Michele Curatolo
Somatosensory tests in personalized pain medicine
Somatosensory tests may be useful in personalized pain medicine. Their usefulness should be addressed by randomized controlled trials,
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About my blogs
About my blogs
I discuss topics related to pain management in an accessible way for anyone who wants to know more about this fascinating and still poorly understood area of medicine, including health care professionals, patients, and students.
My purpose is solely educational and non-profit. While I aim to make best use of the available scientific evidence, the content of the blogs reflect primarily my personal opinion.
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Michele Curatolo
- Jun 12
- 4 min
Disc degeneration and low back pain
Disc degeneration is considered a cause of low back pain, but is common among individuals without pain. Does it mean that it is unimportant?
146 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- May 22
- 4 min
Diagnosis of pain from the sacroiliac joint
Clinical criteria can help with the diagnosis of sacroiliac joint pain, but some of them are not better than just guessing.
464 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Apr 20
- 4 min
How to manage an episode of low back pain?
The causes of acute low back pain are largely unknown, and treatments are of uncertain efficacy. However, healing is most likely to happen.
324 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Mar 1
- 3 min
Can a procedure lead to permanent relief of chronic pain?
Frequent patient's questions: "Can you do a nerve block or kill a nerve to treat my chronic pain? Can this be a permanent solution"?
205 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Feb 6
- 3 min
Do antidepressants reduce pain or not?
Antidepressants can relieve pain independent of the presence of depression, likely due to their effect on the pain inhibitory system.
141 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Jan 5
- 4 min
Sense and nonsense of biomarkers in pain medicine
Biomarkers are highly needed in pain medicine. However, measures have to fulfill criteria and validation to be biomarkers.
211 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Nov 16, 2022
- 3 min
Placebo for pain: from enemy to friend
The placebo effect relies on patient’s expectation that a treatment will help. It is a welcome way to enhance pain relief.
118 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Oct 24, 2022
- 5 min
Is the distinction between acute and chronic pain meaningful?
The classification of pain into acute (<3 months duration) and chronic (>3 months) lacks scientific support and clinical usefulness.
253 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Sep 15, 2022
- 2 min
Does an injury lead to long-term opioid use?
Acute injury rarely results in long-term use of opioids.
57 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Aug 24, 2022
- 3 min
Chili pepper to treat chronic pain: how does it work?
Why does capsaicin, a constituent of chili pepper, relieve chronic pain?
1,400 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Jul 20, 2022
- 4 min
Epidural steroids: Long-term improvement, but ...
Epidural steroid injections in older adults: study with 2-years follow-up shows that patients improve, but unlikely due to the injection.
405 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Jul 6, 2022
- 2 min
Acute back pain after osteoporotic fractures: Which medication?
Acute back pain after osteoporotic vertebral fractures is a public health issue. Choosing a medication that limits harm is challenging.
165 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Jun 22, 2022
- 2 min
Neck pain and headache: Can stem from the C1-2 joint
Pain at the upper neck and headache can stem from the C1-2 joint. Steroid injection or surgery can be effective
114 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Jun 8, 2022
- 3 min
Explaining "pain sensitization" to patients
Sensitization of neural pathways is a crucial determinant of chronic pain, and has treatment consequences. How to explain this to patients?
119 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- May 25, 2022
- 3 min
The huge gap between discoveries and availability of effective pain medications
A new research pathway is proposed to translate discoveries of pharmacological targets into effective treatments of pain.
85 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- May 12, 2022
- 4 min
Prognostic nerve blocks: meaningful or meaningless?
Prognostic nerve blocks to predict the effect of a subsequent treatment may be meaningful or not, depending on the nature of the procedure.
541 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Apr 27, 2022
- 2 min
Improve your sleep, mood and physical function, and you may have less pain
In chronic pain, improvement in sleep, psychological and physical functioning may precede reduction in pain.
165 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Apr 13, 2022
- 3 min
Adding a procedure to current treatment of chronic pain
A recent study used a pragmatic approach to demonstrate that adding a hip injection to current treatment improves pain for 6 months.
228 views0 comments
Michele Curatolo
- Apr 6, 2022
- 3 min
Exercise for chronic pain: when patients and health care professionals are not on the same page
Many patients with chronic pain decline therapeutic exercise because it increases pain. Is pain relief the right treatment goal?
115 views0 comments
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