How to Eliminating Unnecessary Pain writes Fla. Podiatrist

Here is a article I recently wrote about pain

According to a recent article by the Times of India, scientists have found that a drug, Cymbalta, commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, can effectively reduce joint and muscle pain–such as Fibromyalgia (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/Depression-drug-eases-joint-and-muscle-pain/articleshow/7087867.cms).

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers studied female breast cancer patients, who were taking aromatase inhibitors- that block estrogen production- which fuel some breast cancers. About half of women taking these experience aches and pains in their joints and muscles that cannot be adequately relieved by over-the-counter painkillers. Up to 20 per cent of these women will stop taking an aromatase inhibitor because of this pain. But with the use of Cymbalta, 75% of patients studied reported a 30% decrease in pain.

This is great news for women who are already enduring enough hardship due to their breast cancer diagnosis.  The ability to eliminate drug side effects should be a major concern for researchers.  There are also alternatives to treating joint and muscle pain that can be considered.  In Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts in the Foot, podiatrist Dr. Burton S. Schuler calls attention to the negative consequences that an undiagnosed Morton’s Toe can cause for joint/ muscle and Fibromyalgia based pain (http://whyyoureallyhurt.com).

Morton’s Toe is a longer second toe and it can have serious consequences for joint and muscle pain throughout the body.  The theory that links a longer second toe to joint and muscle pain is based on research by Dr. Dudley J. Morton, who researched and lectured on many foot problems and first addressed problems caused by longer second toe in 1927 (http://whyyoureallyhurt.com/mortons-toe/dr-dudley-j-morton/).  According to Morton, and  Dr. Schuler who draws heavily from Morton’s research,  widespread muscle and joint pain can be triggered by a longer second toe.  When a toe does not hit the ground and roll properly, stress on other parts of the foot can cause a more generalized experience of muscle and joint pain. Placing a toe pad (or quarter, if necessary) under he first toe helps correct this stress.

Since a longer second toe is rather common, a patient can go years without thinking that this condition will have any larger medical consequences for them.  Later, when patients–such as the women in the breast cancer study–have to take other medications that can possibly cause further pain, then the ability to eliminate any unnecessary pain becomes a paramount concern for health care providers.  Doctors Morton and Schuler suggest that eliminating obvious problems, like the negative impact of a longer second toe, can help anyone suffering from pain.

About the Author:  Dr. Burton S. Schuler foot doctor, foot specialist, podiatrist  of Panama City, Fl and the director of the Ambulatory Foot Clinics Podiatric Pain Management Center  and is a leading authority on the Morton’s Toe,  Long Second Toe and it associated problems. He is the author of the newly published book about The Morton’s Toe, Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts In the Foot. The book is published by the La Luz Press, Inc and is disturbed national by the Cardinal Publishing Group.  Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts In The Foot, is the story of how one bone in your foot could be the real reason for pains thru out your whole body. It is important because it offer the public new information about why millions of people suffer everyday with aches and pains, and offers new hope to get rid of problems they believed they would have to live with forever. It literally can be the “medical missing link”

Dr. Schuler, graduated from the N. Y. College of Podiatric Medicine in 1975 at the age of twenty-four, and has been in private practice ever since. In 1982, he published his first book, The Agony of De-Feet: A Podiatrist Guide to Foot Care. During his thirty-five year professional career, he has written for Collier’s Encyclopedia and various podiatric journals and publications. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, First in Women, and other publications. Dr. Schuler has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs both here and aboard. He is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management, and the National Board of Podiatric Examiners. Dr. Schuler is certified as a wound specialist from the American Academy of Wound Management. His professional and civic accomplishments have earned his inclusion in the 1999-2002 Who’s Who in America (Marquis).