Dr. Jen Gunter
chronic pain
To cut isn’t always to cure: knee surgery, health care, and our love affair with the scalpel
An article, just published in the NEJM, caught my attention not only for the study results, but because of what is says in a between-the-lines kind of way about the American health care system. The study looks at arthroscopic surgery for a torn meniscus in people over the age of 45 who also have arthritis … Continue reading
The FDA’s new restrictions on hydrocodone are unlikely to solve any problem.
America consumes 80% of the world opioid supply (99% of the world hydrocodone supply), but has about 5% of the world’s population. If you don’t think America has some kind of opioid problem, then move along because this rational, evidence-based, experience-laden way in which I’m going to discuss opioid use and misuse will not interest you. … Continue reading
Abortion, health care, HPV, chronic pain: what I’ve learned from my most popular posts of 2012
I published 97 posts in 2012 and during the year my blog was viewed approximately 970,000 times. I’m humbled that anyone took the time to read anything that I wrote. Some posts were read by a couple of hundred people and some posts by a couple of hundred thousand. I don’t think the writing on … Continue reading
The low oxalate diet and vulvodynia: how a case report becomes snake oil
Restrictive diets, the most common being the low oxalate diet, are widely reported in the lay press and on-line for vulvodynia (a chronic pain condition of the vulva). In one study, 41% of women with chronic vulvar pain reported trying a low-oxalate diet. The only problem? The low oxalate diet doesn’t work. How this diet … Continue reading
When the pain doctor has chronic pain
The title says it all. I am a board certified pain medicine physician and on many days I wondered if my pain was worse than my patients. I had chronic low back pain, like 23% of the population. I was stiff and in pain in the morning and as soon as I came home from … Continue reading
Probiotics for irritable bowel syndrome: what does the medical evidence tell us?
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal condition associated with abdominal pain and changes in bowel movements. It affects approximately 12% of the population, and in practices devoted to abdominal and pelvic pain (like my own), up to a 1/3 of patients have IBS. Irritable bowel syndrome is subclassified based on “typical” bowel movements: constipation … Continue reading
Michael Jackson, Conrad Murray, patient empowerment, and why sometimes doctors must say, “No.”
I am a big advocate for patient empowerment. My ideal patient is both informed and engaged in her health. I try and remember that there are not always hard and fast rules in medicine. While acute appendicitis should be treated with appendectomy, there are many chronic conditions can be treated in a variety of ways. … Continue reading
Persistent pain after a c-section: when is it nerve pain and what can you do?
Persistent pelvic and/or abdominal pain post c-section often poses a diagnostic and treatment dilemma, because most OB/GYNs know very little about pain and most pain doctors know very little about the pelvis. But that’s where I come in, being both board certified in OB/GYN and Pain Medicine. It is hard to know how many women have … Continue reading
Sleep issues and fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is associated with fatigue, insomnia, and excessive sleepiness during the day. Many people with fibromyalgia report waking up frequently and when they do sleep, they don’t feel rested. Studies in sleep labs confirm that fibromyalgia is associated with a reduced sleep efficiency (meaning the total sleep time versus the time in spent in bed). … Continue reading
The risks of CT scans: what an informed patient should know
More than 60 million CT scans are performed every year in the United States. A CT scan uses a computer to assemble multiple x-rays taken in rapid sequence to produce a far more detailed image than a conventional x-ray. CT scans are helpful in the diagnosis and management of many medical conditions. All tests have … Continue reading
