Thus - Megan was ecstatic. But - of course - now we have the bogeymen of the medical industry - the Connecticut Workman's Compensation board. The first reaction of the WC to this "largesse" that was being offered to Megan was - "No Way". We cannot do this - for it is costing much money. So the WC is to have a hearing - at some time (who really knows when) and will decide upon a strategy to deny all services and medications to Megan - for it is the way of the WC. So now Megan is in limbo - hanging only by the hope that her medications will outlast the time that it takes to have this hearing - and attempt once again to get on with her life. You just have to love the tenderhearted folks down at the Connecticut Workman's Compensation board. Woe be unto anyone who must deal with this particular WC Board to secure medical attention.
This week's article covers some of the current and recent research into the nature of neuropathic pain and its causes (etiologies) and what can be done to abate this pain completely. The referenced article was authored by GARY J. BENNETT of the Allegheny University of the Health Sciences
INTRODUCTION
The past decade has seen great progress in understanding its causes and in finding new drugs that promise great benefit. An early outcome of the research has been the observation that the new drugs do not blunt normal pain sensation-a pattern beginning to find explanation through the realization that neural pain circuits rewire themselves, both anatomically and biochemically, after nerve injury.
Damage to a somatic sensory nerve can be expected to cause a somatic sensory loss. In many patients, however, negative symptoms such as numbness are joined by positive sensations, involving in almost all cases some sort of false sensation of pain. The experience can range from mild dysesthesia to excruciating torture. Indeed, some patients are unable to work, or walk, or sleep; some can hardly wear clothes, whose contact with the skin is experienced as an unbearable burning.
