Which is common for any kind of chronic illness, not just for chronic pain, is nutrition, being able to balance calories in and calories out. Patients with low back pain, for example, who are obese, anything that we carry in front of us puts a strain on the low back.

In this summer 2020 edition of Medical Minute, UNLV nursing Associate Professor Jennifer Kawi (Ph.D., MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE)discusses the various ways to manage chronic pain and talks about the risks of using opioids.

In this summer 2020 edition of Medical Minute, UNLV nursing Associate Professor Jennifer Kawi (Ph.D., MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, CNE) explains what chronic pain is, how common is it in the U.S., and why you should seek medical help if you suffer from it.

Fall, with its brilliantly colored leaves underfoot, sunny skies above, and crisp, invigorating air, is the perfect season for hiking. If you’ve been taking advantage of this fun outdoor activity for years and now find that arthritis is holding you back, here’s some good news. Whether you have rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, you can still enjoy a hike and reap the health benefits at the same time, experts say.

Finding reliable objective measures for chronic pain is an important step to advancing pain management. Recently, investigators have identified a variety of pain biomarkers, understood as integral to nociceptive functioning, and have used them as therapeutic targets when assessing exercise as an intervention for chronic pain conditions. However, could such biomarkers function as actual objective measures for chronic pain, as well?