Articles Showing articles written by: Patricia Delzell, M.D., Advanced Musculoskeletal Medicine Consultants, Inc.
Using ultrasound to demystify chronic pain
When trying to diagnose musculoskeletal pain, doctors may order an MRI or a CT scan, which often do not reveal the true problem. That’s because these are non-dynamic tests, meaning they do not show your tissues in motion. In fact, you are instructed to lie perfectly still. An ultrasound, however, is an ideal tool for looking at soft tissue...
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Help your brain reinterpret pain
When it comes to managing chronic pain, we often focus only on the anatomical. We want a diagnosis; we want to know what’s wrong; we want to fix it with a pill, an injection or even surgery. But chronic pain is not only anatomical. It is a sensation interpreted by the brain, but not always correctly. You may feel as though your muscle is...
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This is not your typical doctor visit
In the traditional medical model, physicians spend the day going from exam room to exam room dedicating just a few minutes to each patient. That may work when you have an infection and need an antibiotic, but managing chronic pain requires a deeper relationship. By comparison, my office visits are pretty lengthy, with the first two consult visits...
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Shift your mindset to relieve pain
The ancient foundation of pain is to remove ourselves from dangerous stimuli. Place your hand on a hot stove and your brain will send a signal to immediately pull it away without you even thinking about it. Thus, pain helped our ancestors avoid all kinds of dangers—from spider and snake bites to thorny bushes. Pain, however, is only a...
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Ultrasound can find the cause of pain
When dealing with musculoskeletal pain, doctors may order an MRI, but that often does not reveal the problem. An ultrasound, however, is an ideal tool for looking at areas of chronic pain. It can pinpoint the structure that is causing your pain and—because ultrasound can look at your tissues in motion—it can diagnose issues that...
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