chronic pain that can manifest due to numerous causes and doesn't outright kill you, doctors can be very unhelpful. It took a really bad bout of pain to see a new urologist who diagnosed it as a damaged nerve and prescribed a device that works. Not everyone is the same, but my experience led me to believe that if you suffer from chronic pain you just have to keep shuffling specialists until you find someone that's read different research than the others that works.
    • autarch 6y ago
      Yeah, regarding doctors I'm not sure anything they suggested help. The first one I saw that it was an infection and gave me antibiotics. That didn't seem to do much. Then as it persisted another urologist thought it might be urine backflowing down my vas deferens and I took beta blockers to improve my urinary flow. Finally the urologist basically said that sometimes after you have an infection you can have idiopathic pain for a long time afterwards. And maybe that was it. It pretty much went away on its own. I feel quite fortunate for that, because it really sucked. If it had persisted I suspect I would've seen quite a few more urologists!
• seibelj 6y ago
  I have a legendarily bad back, as does my father. One time at the office it seized up and and floored me for 45 minutes as coworkers walked by. My right leg went completely numb, and didn’t get back to normal for months. Don’t need any suggestions, I have tried them all, lots of doctors, yes yes yes. I manage. But it is a pain in the back to deal with.
  • internet_user 6y ago
    whats the actual diagnosis?
    • seibelj 6y ago
      I have several discs in my lower back that are impinging on my spine. They are bulging out.
• kinkthepainaway 6y ago
  Weird thing that I've observed. I'd never suggest it. I've met several masochists (the m in bdsm) who live with chronic pain and participate in the kink community because, as far as I can understand, it's a way to reframe the chronic pain that they experience. Or maybe, it's like getting out of a boiling hot car into the relative cool of a blazing summer day. The people I've met under these circumstances have had extreme pain tolerance, to the point where their sadists tread a fine line of giving them enough without doing damage. I know that many masochists experience (and seek) a significant endorphin response, and I've long wondered if exercising that somehow increases their endorphin production capacity -- and if that would provide an enduring benefit to those who live with chronic pain.
• tempestn 6y ago
  I'm fortunate not to be in any significant pain, beyond the standard aches of nearing 40. Just wanted to say that I empathize with the OP and those of you in the comments here who are dealing with real pain and disability. The fortitude shown in the post and in many of the comments is impressive. I hope things improve for you.
  • tempestn 6y ago
    Huh, didn't expect downvotes for this. Did it come across as patronizing or not genuine? I was just struck by what the author and some commenters are dealing with, and the grace with which they handle it. Or did 'empathize' come across as comparing my situation to theirs? Certainly wasn't intended if so.
• strstr 6y ago
  "A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one". There are so many forms of illness where this is true. I've never experienced anything nearly as persistent and painful as frozen shoulder. The worst thing I've experienced was probably Sciatica as a teen. It was particularly frustrating since the pain was intermittent and invisible to others. Through fairly substantial lifestyle changes, I haven't had issues in more than a decade. I hope everyone in this thread (and the author) is able to become well enough to return to their lives.
  • Zenbit_UX 6y ago
    Someone I know is dealing with sciatica now and it's not going well, do you have any insights on what helped you?
    • strstr 6y ago
      My situation was unusual, so I'm not sure my solutions would generalize. Sciatica in teens is very unusual. The cause, likely, was a series of fairly involved surgeries I had had as a young child combined with overuse. None of the orthopedists I saw were particularly sure about the cause, nor were the physical therapists. The long term solution was to avoid triggers and increase core strength. The short term solution was NSAIDs and correcting sleep posture (getting an 8-9 hour reprieve from loading the muscles that spasm remains very helpful). Long-distance running was a trigger for me (particularly running slowly, oddly enough), so I haven't run in basically a decade. I used to run 5 days a week. It was pretty clearly part of my identity. Years later, I picked up rock climbing (2-3 days a week) and my problems incidentally went away. Whenever I stop climbing for a while, I get periodic minor flare-ups. Fortunately, the short term fixes can nip this in the bud, particularly if I start exercising again. I don't know the details of their situation, but I would encourage them to seek out a physical therapist. And to change therapists if it doesn't work. It took me a while to find someone that could actually help. I have no idea why the first therapists did not suggest improving sleep posture.
    • sriram_malhar 6y ago
      I had disabling sciatica for a year and I thought a break from work would do me good; perhaps 3 months of exercise, no slouching over a computer, no deadlines, etc. would improve the situation. Nothing worked. In desperation, I consulted many, many specialists, even chiropractors, but nope, no change. Alas, I had banked on _something_ changing in 3 months, so I had planned a walking holiday in Western Ireland (Dingle) before rejoining work. I wasn't prepared to cancel the tickets, so I went anyway. I took along a plywood board to help me sit angled on the seat to avoid having to sit at right angles! Started the walk on The Dingle Way in a dubious frame of mind. I knew I was doing it only because I was too cheap to cancel tickets. Then magic happened. The place is so exquisitely beautiful that I walked 25 kms on the first day, even sharing a backpack with my wife. That evening, everything was hurting, but not in the usual places I had been conditioned to expect. The sciatica was GONE! I couldn't believe it, but it didn't recur the next morning. It has been 20 years now. It is possible mine was a simple case that just required a structural realignment. But I had tried walking before, and many other strategies to improve posture etc. In hindsight, the only difference is that my brain in Ireland was fully engaged in the beauty of the place and people, and disengaged from the pain. Perhaps exercising my back without being focused on a cure is what worked. Who knows? Perhaps this anecdote is of some value to your friend. Thank you, Ireland!
• softwaredoug 6y ago
  Wow. Not chronic pain, but I've dealt with chronic debilitating lack of sleep (brought on by a strong urge to urinate all night). I got to some places of really deep despair with feeling complete exhaustion but no ability to sleep for any substantial period of time. It took a while before I found some things that worked between sleep doctors, urologist, physical therapists, primary doctors etc. It was particularly frustrating because frequent urination was seen as a kind of low-level thing. Still it was causing great difficulty where I could barely keep functioning. Ultimately, what ended up mattering was (1) enlisting family to help advocate for me to my doctors (2) getting 2nd and 3rd opinions (3) being persistent and continuing to try new things, not being stuck with one doctors opinion I got the impression that unless you/someone is advocating for you strongly and working actively to solve the problem, continuing to keep going back to the same doctor over and over and trying to give them the benefit of the doubt doesn't work.
• agbell 6y ago
  Scott was a huge inspiration for me when I was a .net developer. I've recently become reacquainted with his work and his youtube computer explainers are great. Its sad to see him debilitated like this.
• inpdx 6y ago
  Funny how you don't think about pain and how debilitating it can be until you experience it. I had some kind of bizarre arthritis in my ankle at the beginning of the year. First they said it was gout. When gout remedies didn't help, they took a fluid sample. Not gout, not rheumatoid arthritis, not another kind of arthritis. Basically they were stumped. Luckily it went away after about a month. But it was utterly debilitating while I had it. No good sleep angle, couldn't walk, couldn't get it off my mind. Changed my life. Sympathies for everyone out there dealing with ongoing pain.
• bird_monster 6y ago
  I have nothing to add other than I think Scott Hanselman is a wealth of information and a legitimate gem in the programming community. I hope he can figure this out, and I hope he doesn't stay in horrible pain forever. Feel better, man.
• qgrgergfqgfev 6y ago
  Have had neck and back pain for 10 years now, I've learned to live with it, sometimes it hurts so much that I'm wondering if I'm going to get paralyzed, or if I'll be in 5-10 years, and sometimes I forget the pain until it comes back. No doctor has been able to help, some doctors want me to do PT, some want me to do chiro, none helped. Some doctors don't want me to do X-rays, some are OK with it, after some X-rays some say I have an inverted vertebra, some say that I don't. At this point I have learned to understand that no doctors understand back pain, and that unless I'm willing to pay top money for high-end hospitals, I'll probably live all my life in pain until it gets so bad I'll end up killing myself or something. Well we'll see... What seems to work for me sometimes: jogging and deep breathing.
  • softwaredoug 6y ago
    I have also had trouble with lots of inconsistent information from doctors. In my case urologists. Interstitial Cystitis / Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome. Some doctors say it's an allergy thing. Others tell you to do pelvic floor PT. Some tell you its an anxiety thing. Every doctor takes a different tack. People wonder why folks question doctors, it's because for many issues, we often are forced to substitute our own judgment of what works from trying a menu of inconsistent medical opinions.
• newbie789 6y ago
  A few years ago, my partner ran out of critical insulin pump supplies and I appealed to the internet for help. Eventually, Scott drove quite a way to our apartment to give her (a complete stranger) what she needed (and more!) He's a stand-up grade A really nice guy, and I genuinely wish him the best. I wish that I had more expertise to help with this issue, as the only thing that comes to mind is I've had good results using kratom in a severe pain situation, but that's anecdotal and not quite analogous to his condition. Wishing you the best, Mr. Hanselman!
  • GEBBL 6y ago
    That is a lovely story. He does come across as a genuinely good guy.
    • newbie789 6y ago
      Yeah, he's great! We needed just a couple insulin reservoirs for a Medtronic pump and he brought a bunch of them, and quite a few blood glucose strips (which can be ridiculously expensive), and gave us a little demonstration about a closed-loop "artificial pancreas" system based on open source software and relatively cheap hardware. I'd definitely never have heard about Tidepool or OpenAPS if it weren't for his visit.
      • 52-6F-62 6y ago
        I'm going through other pancreatic issues ([idiopathic/undefined] acute pancreatitis resulting in several necrotic masses and another(s?) unidentified nodes)— would you be so kind as to share some of your info? Are the two items you mentioned the projects? I'm hoping diabetes (or worse) isn't in my future, but you never know. Doctors don't have as much time lately due to Covid either to spend time with me on it until next year. In the interim it's just pain management... edit: I had a look. I guess those have more to do with insulin management than a wholistic pancreas... really interesting nonetheless! This is the kind of effort that amazes me with regard to what we're really capable of with technology. Well if any one else knows of anything of a wider scope...
• neurobashing 6y ago
  I had pretty extensive shoulder repair surgery a year and a half ago. I was amazed at how much recovery hurt, and I can't take opioids (too many physical and mental side effects). I ended up smoking a ton of weed. It really helped so much. The funny part was going from an occasional recreational smoker to using it medicinally. At first I was like, it's 7 in the morning, I don't want to get stoned, this sucks. But it worked at managing pain. I was not in pain and I could rest; I could rest so I could heal. End result was anger and frustration at our stupid drug laws, mostly. But also, my shoulder works again, and I know how to manage pain, if anything happens again.
• nosmokewhereiam 6y ago
  I work with cannabis and CBD/CBG/CBN/CBDV/CBN-D. I understand that others view may be that this has been marketed to death (in some very MLM-esque ways). These products either help you or they don't. Some people with ocular pressure disorders can see large improvements to quality of life (vision) by using crude oil CBD. Nerve damaged individuals sometimes see relief with CBG. People with chronic sleep disorders can sometimes find relief with CBN / D9THC combos, while still others utilize D9 THC by itself to stimulate appetite, and still others may use products that contain D9 THC / THCV combinations to lose weight. I just wanted to state that most of the stuff regarding everyone and their brother using CBD products to relax and have reduced anxiety is bullshit lifestyle business snake-oil, but those same products can immensely help a small fraction of the population struggling with life-altering pain management issues. Please don't discount the above cannabinoids when searching for solutions.
  • jquery 6y ago
    Thanks. I have some minor nerve pain that sometimes flares up to moderate nerve pain, and another issue that makes taking NSAIDs contra-indicated (so I just grin-and-bear-it). I’ll look into this as a possible backup solution.
• distantsounds 6y ago
  okay, so smoke some weed and go about your day? why is this even posted here?
  • the_only_law 6y ago
    Because someone thought it was interesting enough to post it?
  • edgyquant 6y ago
    Weed isn’t a magical drug no matter how much it’s advocates want it to be. Also I’m glad this was posted, as someone who suffers from more than one chronic pain condition, as it’s been eye opening to see how much of HN is suffering as well. Sometimes it’s comforting just to know you’re not alone.
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• throwaway_eoe 6y ago
  I suffer from a chronic autoimmune condition that causes left-side chest pain (sometimes quite severe). Despite extensive medical workup, we have not been able to get it to go away. One thing you don't hear about very much: more than a full third of people with atypical chest pain develop anxiety or panic disorders. I did. I thought people could get used to anything, but years later, I am not used to it. Bodies suck.
• Tade0 6y ago
  My left knee occasionally locks up and if the little dance I perfected over the years to unlock it doesn't work, I have to straighten my leg with one swift move - something that brings pain which I am only able to describe as "magical" or "surreal". USG yielded no results so I've been sent to have an MRI done, but corona got in the way of that. Exercise helps in my case fortunately. My friend wasn't so lucky and once he started experiencing chronic pain, it never went away, despite efforts in this direction, and eventually started affecting his career. Pain changes you. Especially if it's sudden and unpredictable. Anxiety sets in eventually.
• Ralfp 6y ago
  As migraine sufferer, I find relief in only two thoughts: - my migraines last 4 hours and happen once every 3-6 months, and there are people who have 72hs long migraines, or migraine every few days - I could've had cluster headache instead. People suffering from those call them "suicide headache" and are known to hit their head against different objects, because losing consciousness or felling other pain is preferable to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5oDaG45kE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO5oDaG45kE
  • shakna 6y ago
    I get cluster headaches (as part of a larger pain condition). The easiest way I can think of describing it is that it starts out feeling sort of like a painful headache on one side of your head, that rapidly becomes more painful and _never stops_. The attacks can last literally months (My attacks tend to be 2-months long, two or three times a year). The nickname of "suicide headache" is absolutely earned. Your face contains some of the most painful nerves in your body. Light them all up like a christmas tree, and keep it lit for months. Drive an icepick into your eye and keep that pain there for months. There is no escape. The pain can and will drive you from sleep, and there is basically no pain medication that will do anything noticeable. I would never wish this upon anyone. Friend or foe. --- All that being said, pain is a deeply personal thing. If your migraines are putting you in the worst pain that you know, then that's the very worst thing that you know. Coping with it means that you're dealing, and deserve sympathy, and understanding. I don't get migraines, never have, so I don't understand what it's like. You have my sympathy for it. I am sorry that you suffer is this way, and I wish that it wasn't something that you consider part of your normal. I wish there was something I could do to ease your pain. Your living with it, is something to be proud of.
  • jordibunster 6y ago
    I get both! Mostly clusters, but on occasion I'll have a looooong headache that I can't shake, and after a while I start feeling the nausea and realize it's a migraine.
• AuryGlenz 6y ago
  I started getting cluster headaches a couple of years ago. The level of pain that they inflict completely changed my pain scale. I started doing something that I read in a fiction book series (The Dresden Files) - basically a little visualization that helps me compartmentalize the pain. It helps a ton, though the fact that the attacks are relatively short probably help in that regard as it takes a lot of concentration. The reason I bring that all up is that people tend to discount what they can do about a problem, mentally. You’re not going to get rid of the pain, but you might be able to work out a way to deal with it better.
  • jordibunster 6y ago
    I saw the title of the article, read it, and came back to the comments to find fellow clusterheads. Wishing you pain free days!
  • frobozz 6y ago
    What's the visualization? I'm always curious about how other clusterheads cope. I "push my consciousness" into the pain-free side, essentially detaching the painful side of my head and picturing it not being a part of me, just a floating irritant nearby. It works pretty well for the easy ones, and helps a little for the bad ones if I catch it while I can still concentrate.
• curiousDog 6y ago
  Wonder if he's able to code. I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS) and work at a FANG. Everyday and every line of code is a challenge. Planning to push through for a few more years before I can find a new career where I don't haave to type as much but I don't know what yet. Really sucks.
  • s5300 6y ago
    Haha, I actually just sent him an email about TOS just in case he'd never heard about it. Large amount of people with TOS also having frozen shoulder as a down the chain issue. Have you been seen by a good TOS doc yet/considered surgery? I have bilateral NTOS + left sided VTOS. I'll soon be having a first rib resection (FRRS) and scalenectomy, possibly a pec minor resection down the line, with Dr. Dean Donahue at Boston Massachusetts General Hospital. Donahue is arguably the best surgeon in the US, taking in a large amount of cases that have already had a botched surgery and being able to give them nearly total/total recovery. There's around 5-10 great surgeons within the US though, and this unfortunately seems to be a condition it which surgery is mostly the best option. As much as I absolutely despise Facebook, here's two really great groups for TOS info/resources/top surgeons if you're not yet aware. https://m.facebook.com/groups/15231937182 https://m.facebook.com/groups/15231937182 https://m.facebook.com/groups/205345126171314 https://m.facebook.com/groups/205345126171314
• shakna 6y ago
  > When I'm done yelling, I'm trying to sit quietly and meditate about this pain. What is it trying to tell me? Can I mentally follow the nerve from the location (referred pain or otherwise) to my brain and determine what the body wants me to know? Am I being told there's danger? For many chronic pain conditions this is a vital step, and that acceptance can be a huge boost, allowing you to get through a day. Unfortunately for many of us... It isn't. I'm in pain now, chronic and debilitating, but there's no known cause. There's no message my body is trying to send other than the equivalent of every light on the dashboard turning on. Something is malfunctioning, so the body is misbehaving, and I'm in agony. Every moment, of every day, for the last fifteen years, the pain is there are increasing. As you learn to tolerate the pain, the body learns to increase the signal because it thinks there's something that needs to be addressed... But there's not. Sometimes... There's simply no escape. And learning to live with that is a harder truth.
• thehappypm 6y ago
  Pain sucks. End of story.
• eric_b 6y ago
  I had chronic, severe, debilitating pain for years until I read the book: The Mindbody Prescription by Dr. Sarno [1] Someone on HN suggested it in a "carpal tunnel" thread. I didn't have carpal tunnel. I had a completely destroyed knee. No more cartilage. Bone on bone with every step I took (confirmed by MRI). Cortisone didn't make a bit of difference. I couldn't walk 20 feet without mind boggling pain. That book changed my life. I can walk 10 miles (mostly) pain free now. I still don't have any cartilage. I never had surgery or did PT. The book explains it all, but the TLDR is that it's the brain that's causing the issue. You can have incredible structural issues. Herniated discs in the back. Zero cartilage in the knee. And the reason you feel pain isn't the structural issue, but your brain's response to it. I wager that book would be life changing for 90 percent of chronic pain sufferers if they gave it a chance. (Yeah, a lot of people are going to chime in and say that their pain is different or an MRI confirmed their structural issue or whatever. Yeah, I get it. I was there too. Frozen shoulder is almost certainly a manifestation of TMS, at least for some large number of people. For those who understand the mechanism, it's clear that 2020 is going to be a bad year for people in terms of chronic pain. It doesn't need to be.) [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FOTRPJQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FOTRPJQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...
  • nemo1618 6y ago
    Thank you for sharing. I've recommended Sarno a few times on HN and always wrestle with the guilt of offering unsolicited advice. But I figure if it helps even saves just one or two people from months/years/decades of pain, it's worth it.
  • pacomerh 6y ago
    I came here to say this, thanks. Sometimes I hesitate from posting about this because It's a very sensitive topic. The reason for your pain might be totally different from mine and I hate to assume what worked for me would work for you, etc. In any case, I was also changed by reading Sarno's books and that's the interesting part. My pain started in my chest, left and right. Then it transitioned to the center, I went to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. Got blood tests and studies done. In the following months the pain took over other parts of my body and my arms, legs and back were hurting a lot. I was having a very hard time working, I had to ask for a couple of weeks off and try to figure out what was going on. Sometimes the pain would go away for a few hours and then come back. I didn't have a clue of what was going on because I couldn't find a consistent pattern, it was just moving everywhere and I couldn't even play with my kid, which was killing me. I was browsing YouTube and was reading about this guy that had Carpal Tunnel, I was curious because I was trying to avoid making my pain worse. So when I was reading the comments, I saw someone wrote something like "Read Sarno's book and thank me later". I was intrigued and started reading about him. I started with his book: The Divided Mind. From there it all started to change gradually. I found a local physician that specializes in TMS, and that help me so much. after a few weeks it all started to fade away considerably. Today I feel great. All this happened in a period of like 8 months.
• S_A_P 6y ago
  Frozen shoulder is no joke. I didn’t see the domain name when I clicked on the heading. I have dealt with frozen shoulder off and on for about 2 years. Fortunately I think I’m on the downside of the pain but it can be a mind####. I was otherwise healthy but I couldn’t raise my right arm over my shoulder. It can cause a spin out of worry which I’m sure makes it worse. Thanks Scott for sharing your story.
• hsuduebc 6y ago
  I'm really sorry for everyone here suffering. Just want to voice my support. I wish you to get better and pain free some day.
• tylerd22 6y ago
  I don't have physical pain thankfully, but I have severe tinnitus. I'm unable to work for more than a few hours. I'm having a hard time to fall asleep. The fear of it getting worse is generating a large amount of stress.
  • young_unixer 6y ago
    Mine doesn't bother me during the day, but it does at night. Depending on how tired I am, it may take me anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours to fall asleep.
  • jonno123 6y ago
    A fan helps me to sleep with tinnitus.
• 867-5309 6y ago
  oh lord, a comment section about pain on a decrepit techie forum.. let's sit back and await the inevitable dang sticky pagination of ailments
• f2000 6y ago
  A few years ago I fell and broke my elbow. It was a mess and had to have emergency surgery to put it all back together. After surgery I'm sent home with a "ball" around my neck that is a reservoir for some pain meds that are being fed into my body via a catheter that was threaded into a vein in my neck. So I am sitting on my recliner a few hours after the surgery , awake but groggy. Anesthesiologist calls me on my cell phone to check in on me. So the pain med ball has a valve on it calibrated from 1 to 10. It's on like 9. He asks me how the pain level is. I say "no pain". He say's "great, what's the setting our your valve" I say 9. He says "whoa! you need to turn that down! At that level it will be used up in about 10 hours and you need it last for at least 48 hours" I say "okay." He then hangs up. So being a groggy engineer, I think "okay, I will dial it down to like 2 and then as pain arrives adjust up to needed level" So I turn it down to 2. About 45 minutes later I am in the most excruciating pain I have ever experienced. Think teeth clenching. Sweating. Tears. I immediately turn the dial up to 10. The pain lasted for 2 hours. I'm an atheist, but let me tell you I was coming to Jesus in those two hours. Once the pain subsided, I call him back. He says "Oh yeah, you should have slowly backed down on the dial." Upside is that I have a lot of empathy for folks who say they are in pain. Seriously, if that pain had continued I would have taken anything, Heroin, whatever!!!
  • Gracana 6y ago
    It's amazing what doctors don't think to explain. Like, buddy, I know you've seen this a million times before, but trust me this is the first time I've ever done this...
  • _nalply 6y ago
    I have a different story of pain medication gone awry. My wife had surgery and there was a hydromporphone pump where she could press a button. The button was then blocked for eight minutes. She didn't understand the system. Then I realized that it had two different beeps, one if the pump delivered a bolus and the different one if the pump was blocked. My wife and I we are both Deaf so we just didn't know. I requested then the pump turned around so she could have a look at the GUI of the pump. But my wife already lost her confidence, refused to press the button and a few hours later the hospital removed that contraption completely and switched to a different regimen.
• bane 6y ago
  I don't have extreme physical pain, but I do have chronic pain in the form of a constant, low-to-medium grade headache that sometimes turns into a crippling migraine-like pain for a few days. It flares with weather changes and stress, but on a 1-10 pain scale it's a 3-4 every day of the week 24/7. At times it surges to a 7-10. There is nothing modern medicine can do for me but turn my consciousness off -- which I refuse to accept. I've learned to tune it out, but the fatigue it creates is sometimes overwhelming and I find myself crashing frequently on whatever surface I can find to rest on. I struggle mightily in the mornings to make it to work. When I was in my teens I was part of an NIH study into chronic headaches, but doctors in general waive it away or don't know what to do about it. Constant back and neck stretches and 800mg of Ibuprofen daily seem to be the only things that alleviate it somewhat, bringing the average from a 4 out of 10 to a 3 out of 10. Strangely, the first time I went headache free in my adult life was a week-long period in the Bay Area when I was interviewing for a few jobs. The headaches went away for a few glorious days I felt what it felt like to be "me", unencumbered by chronic pain for the first time in my adult life. It was absolutely glorious. I sometimes wakeup, in soaked sheets, sweating about the bizarreness of dreaming about that week. I once had a root canal without anesthetic, because it wouldn't take effect -- tuned it out -- I have nightmares still from the experience. But I didn't get the jobs, I live on the East Coast, and despite a strange semi-immunity to anesthetic, probably a result of the same condition and genetics (I can get a cavity filled by using the same "tune it out" mental skills I learned dealing with absolutely disabling head pain) without fighting over if the anesthetic is working or not. Most dentists have no idea why the novocain isn't working. My mother has an unspecified autoimmune disease that causes her global minor joint pain. Whatever she has, I'm sure I inherited it. Medical practitioners are universally unable to do anything at all about it. I sometimes drink too much so I can sleep once or twice a week despite (to spite) the pain. It sucks and I hate it and I wish I had gotten those jobs in SV even if it meant I had one week a year, pain free. But now COVID-19 so....
  • xyzzy_plugh 6y ago
    I recently moved from the Bay Area to the East Coast and I'm experiencing some pretty bad headaches that seem to fluctuate with the weather, and sometimes turn into migraines. I knew a guy with awful, awful seasonal allergies. He moved to Arizona for a year and a half, then moved back -- totally cured, no allergies at all.
• DoreenMichele 6y ago
  Hello, Scott Hanselman. Thank you for writing this. It has fostered some good discussion on HN on a very difficult topic that usually goes poorly, so you must have done something right. I hope you get well soon, even if it takes some kind of miracle (in the sense of "wondrous happening," not necessarily in the sense of "intervention from god" if that second thing isn't your cup of tea). Sometimes people do get medical/health miracles. All my best, Some Random Internet Stranger named Doreen.
• SoSoRoCoCo 6y ago
  I know exactly where he is right now. I broke my clavicle and had it plated back together. It was only for 8 months until I had the hardware removed, but it was constant, jaw clenching, phone-ringing-in-the-ears white-out pain that lasted for months. There's no position in you can sit in to relieve it. You can't move or adjust to make it go away, even for a minute (there were a few times it went away, but very few). It's not like when you cut yourself doing something dumb and the initial pain subsides. This pain just. kept. going. Initially I was on Dilaudid, and then morphine, but the constipation was awful, and mental disassociation and hallucinations were scary. I started Oxy, but was scared of addiction so I didn't take it as often. I just kept popping Ibuprofin like candy. I even meditated, but it didn't do much because it's hard to learn something like that on-demand. The pain finally went away after the hardware removal. But you know what? I have a persistant fear of being like that again. I can't imagine what I would do if it was every day and there was no known source like OP.
• chime 6y ago
  Only posting this in case it helps anyone else. I am aware it is a single point of data in my case but it is backed by research and accepted medical advice (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3412202/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3412202/). I had severe chronic pain from herniated disc that was not a perfect candidate for immediate surgery. My GP prescribed Cymbalta (https://www.cochrane.org/CD007115/NEUROMUSC_duloxetine-treating-painful-neuropathy-chronic-pain-or-fibromyalgia https://www.cochrane.org/CD007115/NEUROMUSC_duloxetine-treat...) and I was surprised to find out that the depression med actually is known to help with chronic pain. It took a few days/weeks to really kick in but it absolutely worked for me. What it did was dissociate my conscious self from my in-pain self. I was always aware that my body was in pain but frankly it didn’t bother me. This allowed my body the time to properly heal itself without me consciously trying to adjust my position and movement to minimize pain. After about 9 months, I got off the meds, completely pain free. Cymbalta does have a ton of side effects and I experienced a number of them, especially when tapering off. However it was all worth it to get rid of the literal pain in my neck. Sounds like a parody to say “Ask your doctor about Cymbalta” but honestly if you are in chronic pain, don’t want to be addicted to opioids, have tried every rational thing but this, it is not a woo crystal oil gimmick. It is a risk that may be worthwhile to you.
  • sebmellen 6y ago
    Fascinating. I gained the ability to dissociate very similarly after I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed in one surgery as a teenager. Post-surgery, I fell into a very deep depression and took a fair amount of Hydrocodone for the pain. For the next number of months, I could almost at will separate my "thinking/conscious" self from my depressed and deeply in pain self (due to a TMJ disorder from the surgery, when they had to crack my jawbone to excise the teeth). I was prescribed an antidepressant, Prozac, at the time. Prozac is only an SSRI, not an SSNRI like Cymbalta, but the mechanisms of action may be similar. I've always wondered why I was able to do that kind of dissociation — it would make sense if the Prozac prompted it. I think this same kind of dissociation can be achieved through tremendous discipline and practice at meditation. I think it was the technique used by Thích Quảng Đức when he self-immolated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxrBik16Hzg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxrBik16Hzg.
  • 6y ago
• q_andrew 6y ago
  The author of this article is in far more pain than I have ever experienced. I will, however, try to pitch in because I have had chronic intestinal issues and I've found a few hacks to make it feel better. For me it helps to consider how many people have had it worse. It's cynical, I know, but knowing that diarrhea killed more people than guns in the USA civil war is comforting. The Union soldier who died squatting over a pit while cannons boom and flies descend makes me remember how comfortable my climate-controlled bathroom is. Another thing I've learned is to not feel guilty when I've abandoned whatever I was up to before the pain started. I'm lucky to have a partner who is very forgiving when we are traveling or doing leisure activities and I have to rush to the nearest bathroom. It's not your fault that you're not doing what you were supposed to be doing. Don't hesitate to curse your maladies for interrupting your life. It feels good to stick it to the man, even when the man is your own digestive system.
• chepin 6y ago
  https://startingstrength.com/article/aches-and-pains https://startingstrength.com/article/aches-and-pains
• thomassantosh 6y ago
  Thank you Hanselman for saying this and sharing this. “Not everything is code.”
• AnonHP 6y ago
  I really feel for him, and hope he’s able to pull through. Dealing with one major health issue is a big deal. I can’t imagine dealing with multiple issues and still functioning to help others. Gratitude for being “healthy enough” is what I try to practice, because I know that things could be unimaginably worse in a matter of days or weeks as time passes. We’ve come a long, long way in healthcare — both in terms of preventative measures and curative measures — in the last one century. But many a times I’m still left with the feeling that the progress required, with the progress being affordable as well as accessible to all, is orders of magnitude more than what we’ve achieved. Almost makes me wish for a time machine so I could go two hundred years in the future and marvel at the medical achievements and how many issues are easily dealt with (considering a mostly-positive future scenario).
• Ninjinka 6y ago
  I have never struggled with mental health until the past couple months when I started having chronic GI trouble. I had to stop going into work and two CT scans, an ER visit, and a colonoscopy later it doesn't seem like I'm any closer to getting better. Waiting on the second CT scan and blood test results now. I just hope they can figure out what it is. Anyway, just wanted to say I get it. I didn't realize the toll physical pain would take on me mentally
• jwilber 6y ago
  I had open heart surgery at age 27, and the months after were full of pain in my abdomen and genital areas. I went to multiple urologists, GI docs, etc. and was ultimately diagnosed with “chronic pelvic pain disorder”: basically a wastebasket diagnosis after they’ve eliminated all other culprits. It’s not known exactly what causes it, but a leading idea (that makes sense in my case especially) is that you’re basically having a Charlie horse (cramp) in your prostate that lasts months. It can occur after a serious surgery or traumatic event. Anyway, there’s no cure, but after months of stretching it’s mostly gone now. While health issues still persist in my life, I feel healthy enough now to do basically everything in my life that I did before the surgery. But the whole incident really changed the way I look at health, life, and health care/awareness in America.
  • jonno123 6y ago
    What kind of stretching helped?
• dustinmoris 6y ago
  > The cognitive dissonance is overwhelming. Your body says you're actively dying but your conscious brain can - must - override it and let the pain flow freely. You observe it, rather than obstruct it. I have been doing this my entire life to every injury I have ever had, from small to big. As soon as something started to hurt me I did that movement so much until the pain vanished. I never let my body rust. Being active, healthy exercise, body stretches, feeling the blood rush through your veins and the sweat drop off your face is the best way to deal with any problems in life. It helps with mental and physical issues.
• codegeek 6y ago
  "Frozen Shoulder" My mom had it over a decade ago when she was under 60. I saw her in constant pain and it really hurt. She used to get physical therapy, tons of professional heat therapy and forced stretching as well. It lasted for about a year and it went away. She is much older now but that thing hasn't come back yet. I can understand his pain even though I cannot feel it.
• deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
• nignog101010 6y ago
  It's the 4G/5G/wifi. Turn off your cell phone, wifi router at night and consider Faraday caging the room. The EMF signals disrupt the bodies healing processes and lead to autoimmune disorder type responses. I had an RSI injury that seemed to be at its worst every morning and wasn't getting much better with time. After disabling my cell phone at night the severity of the pain decreased significantly and quite rapidly. It didn't seem like a coincidence. Maybe it's psychological, but I seriously think EMF radiation is not as benign as we are being led to believe.
• nignog101010 6y ago
  Has anyone tried moving somewhere remote and seeing if the pain goes away?
• betwixthewires 6y ago
  I've been in extreme, and I mean absolutely extreme, acute pain before. More than once. The first time was a very severe injury. I took painkillers for a couple of days then stopped. It would wax and wane, multiple times a day, I would be crying without a single thought going through my head. Then I realized, pain is designed to provoke a response from danger, I know there's no danger, so pain is just a feeling. That's all it is, like the wind blowing in your face. Just a feeling. That helped. I had a big pain tolerance after that for many years. That isnt a good thing because you tend to ignore things that hurt. I had a few equally painful experienced that I managed to be fine through. This mindset that helped me doesn't work for chronic pain though. It does, at first, but after a while you just get worn down. When you've had a pain somewhere or other for a decade, even a mild one, it wears on you. At any point in time something hurts for me. Mostly the result of those injuries I suffered a long time ago. It isn't debilitating. But it is always there. Some days are worse than others.
• zilian 6y ago
  You brain somehow get used to the pain when it meticulously destroy your body for no reason, no danger, no signal everyday. I have ankylosing spondylitis. Lasg time I heavily cut my finger while cooking, didnt feel a thing. Didnt feel anything on my first tattoo - the tattoo artist was quite surprised. Now I feel a bit better with some anti IL17 medicine. And yet some day the pain comes back with new, untold and unreasonable levels of pain and you can't explain that to most people. The scale has changed and most of you will never feel that - or just once in a while. But not enough, not everyday with this consistency that shreds through your mental ability to take it and to shatter your life. I would trade a night of torture against my health back. And then the doctor with all his knowledge says that no - no other painkillers for AS ! Just nsaids ! Please donate for autoimmune disorders, they are awful
• jacobwilliamroy 6y ago
  I remember reading a guide on various bug stings and how to treat them. The treatments were ordered by how painful the sting was. For the most painful sting, the tarantula wasp, the recommendation was to lie down flat on the ground and scream until the pain stopped.
• sytelus 6y ago
  Sigh... 2020 has gotten to my man Hanselman as well. I have been in a lot of emotional pain this year, likes of which I have never experienced before. Reading stories here now I realize I should be thankful to be alive and functional and still reach out and lift that cup of joe. That mundane action now looks amazing. My best wishes to Scott on his way to healing. His writings have always inspired me including today. May God bring us to the other end of this very dark year.
• dandare 6y ago
  This is why I think that fighting torture is the second most important global task (after fighting climate change). All of you - all of us - who experienced unbearable pain, now imagine your pain but ten times worse, inflicted deliberately, on hours and days, over months and years, in combination with multiple other tortures, under sleep deprivation, in a state of learned helplessness. As you read these lines, people are hanging from ceiling by hands handcuffed behind their back, being beaten all over the body until they lose consciousness, woken up and beaten over and over. We have learned to ignore what is routinely happening in countries like SA, Egypt, NK, Turkey, China and many, many others. We use the newspeak "human rights abuse" to soften the sound of it, to avoid the emotional disturbance that comes with imagining the profesional, large scale, indiscriminate torture programs in countries that are our military allies and trade partners.
  • setman2 6y ago
    Totally agree that reduction of pain is a worthy cause. I am also vegan for this same reason. Animals in factory farms face continuous torture (look at Dominion or other undercover investigations to learn more). Once I learned this, I could no longer enjoy animal products.
• ozim 6y ago
  I am just connecting dots here with intermittent fasting article that was posted somewhere yesterday. Scott is writing about cognitive dissonance where you feel the pain and you just want to stop physical therapy. But going through the pain and doing therapy is going to make it all better in the long term. Main point would be staying in bed all days is easier than exercising, not eating whole day is harder than eating sweets all day, going through more pain to relieve it later is harder as well. Unfortunately we are mostly wired to get short term benefits right now and a person has to really put in effort to go for long term benefits.
• agumonkey 6y ago
  Courage to Scott, and sufferers. One thing, pain and expressing pain is vital. For you and also bonding. It's not a given on how to respond to someone's pain. If you deny someone too much he'll suffer a lot lot more [0]. Now sometimes pain is too intense and we also alienate people around us because they're, most of the time, not ready to understand or bear the load. [0] something builtin our brains ?
• known 6y ago
  After decades of research into the cellular basis of chronic pain, McNaughton believes he has discovered the fundamentals of a drug that might eradicate it https://archive.is/e1W1X https://archive.is/e1W1X
• giardini 6y ago
  The OP has "frozen shoulder". IIRC usual treatment is to immobilize the arm and eventually, after a year (or two) the shoulder will "unfreeze". When I read about frozen shoulder I was astonished: no good underlying diagnosis, little knowledge of what caused it, but clearly knowledge gained in the hardest way - experience over generations. And in this case, rather than wait a year, someone decided to perform "adhesive capsular release" surgery not once, but twice! What happened to "Primum non nocere": "First, do no harm"? My hat is off to the person(s) who first understood that doing nothing to the shoulder was the correct therapy. And woe to those who prolong suffering by "fixing" what they do not understand.
• bionhoward 6y ago
  What’s the pathophysiology of frozen shoulder?
  • bionhoward 6y ago
    Biological Aspect of Pathophysiology for Frozen Shoulder https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2018/7274517/ https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2018/7274517/ Would be potentially useful to get yourself genetic sequence and/or biopsy and RNASEQ because you could identify which genes are up or down regulated to cause the condition, and theoretically you could treat this with something like RNA interference. For example if your frozen shoulder is caused by reduced production of the Matrix Metalloproteins which break down collagen, then you could either reduce collagen production or insert additional copies of the MMP genes. Or, if the frozen shoulder mechanism is directly immunologic, it could be autoimmune, in which case you could try to induce tolerance with some supressive immunotherapy as has been effective for some folks with Asthma. Another possibility would be the frozen shoulder is an overt manifestation of another underlying condition, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or cancer (paraneoplastic frozen shoulder) If the pain is truly unbearable, you could look at more distal nerve blocks, or sensory-only nerve blocks, perhaps you could try a clinical trial for NaV1.7 knockdown (to turn off a critical pain gene in a local area, such as the dorsal root ganglion for the correct dermatome) Not a doc but did pass USMLE before switch to engineering. Hope it helps. Feel better dude!