Sperling Medical Group

reading & research

Facet Pain

Landmark clinical study shows MRgFUS effective for bone mets pain.

A Landmark Study on Palliation of Bone Mets PainWhen a primary cancer such as cancer of the breast, prostate or lung spreads to the bone (bone mets), treatment strategies become complex. In today’s world of oncology, better systemic chemotherapies can add months and even years to a patient’s life; in addition, local cancer control of […] KEEP READING

Understanding cartilage increases awareness of its importance.

What You Should Know About CartilageOne of the most fascinating components of the human body is cartilage, an incredibly versatile material. Trying to describe cartilage is like the six blind men who try to figure out what an elephant is: “The elephant is like a pillar,” said the man who touched his leg. “Oh no! […] KEEP READING

Essential tremor gets worse in stressful situations.

How Stress Makes Essential Tremor WorseEssential tremor (ET) is the most common form of uncontrollable rhythmic shaking, though it is sometimes misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease. The involuntary trembling results from abnormal communication between certain areas of the brain (cerebellum, thalamus, and brain stem). It is estimated that 10 million Americans suffer from ET, though many […] KEEP READING

Study questions need for facet joint diagnostic injections.

2 Reasons to Skip Diagnostic Injections for Facet Joint Pain Is there anyone who looks forward to getting a shot? Even though today’s needles are incredibly thin, and doses for things like a flu vaccine are relatively tiny, I suspect that most people experience momentary fluttering in their stomach or a slight increase in heart […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

Breast Cancer Bone Mets Affects the Whole Family

Everyone’s heart goes out to a woman diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. At this point, the cancer has spread beyond the breast and nearby lymph nodes to other organs, including bones, lung, liver, brain and skin. Naturally, the patient herself is the main focus of concern for those who love her. However, cancer is […] CONTINUE

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Bone mets

Locked facet joints are easy to diagnose and treat

When Facet Joints Become Locked   The facet joints are small, cartilage lined points of contact where the bones (vertebrae) in the spinal column meet the vertebrae above and below. See the illustration.They are located toward the outside of each vertebra, and they both allow mobility and yet limit its range. The facet joints that […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

MRI offers excellence in detecting bone mets.

MRI or Bone Scintigraphy: Which is Best? What comes to mind when you hear “nuclear”? Some people might think of a nuclear family. Others might think of nuclear energy. For most people, nuclear medicine will hardly be the first expression to pop into their heads. Yet nuclear medicine – which is not yet even 100 […] CONTINUE

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Bone mets

The GABA hypothesis may explain what causes essential tremor.

What Causes Essential Tremor? Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder. It is characterized by involuntary rhythmic shaking of the hands, arms, head, voice or other areas of the body. It may be more pronounced during a deliberate action, such as reaching for something, buttoning a shirt, combing hair, etc. It is not […] CONTINUE

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Essential Tremor

Describing what facet joint pain feels like can be a challenge.

Words Can’t Describe Facet Joint Pain The whole notion of pain, and how every individual experiences pain, is up for debate. We don’t know how another person experiences pain … Miriam Toews If you have back pain, did you ever try to describe it to someone? Doctors can assess the amount of pain using a scale […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

Study confirms merits of MRgFUS for facet pain.

Spanish Study Confirms Merits of MRgFUS for Facet Pain It’s always exciting when a new way comes along to manage chronic pain with less medication, invasiveness and risk of complications. Lower back pain from facet joint osteoarthritis that does not respond to physical therapy, exercise, heat/cold applications and over the counter anti-inflammatories is particularly difficult […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

MRgFUS is a noninvasive alternative to facet pain injections.

4 Needles You May Not Want in Your Back One of the conventional treatments for facet joint pain is x-ray guided injections into the inflamed joints. The facet joints are located between each vertebra (backbone) where the small outer projections of one vertebra meet those above and below. These joints, cushioned with cartilage, allow spinal […] CONTINUE

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Facet Pain

10 facts about your bones may fascinate you.

Ten Facts About Your Bones How much do you know about your skeleton and its bones? Most of us don’t think about our inner architecture every day, much like working or shopping in a multistory building without thinking about the framework of steel that supports it. Here are ten fascinating facts about your bones: You […] CONTINUE

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Bone mets

MRI can track bone mets treatment response in prostate cancer

Prostate Cancer Bone Mets: Tracking Response to Treatment Using MRI MRI offers new hope for evaluating how well prostate cancer bone metastasis (PCa bone mets) are responding to chemotherapy. An exciting new paper (April, 2017) by a British team at the Institute of Cancer Research (Sutton, England) reports their original pilot study confirming MRI tracking […] CONTINUE

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Bone mets