Pain

Patients and care providers have different perceptions of pain from exercise and mobilization
For patients with chronic, painful conditions such as neck pain, back pain, or osteoarthritis, there may be instances of pain from either the diagnosis or in the treatment itself. While this is completely normal, helping care providers to diagnose a condition and necessary to make exercise and mobilization techniques effective, some patients may not be aware of this, and instead take it as malicious and fail to comply with their therapy as a result. To get a better impression of how feel about pain experienced during therapy, a series of interviews was conducted with both patients and care providers. Results showed that most patients viewed the pain as a necessary part of therapy, but a select few reacted negatively and were driven away from therapy due to it if their therapist didn't explain it properly. This highlights the importance of communication from care providers, especially physical therapists, when it comes to thoroughly explaining the role and necessity of pain in the treatment of certain conditions.

Caffeine use can be either beneficial or detrimental, depending on how it's used
Caffeine is far and away the most widely consumed drug in the world, with an estimated 85-95% of Americans using it on a regular basis. While most people drink it for a morning or mid-day pick-me-up in coffee, tea or soda, it can also be used in conjunction with pain medications to increase effectiveness. On the downside, regular caffeine intake can also be detrimental to some when use is stopped after a long period of habitual consumption, possibly leading to withdrawal and headaches. The effects of caffeine such as these and others, on both the positive and negative end of the spectrum, are given sufficient in this review, with the intention of better educating those who use caffeine so regularly.

The relationship between chronic pain and obesity in the elderly
Chronic pain, defined as pain lasting for more than three months, occurs in the elder population more than any other age group, as some figures report more than half of seniors experience chronic pain regularly. Dealing with chronic pain on a regular basis can be an extreme burden and have a negative impact on elders' health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and it unfortunately only gets worse with age. The exact reasons why this pain plagues older people, however, are not clearly defined, leading some researchers to investigate the matter in greater detail. Results showed that greater abdominal obesity and associated osteoarthritis were high indicators of chronic pain and depression based on HRQoL, and that exercise programs catered towards elders should therefore be implemented to address this issue.

Effectiveness of electrical nerve stimulation (ENS) for musculoskeletal pain
A meta-analysis was performed intended to conclude if electrical nerve stimulation (ENS), a pain treatment that applies electrical energy to nerves through either electrodes or needles, was indeed effective in its treatment of musculoskeletal pain. The study proved both transcutaneous ENS (TENS) and percutaneous ENS (PENS) to be legitimate, quality treatments of pain.