Enter the Change a Habit Contest, through 1/31!
How to Cope with Pain articles now available by email!  Sign up here.
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Welcome to January’s Pain-Blog Carnival…  the best pain articles of the month, gathered for you.

It’s January, an annual time to make (and, hopefully, keep) resolutions, and to review our lives.

Change – The Words We Use, with 10 great ways [...]

 Enter the Change a Habit Contest through 1/31!
Each Monday, we’ll look at ways to cope well with pain and how to get yourself to use helpful techniques regularly.  It’s your at-home pain management class!
So far in this series, we’ve looked at the stages we go through when changing a habit, and what’s useful at each stage, to [...]

A trip to your local healthfood store can turn up all sorts of pills, creams and potions for pain.  Which have scientific proof that they work?

I recently came across a great review article that summarizes years of research to see which herbs, vitamins and minerals have studies showing they work for chronic low back pain.  The author divided [...]

Reminders…
1. Today’s the deadline for submissions for the January Pain-Blog Carnival. Submit here.
2. Enter the Change a Habit Contest!
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I recently came across One Big Health Nut, a health and fitness blog which shares tips on food, nutrition, exercise workouts and other practical ways to stay fit. I was so pleased the [...]

Reminder:  Submissions for the January Pain-Blog Carnival are due by Wed, Jan 23.  Submit here.
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You know you should use exercise, eat right, get enough sleep, donate to charity, and call your mother, right?  But how do you get yourself to stick with these goals?
Motivation is crucial to get yourself into a new habit!  So [...]

Watch for the Habit-Change Contest on Monday! 
In my previous post, I highlighted what contributes to a good collaborative relationship between a patient and doctor.  Today I’ll expand on what doctors want from patients.
(But first, 2 precautions, so this article isn’t taken the wrong way…
1.  Don’t worry about needing to be a “perfect” patient.
2.  These suggestions aren’t so your doctor’s life is better, but so you can [...]

Watch for the Habit-Change Contest on Monday! 
Wanted:  Good Pain Doctor

Caring and attentive
Gives helpful suggestions, and has many other ideas when 1 treatment doesn’t work too well
Balances listening and asking helpful questions
Doesn’t interrupt too much
Believes my reports of pain

Wanted:  Good Patient

Organized and focused

Relates a clear story, without too much unnecessary detail

Prioritizes which symptoms need to be focused on [...]

Last Monday, we looked at the stages we go through when changing a habit.  Today, we’ll see what’s useful at each stage, to help yourself make a change.  After you find what stage you’re in, you’ll learn how to help yourself in your particular stage.

This info can be used for any habit you’re starting or stopping.  The example [...]

The National Pain Foundation website has an excellent interview with Dr. Marty Rossman on guided imagery for pain.  Dr. Rossman is the director and founder of the Collaborative Medicine Center and co-director of the Academy for Guided Imagery, both in California.  Along with the interview, there’s a guided imagery audio for relaxation that you can download at the [...]

Could the Wii make chronic pain a better-understood problem?  Will there soon be Wii-certified therapists?  Will parents now hear begging like this, “Hey Mom, I think I have chronic pain.  I need a Wii to get better!”
If you haven’t heard about the Wii, it’s the newest fad.  Created by Nintendo, it’s an interactive game that uses [...]