Are lost tooth and body pain linked?

September 14, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My husband, age 59, recently lost a tooth. He dentist “glued” it back in place with some sort of bonding substance. Since then, the tooth frequently loosens and falls out. My husband now keeps a super glue on hand and reattaches it himself.

Around the same time his tooth fell out, he started complaining of pain traveling throughout his body. Sometimes it is in his wrist, which causes swelling, and other times it is in his hips, causing him to shuffle when he walks. Other times, he says he feels it’s in his blood, resulting in an all-over pain. He claims that he will often feel better after physical activity. He takes ibuprofen regularly to control the pain.
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Reader needs alternative to pulled medication

March 6, 2011 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I am 73 years old. Owing to arthritis and many broken bones, I have been taking Darvocet with good results. Now the Food and Drug Administration (thanks to Public Citizen) has removed it from the market. I have now been put on a stronger drug (Vicodin). Are there any other medicines you could mention? I have not had much success with the new medication.

DEAR READER: In November 2010, the FDA removed Darvon (propoxyphene) and Darvocet (propoxyphene/acetaminophen) from the market. They also asked generic-drug makers to stop marketing medications that contained propoxyphene. This came after the manufacturer of the drugs completed a new study (at the request of the FDA) that showed propoxyphene put patients at risk of potentially serious and sometimes fatal heart-rhythm abnormalities. Propoxyphene was banned in the United Kingdom in 2005 and in Europe a few years later. It has been a controversial medication for decades.
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Pain rules senior citizen’s life

November 25, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My mom is 92 and has macular degeneration, so someone reads her your column every morning. It’s heartbreaking to see the horrendous pain that she is in. It’s extreme from her hip down to the foot on her right leg, and it travels, as well.

She has severe arthritis — bone rubbing on bone in her hip because the cartilage is gone, and her sciatic nerve is being pinched. She has spinal stenosis and fibromyalgia as well, as far as we can tell.

She’s tried things from your column from time to time. She’s been to pain doctors, had five shots, acupuncture, seen a chiropractor and has had physical therapy. [Read more...]

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Cortisone-injection frequency up for debate

November 6, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: Could you tell me how often someone can have cortisone injections? My mother had some in her shoulders. They worked great, but now the pain and stiffness are back with a vengeance.

DEAR READER: Cortisone can be injected into joints such as the ankle, knee, shoulder and other areas to relieve pain and inflammation. They have been known to help osteoarthritis, gout, carpal-tunnel syndrome, bursitis, plantar fasciitis and a host of other conditions. About 30 years ago, corticosteroids were given with great regularity. Today, however, a different approach is taken. Some physicians restrict a person to three injections a year, others to three in a lifetime. [Read more...]

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Soap under the sheets for cramps

September 14, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My wife follows your column in our local newspaper. She read about placing a bar of soap under the bedsheets, but needs more explanation. She suffers a lot of pains and seeks whatever help is available.

DEAR READER: The soap-under-the-sheets remedy is very simple. Place an unwrapped bar of soap under the bottom bedsheet nearest to the affected area. Some readers have had success using wrapped soap, as well. It was originally recommended for nighttime leg cramps but has also been found to be beneficial for other nighttime aches and pains in other areas, such as the shoulders, feet, back and neck. The soap may need to be replaced once in a while, say every three to six months, but it still retains its cleaning ability so it does not need to be thrown away. I suggest your wife try it since she has nothing to lose other than her pain.

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Surgeon failed to properly inform patient

July 11, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: In mid-September 2009, I had a lung lobectomy and was in the hospital for about 2-1/2 weeks. There were complications, including atrial fibrillation and a delay in the lung sealing, which caused the drain tubes to remain in for most of my stay.

I was told that I would be in the hospital between five and seven days and back at work within three months. As yet, I have not been able to return to work.

Prior to the surgery, the only thing that was brought to my attention was that sometimes things “go wrong,” and when I was discharged from the hospital, I was given minimal instructions. For some naive reason, I thought that if I woke up from the anesthesia that things had “gone right.”
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When a toothache isn’t a toothache

February 2, 2010 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: My son is 56 years old. Two years ago, he had a tooth pulled that resulted in a dry socket. After five weeks of pain, he went to a different dentist, who pulled more of his teeth. My son was told that this would stop the pain. When it didn’t, he was given pain medication. After nearly two years, he was advised to go to a neurologist because the pain was affecting his entire face and jaw and occasionally his ears.
The neurologist told him that he should go see some professor at the University of Pennsylvania. This person has now been treating my son for three months. His medication has been increased to the maximum dose, but he is still in pain, and he now has a diagnosis of odontalgia.
You have helped so many other people that I hope you can help my son, too. [Read more...]

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Lithotripsy may help prevent kidney-stone agony

January 31, 2008 By

DEAR DR. GOTT: I was recently diagnosed with kidney stones. The pain was one of the worst I have ever experienced. I was treated with pain medication, hydrated with a saline solution and given a CT scan. One of the stones passed that morning and I was sent home. The follow up doctor visit revealed that I have three more stones in my kidney that I was told would eventually make their way down my urinary tract which will also be painful. I am now somewhat paranoid waiting for the new pain that will come at anytime. I have a visit scheduled in 6 weeks but in the meantime I was told to drink eight to 10 glasses of water to keep the acid content in my kidneys diluted and basically just wait. I do some traveling and the thought of this pain hitting me again while flying or in another state is agonizing.
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