How Effective is Acupuncture in Treating Chronic Pain?

By Lynn Webster, M.D. | December 14, 2015 |

Studies show conflicting results about whether or not acupuncture can help people with chronic pain, but there is evidence that acupuncture works for some people and some types of pain. Even if, as some studies have found, the benefits of acupuncture are all in the head, those benefits could still be worth pursuing. After all,…

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Women in Pain: What We Need to Know

By Lynn Webster, M.D. | November 10, 2015 |

As I put it in my book The Painful Truth, “Pain is an unbidden guest, humanity’s shadow companion down through the ages. It is an interloper, a despoiler of dreams, a thief.” The “thief,” however, does not treat all persons equally. Chronic pain affects one group of people more frequently than any other—women. A study…

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The Painful Truth: Lending a Voice to Pain

By Lynn Webster, M.D. | May 26, 2015 |

At the beginning of my medical career, I met a patient who would change the trajectory of my life. He was a World War I veteran who suffered from arthritis, causing an excruciating grinding noise whenever he bent his limbs. Despite having risked his life for his country, his pain was so excruciating that whenever…

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Solving the Pain Dilemma

By Lynn Webster, M.D. | May 13, 2015 |

Chronic pain affects 1 in 3 Americans and exerts more than a $600-billion drain on the economy annually. It is the largest invisible epidemic we face. Having treated thousands of patients with chronic pain – often when they were at their most vulnerable – I want to improve the future for pain suffers. As one…

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ADDICTION GENE

By Lynn Webster, M.D. | July 2, 2012 |

I met a young man in his early 20s who was seeking help for his opioid addiction. He had started with prescription opioids because they were easily available. His friend gave them to him. He said he used them because his friends were using them. He wanted to fit in. Unfortunately he really liked the…

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