pain management

How many workers hide pain?

“Don’t be a pain”

January 1, 2020

Locker room talk. A fellow was saying he was in bed for ten days after having his big toe operated on. “Ten days for your big toe?” “Yeah, the doc said my joint was shot and if I didn’t have a pin put in, I couldn’t walk and would be in a wheelchair the rest of my life. Man, I’d wake up in the middle of the night and my toe was killing me.”

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For Your Health & Wellness: Coping with pain

11 alternatives to meds

January 1, 2020

Several techniques can help reduce stress and promote relaxation. Listening to soothing, calming music can lift your mood -- and make living with chronic pain more bearable.

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For Your Health & Wellness: CBD oil, miracle cure or snake oil?

December 4, 2019

The cannabis plant, Cannabis sativa, contains a number of active ingredients, including THC and CBD. THC, the most active ingredient of marijuana, is the component that makes a person high when either smoked or ingested. CBD, on the other hand, is not psychoactive: it doesn't induce a mind-altering effect.

Report: Dangerous jobs, opioid overdose deaths linked in Mass.

November 4, 2019

A report by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) shows a strong correlation between hazardous jobs and opiate addiction and overdoses in that state. The 21-page study titled Opioid-related Overdose Deaths in Massachusetts by Industry and Occupation, 2011-2015 found that there were a total of 5,580 opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts from 2011 through 2015. Of the 4,284 worker death certificates deemed comprehensive enough to study, 1,096 were found to be employed in construction/extraction.

When you pick up your prescription…

You may get extra counseling

July 17, 2019

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is developing new guidance intended to help make people fully aware of the abuse or addiction possibilities of the prescriptions they’re taking. Drug Abuse and Dependence Section of Labeling for Human Prescription Drug and Biological Products - Content and Format doesn’t just deal with prescription medications that are scheduled under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Medications not scheduled under the CSA that have dependence potential are also addressed.

A NIOSH Science Blog post

Low back pain among workers: The problem and what to do about it

Kristen Iker MPH CAPT. Sara E. Luckhaupt MD, MPH

July 8, 2019

Are you a worker who is experiencing low back pain? You aren’t alone! A recently published article from NIOSH reports that more than 1 in 4 (26%) working adults experience low back pain. Some groups of workers have more pain than others. For example, workers in construction occupations are more likely to experience low back pain than those in other occupations. And, workers 45-64 years old have more pain than younger workers.

Surviving cancer…but experiencing chronic pain

June 27, 2019

A new report finds about one in three cancer survivors (34.6%) reported having chronic pain, representing nearly 5.4 million cancer survivors in the United States. The report, appearing as a Research Letter in JAMA Oncology, finds one in six survivors (16%), representing about 2.5 million people in the U.S., reported suffering from high impact chronic pain that restricts daily functioning. Those rates are about double the rates in the general population.

The constant pressure for construction workers to work in pain

It’s always been there - will it ever go away?

Dave Johnson

October 4, 2018

Perhaps you read about the NIOSH study published in late August that found construction workers die of drug overdoses (not while on the job) at a rate six times higher than the general work population. Heroin was the main killer, followed by prescription opioids.

NIOSH confronts the opioid crisis

July 9, 2018

That the opioid crisis is wreaking havoc on individuals’ lives, tearing families apart and straining municipal emergency response resources is well documented. What is getting less attention is the effects opioid use and misuse may have in the workplace – and the role of work-related injuries in making a person susceptible to opioid addiction.

How did Ohio reduce number of opioid-dependent workers?

March 14, 2018

One state’s successful strategies for reducing the number of injured workers at risk for opioid addiction will be shared with workers compensation experts from around the country at the upcoming Workers Compensation Research Institute’s (WCRI) conference in Boston. In 2011, the OBWC found that more than 8,000 injured workers were opioid-dependent for taking the equivalent of at least 60 mg a day of morphine for 60 or more days. By the end of 2017, that number was reduced to 3,315, which meant 4,714 fewer injured workers were at risk for opioid addiction, overdose, and death than in 2011.