Many people who seek out massage therapy are really on a quest for pain relief. Especially for those dealing with chronic pain, massage therapists have an opportunity to deliver relief in more ways than one. Regular bodywork sessions can help reduce the severity of pain your clients are experiencing. However, one modality in particular, Shiatsu therapy, which combines Traditional Chinese Medicine and Japanese massage techniques, can have a truly lasting impact on pain.

Qi, the body’s energy, flows through the body in channels known as meridians. At times, the qi gets blocked and becomes stagnant. TCM focuses on relieving and eliminating pain by releasing these energy blockages in the meridians. When the qi is blocked, the body can experience uncomfortable symptoms, including pain, and a variety of illnesses may result. Aside from qi, other substances in the body that can become blocked and cause painful conditions include blood and phlegm. TCM works the same way in attempting to unblock these substances to relieve a variety of painful symptoms.

As always, clients will need their own tailored treatment plan based upon their individual symptoms. Each meridian in the body correlates to a specific body part. Therefore, accurately assessing your client’s symptoms is necessary to effectively determine which meridians to work on in your attempt to relieve the client’s pain. Applying Shiatsu’s acupressure techniques on specific meridians will help release any blocked substances and relive your client’s pain in the process.

Qi maintains balance within the body. When blockages occur, imbalance and pain result. As a massage therapist, wouldn’t you just love to be able to restore balance to your clients, and relieve the painful symptoms they are experiencing? If you haven’t done so already, take the time to familiarize yourself with Traditional Chinese Medicine theory and Shiatsu techniques. You’ll be doing your clients a great service.

To learn more about how to differentiate between the types of pain caused by energy blockages, visit, http://www.integrative-healthcare.org/mt/archives/2007/11/how_you_can_tre.html.



By: Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

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You have heard that chest pain can be serious. It can signal a heart attack. It might be a rare, life-threatening problem. But it could be quite the opposite. It could be not at all serious.



When is chest pain not serious?



It is wise to learn when chest pain is not serious. You will want to check your symptoms with a licensed professional, but here are 7 examples of chest pain that is probably not immediately serious.

1. Acid reflux or heartburn: Chest pain can seem to be heart pain when it is related to the digestive tract. When acid refluxes (flows back) into the esophagus, it can cause a burning sensation in the chest. This chest pain can be mistaken for heart pain - the reason it was named as it was, even though it has nothing to do with the heart. This chest pain is not serious if it is occasional. If it happens frequently, you may be developing GERD, a more serious condition. To determine if this chest pain is serious, consider whether it came soon after eating. Try using an antacid. If the discomfort is relieved, it is probably heartburn.

2. Bruising: Chest pain can occur due to bruising of the outer chest. Perhaps you were moving furniture or other large objects. At the time, you didn’t realize you had hurt yourself. Later, you experience chest pain, but it is not serious.



3. Nerves: When is chest pain not serious? The roots of every nerve in the body are in the spinal cord. Smaller nerves branch from them along the neck and upper back. Chest pain can occur if one of these nerves is pinched where it leaves the spine. Chest pains caused by pinched nerves are sharp “shooting” pains. They may be triggered by moving your neck or arms in certain ways. They may be felt in the left or right part of the chest. These are not immediately serious chest pains.

4. Rib Injury: Chest pain can be caused by a bruised or fractured rib. This chest pain will be localized, right or left side, near a rib. It will be a sharp pain, and may increase when the rib area is touched. This chest pain is likely to increase when coughing.



5. Strains/sprains: When it is a result of a strain or sprain to one of the many muscles, bones, tendons, and cartilages in the chest, chest pain is probably not serious. These chest pains last for only a few seconds. They may return frequently over a period of days, and may be brought on, or relieved, by moving into certain positions. They are non-cardiac symptoms.

6. Stress: When is chest pain not serious? When it is caused by stress, your chest pain is not serious. As you respond to unusual demands on your body, emotions, or mind, you may tighten the muscles of the chest. This causes chest pain. With the pain, you may experience intense fear. Your heartbeat may increase, your breathing become rapid. You may perspire profusely and feel shortness of breath. This could be an anxiety or panic attack.

7. Ulcers: Another form of chest pain that is triggered by a digestive tract problem is the pain of an ulcer in the stomach or duodenum. This chest pain, like the pain of acid reflux or heartburn, is often felt in the upper abdomen or lower chest. As above, ask whether it was triggered by eating. Try getting relief with antacids. Although ulcer chest pains are not immediately serious, you should seek medical advice.

The Other Side of the Coin

Asking, when is chest pain not serious, should be followed by asking the opposite question: when is chest pain serious?

Chest pain can be caused by heart attack, probably the most life-threatening condition. Other heart conditions can also cause chest pain, and should receive medical attention.

Pleurisy, with its sharp, localized chest pain, is made worse when you cough or breathe in. Pleurisy is caused by inflammation of the membrane lining the chest cavity and covering the lungs. A blood clot can lodge in a lung artery, blocking blood flow to the tissue of the lungs. This condition, a pulmonary embolism, is similar to pleurisy in that the localized chest pain is made worse by a cough or deep breath. Other lung conditions can also cause chest pain.



Shingles, a nerve infection caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox, often causes chest pain. This is a sharp, burning pain. It may begin a few hours or a day before a band of blisters appears on your back and chest.

Err on the Side of Caution

If you cannot find an explanation for your chest pain, and it persists, take an aspirin and seek emergency medical care. If your pains feel like pressure or tightness in your chest, do you have these other symptoms?

1. shortness of breath

2. sweating

3. nausea

4. dizziness

5. pain radiating to one or both arms or neck

If your chest pain includes any of those symptoms, seek emergency medical care immediately.

Do not worry about what people will think if your chest pain is not serious. Chest pain is one of the most frequent reasons people call for emergency medical help. Often that chest pain is not related to a heart problem. You may be embarrassed if that happens to you. Don’t be. Even if your chest pain is not serious, it is better to go to the emergency room for evaluation.

CAUTION: The author is not a medical professional, and offers the information in this article for educational purposes only. Please discuss it with your health care provider before relying on it in any way.



By: Anna Hart

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If you hurt all over your body, and frequently feel exhausted, gone through numerous tests to find out what is wrong with you and even then, your doctor can’t find anything specifically wrong with you; your pain may very well be a result of Fibromyalgia.

If you experience tender points on places on places like your neck, shoulders, back, hips, arms or legs that hurt when touched you may have Fibromyalgia. If you have other symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, morning stiffness, headaches, and problems with thinking and memory, sometimes called “fibro fog,” you may have Fibromyalgia.

Well, not that this is a comforting thought but you are not alone. Over ten million Americans suffer from the symptoms of Fibromyalgia pain.

This condition overall is characterized by chronic pain felt throughout your entire body, mainly in the muscles and ligaments. Pain is typically felt in your neck, back, shoulders, hands, and pelvic area; but anywhere in the body can be affected with pain.

Fibromyalgia sufferers also endure general fatigue and sleep disturbances. So, it is easy to understand why most sufferers seek Fibromyalgia pain treatments that work for them. Thankfully, various Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief exist.

If you are one of five to seven percent of the population who suffer from Fibromyalgia, the following Fibromyalgia pain treatment information may help you find and get pain relief.

Medications Used for Fibromyalgia Pain Treatments for Pain Relief

Pain treatment is generally in the form of a pill. Many people agree that the best Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief come in pill form. There are many medications that are used as Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief, but it is necessary for you to visit your doctor to determine the extent of and devise a treatment plan for your specific condition with your doctor and receive a prescription, as over-the-counter drugs are not usually strong enough to alleviate the pain associated with Fibromyalgia.

Antidepressants (Paxil, Prozac), sleep medications (Lunesta, Ambien), anti-epileptics (Neurontin), and muscle relaxants (Flexeril) can all be used as Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief. Many of these medications relieve sufferer pain so you can sleep at night, therefore allowing for the deep-level sleep needed for tissue repair and other body functions specific to your condition and level of pain.

Additional Methods of Fibromyalgia Pain Treatments for Pain Relief

There are also other methods of Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief. Sufferers may use these alternative methods along with medication, or by themselves. Alternative methods of Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief include:

· Physical therapy

· Acupressure and acupuncture

· Massage

· Exercise

· Chiropractic care

· Osteopathic manipulation

· Occupational therapy

· Biofeedback

It is completely up to you the patient as to type of Fibromyalgia pain treatment your want to pursue. However, talking to your doctor is highly recommended so your doctor can steer you in the right direction.

Although, the symptoms of Fibromyalgia may never completely disappear, it is comforting to know that Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief exist and are only a doctor’s visit away.

For more information about Fibromyalgia pain treatments for pain relief, visit the website for The National Fibromyalgia Association. There is no need to live in pain a minute longer



By: Ray Attebery

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There’s much we don’t commonly know about the back pain. For example: did you have any idea that only less than one percent of acute lower back pain is a result of an infection or any other serious condition? That’s true and for those under 50, the rate is even lower. However, the back pain is the number one disability for everyone under age 45. In United States it is second only to a common cold in the list of top reasons for paying a visit to a healthcare provider.

“There is nothing wrong with you.” That’s a myth! Those who suffer chronic back pain have to suffer also from their doctors’ inability to tell what’s really wrong with the back pain. In reality, about 90% cases of back pain derive from a certain cause, like an infection or injury.

“No one dies from chronic back pain.” Another dangerous myth. The constant pain along with resulting depression seriously increase a chance for suicide. That’s not a theoretical chance: such things have already happened.

“Most back pain must be treated by a surgeon.” Myth! The truth is just the opposite: less than 2% of patients with back pain are in real need of a surgical operation. However, due it´s popularity, back pain is the third top reason for an operation in the US.

“Only a few workers suffer back pain because of their job.” Thant’s untrue! Back pain is the top occupational hazard.

“Lie down and rest: this will help you fight the back pain.” Quite the contrary. Unlike many people believe, lying in bed can actually slow down the recovery process. All healthcare providers recommend staying active in order to decrease the recovery time.

“Men suffer back pain more often than women.” That’s another myth! The only real difference considers disk disorders during middle age, this is truly much more common in case of men. Other back pain cases are distributed equally through men and women alike. When we talk about the race, however, low back pain rate is common among Caucasians. Other races, including African Americans are equally prone to back pains.

“When the patient´s pain description lacks some consistent pattern or regularity, it´s imagined/exaggerated and nothing to worry about.” Myth! There are no two identical cases of back pain. The back pains can be caused by some many things that even a single attack should be enough to go to the doctor and learn what has happened.



By: Rene Graeber

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Having low back pain is becoming more and more of a problem now days especially for people who tend to slouch. This type of back pain is more frequent for people who work forty hours a week at desk because most of these people tend to be sitting in a slouched position. This is one of the main reasons why more and more people are diagnosed with low back pain problems.

Your Posture Important

Although the real cause for low back pain has not been found, there is little doubt that your posture plays an important role. Slouching is one of the biggest factors contributing to your low back problems. One of the recommended things you should do would be to perform simple exercises for low back pain, this should help relief some of the pain you are experiencing. These simple exercises for back pain are very simple and can be performed almost anywhere. These techniques should provide you with instant relief from your pain.

Low back pain is often the result of excessive flexion, and to get rid of it you will need to perform exercises for low back pain that will move the pain in another direction. Extension exercises are a very good and proven way to get relief. One exercise you should try is simply putting you feet spread apart and place you hands with finger pointing down. Once you are in position try to bend you’re your waist back and down as far as you can and stay in that position for a couple of seconds. Repeat this exercise a couple of times each day. This should help you get relief for your low back pain.

Another good exercise for low back pain is to lie down on your stomach. Once you are in position start to raise your upper body with your elbow while arching your back. It is very important when performing this exercise for low back pain to keep your hips on the ground and try to relax your back as much as possible. Keep that position for around thirty seconds. You should try to repeat this exercise until you are able to hold the position for at least five minutes.

For some people performing exercises for low back pain everyday may not be a good thing for various reasons, in those cases you should seek an alternative treatment method. Whatever you chose to do, try to stop slouching, this should be a good start.



By: Frederic Madore

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Chronic pelvic pain refers to pain in the region between your hips, below your bellybutton. In order to be considered chronic, the pain must last for at least six months or longer.

What are possible causes of chronic pelvic pain?

Endometriosis: Endometriosis is a problem with the lining of the uterus. Tissue from the lining of the uterus moves through the fallopian tubes and gets on your ovaries, in your pelvis, on your bladder or in other areas. When you have your period, this tissue swells and bleeds, just like the lining of your uterus. This is often painful, and scar tissue can form in your pelvic area.

Tension in your pelvic floor muscles. Spasms or tension of the pelvic floor muscles can lead to recurring pelvic pain.

Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease. This can occur if a long-term infection, often sexually transmitted, causes scarring involving the pelvic organs.

Pelvic pain can be caused by an infection or inflammation. An infection doesn’t have to affect the reproductive organs to cause pelvic pain. Pain caused by the bladder, bowel, or appendix can produce pain in the pelvic region; diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome, kidney or bladder stones, as well as muscle spasms or strains are some examples of non-reproductive causes of pelvic or lower abdominal pain.

What are the signs and symptoms of PID?

Symptoms of PID vary from none to severe. When PID is caused by chlamydial infection, a woman may experience mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, while serious damage is being done to her reproductive organs. Because of vague symptoms, PID goes unrecognized by women and their health care providers about two thirds of the time. Women who have symptoms of PID most commonly have lower abdominal pain.

Myofacial Trigger Points: Chronic pain can be created by spasm of the muscles that line the pelvis. On pelvic examination, there may be tenderness and tightness in particular muscles. Experts in anesthesiology and pain management specialize in relieving this type of pain.

Chronic Pelvic Pain Health Centre Treatment

One of the first steps in relieving your pain will be to treat the conditions that underlie it. Information about treating endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease and adhesions, irritable bowel syndrome, interstitial cystitis, depression and back pain can be found elsewhere on this site.

Antidepressants. Antidepressants can be helpful for a variety of chronic pain syndromes. Tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor) and others, seem to have pain-relieving as well as antidepressant effects. They’re commonly used for chronic pain control even in people who don’t have depression.

Surgery for chronic pelvic pain

Laparotomy is a surgical procedure that is done by making an incision in the lower abdomen. This allows the surgeon to see and inspect the abdominal cavity for structural problems, sites of endometriosis (implants), and scar tissue (adhesions). The surgeon can then remove implants and adhesions. The surgeon can also correct structural problems that interfere with an organ’s normal function, such as removing adhesions from the bowel wall.



By: peterhutch

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Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) enables the physician to diagnose problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas. The liver is a large organ that, among other things, makes liquid called bile that helps with digestion. The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ that stores bile until it is needed for digestion. The bile ducts are tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine. These ducts are sometimes called the biliary tree. The pancreas is a large gland that produces chemicals that help with digestion and hormones such as insulin.

ERCP is used primarily to diagnose and treat conditions of the bile ducts, including gallstones, inflammatory strictures (scars), leaks (from trauma and surgery), and cancer. ERCP combines the use of x rays and an endoscope, which is a long, flexible, lighted tube. Through the endoscope, the physician can see the inside of the stomach and duodenum, and inject dyes into the ducts in the biliary tree and pancreas so they can be seen on X rays.

For the procedure, you will lie on your left side on an examining table in an x-ray room. You will be given medication to help numb the back of your throat and a sedative to help you relax during the exam. You will swallow the endoscope, and the physician will then guide the scope through your esophagus, stomach, and duodenum until it reaches the spot where the ducts of the biliary tree and pancreas open into the duodenum. At this time, you will be turned to lie flat on your stomach, and the physician will pass a small plastic tube through the scope. Through the tube, the physician will inject a dye into the ducts to make them show up clearly on x rays. X rays are taken as soon as the dye is injected.

If the exam shows a gallstone or narrowing of the ducts, the physician can insert instruments into the scope to remove or relieve the obstruction. Also, tissue samples (biopsy) can be taken for further testing.

Possible complications of ERCP include pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), infection, bleeding, and perforation of the duodenum. Except for pancreatitis, such problems are uncommon. You may have tenderness or a lump where the sedative was injected, but that should go away in a few days.

ERCP takes 30 minutes to 2 hours. You may have some discomfort when the physician blows air into the duodenum and injects the dye into the ducts. However, the pain medicine and sedative should keep you from feeling too much discomfort. After the procedure, you will need to stay at the hospital for 1 to 2 hours until the sedative wears off. The physician will make sure you do not have signs of complications before you leave. If any kind of treatment is done during ERCP, such as removing a gallstone, you may need to stay in the hospital overnight.

Preparation

Your stomach and duodenum must be empty for the procedure to be accurate and safe. You will not be able to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before the procedure, or for 6 to 8 hours beforehand, depending on the time of your procedure. Also, the physician will need to know whether you have any allergies, especially to iodine, which is in the dye. You must also arrange for someone to take you home—you will not be allowed to drive because of the sedatives. The physician may give you other special instructions.

 

 

Why in India?

 

India is marking new levels in medical technology; Indian medical experts had combined the latest innovations in medical electronics with the international quality of medical healthcare facilities. These centers have the distinction of providing Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography spanning from basic facilities in preventive back-care to the most sophisticated curative technology. The technology is contemporary and world class and the volumes handled match global benchmarks. They also specialize in offering surgery to high-risk patients with the introduction of innovative techniques like minimally invasive and robotic surgery.

Renowned hospitals of cholangiopancreatography in Indian are equipped to handle all phases of problems in the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and pancreas, from the elementary to the latest clinical procedures. Their success rate at an average of 98.50% is at par with leading centers around the world. The cost of Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in India at the metro cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore is very low as compared to the other western countries. For more details on Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography in India please visit http://www.forerunnershealthcare.com and enquiry@forerunnershealthcare.com



By: Mitesh Janiyani

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I do wonder at times if the American Dream is nothing more than a suburban myth, a middle class mirage.  Is our economic system set up to mollify a massive work force of serfs for the enrichment of a house of lords?

Let’s examine the evidence for this way-out theory of economics.  All through time there have been dictators and despots, kings and czars, doges and popes, all very rich and all with various means and levels of controlling the population and their wealth.

My theory is based on the fact that at least in America, economic wealth is in the middle of the economic spectrum however diffused it is.  The middle owns little but earns much, as a whole.  It is important to keep in mind that I am referring to the middle classes as a group and not as an individual.

The flaw in old economic designs result in the middle eventually figuring out that they really do have the power, be it in money or in manpower.  It is a power that can overcome the wealthy and powerful.  It has happened time and again throughout history, America, France, Mexico, Russia and in many other places.  When the wealthy oppress the middle, the middle reaches a point of pain that leads to revolution.  This overthrow of the wealthy and powerful can result in some redistribution of wealth and power but eventually the economic world resets and the middle remain middle and sometimes a new set of wealthy and powerful are created.

If I am correct in general terms about how economics work then I wonder if the U.S. isn’t the same old system merely set up a little more cleverly.  Let’s say that the rich decided that in order to keep the peace over the long term it was necessary to create a placated middle class.  The way to do that would be enhance the standard of living of the serfs and then to use the middle class as a huge money laundering machine.  The concept is simple, give the middle class money but then entice them to give it back.  Get them to spend it on goods and services offered by the same people who paid them in the first place.  It’s sort of the company town concept on a national scale.

Brilliant I thought.  The middle class has been turned into a giant money laundering scheme whereby the rich can keep their money, they only have to risk giving it to the middle class for a short period of time.  They know they’ll get it back; they’ve set in motion a brilliant operation to ensure that happens.

Enter consumer capitalism.  In order to get consumers to buy they have to be communicated with.  So build an educational system that ensures the workforce is not only qualified to work for the rich instead of simply subsistence farming, but also literate enough to read ads for goods and services, to be sold on every item necessary to the American Dream.  It began with print, evolved into radio, evolved into television, evolved into the Internet and wireless technology is rapidly expanding the reach of the net, and the advertisers.

So my theory goes, the rich give out the money and devise ways to get it back, the natural ebb and flow of capitalism.  When could this cycle begin to break down and what would be the signs of that happening I wondered next. One large leak in the system is illegal immigrants.  They often send a large part of their income out of the country to buy things from the lords of other manors.  It offends our lords that this happens since they consider it their money in the first place.  I look to the headlines for more answers.

The price of everything is skyrocketing.  Inflation drives the middle class to save money not spend and what they do spend does not go as far; it buys fewer goods and services.  All of a sudden, the rich are in crisis, they are having trouble getting their money back.  The serfs must be encouraged to spend, spend, spend or their system breaks down.  So the government gives away money hoping to pacify the wealthy and encourage a spending binge.

The money laundering scheme is broken because wealthy people got carried away and abused the system.  After many people lost much of their cash in the stock market bubble, the rich created an atmosphere in the housing market that persuaded the middle class to spend a lot of money they never had. 

A new bubble of greed and credit was created and the middle class were persuaded that the mirage was a shortcut to the American Dream.  But as so many people drew close to the mirage, it melted away from view and all they were left with was the hot, empty plain of reality.

The faceless lords of the manor are the only people who can tell us when they have enough money to put the machine back into operation.  In the meantime, I am planting some potatoes; it could be a long cold winter.



By: Missing Link

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I have a constant pain for the last few days when pressure is applied to my foot. I got into my 4th mile Fri and had to stop due to the pain. I have since been using the elliptical which seems not to bother me! I am 26 yrs old and feel as if i’m to young to have back pains lol. It even pains when walking! Any advice or similiar pains from anyone else?

By: ginaisperfect

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Chronic pain is extensively believed to represent the disease itself. It could be made much inferior by the environmental and various psychological factors. The Chronic pain persists more than a longer phase of time than the acute pain and is opposed to be most of the medical treatments. It may-and frequently does-cause harsh problems for the patients. An unpleasant emotional and sensory experience associated with the actual or potential tissue harm or described in conditions of such chronic pain. This pain. In its mainly benign form, warns us that in our body something isn’t somewhat right, that one should take medication or see a doctor. On its worst, though, chronic pain robs us of ones productivity, ones well-being, plus, for a lot of of us distress from extensive illness, ones very lives. The Pain is a complex observation that differs extremely among the individual patients, still those who emerge to have the identical illnesses or injuries.

The Ancient civilizations recorded on the stone tablets account of the pain and the cure used: the pressure, water, heat, and sun. Previously humans related every pain to evil, demons and magic. Reliefs of pain were the responsibility of the sorcerers, priest’s shamans and priestesses; they used rites, herbs and ceremonies as for their treatments. The Romans and the Greeks were the foremost to advance the theory of sensation, along with the idea which the nervous system and brain have a function in producing the awareness of pain. However it is not until the middle Ages and fine into the Renaissance-the “1400s and 1500s”-that confirmation began to mount up in hold up of these theories. The Leonardo da Vinci and all his contemporaries came to judgment that the brain was the essential organ accountable for sensation. Whereas Da Vinci as well developed the thought that the spinal cord transmits feelings to the brain. During the “17th and 18th” centuries, the observation of the body plus the senses-continued to exist a source of the wonder for the world’s philosopher. In the year 1664, the French philosopher “René Descartes” described what today is yet called a “pain pathway.” Descartes illustrated how particle of the fire, in write to with the foot, travels to the brain along with he compared the pain sensation to the ringing sound of a bell. The treatment of the chronic pain is done with the various types of pain relief drugs and sometimes with various surgeries if the pain is extremely extensive.



By: Bishal Boro

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