Enhanced Internet Resources for People with Pain

The HealthCentral Network, Inc. and the American Pain Foundation (APF) today announced a collaboration leveraging APF's strength as a pain management information, advocacy and support resource with HealthCentral.com's multimedia capabilities and extensive online community of patients and experts. The partnership was officially kicked off recently with the posting of a blog on the topic of pain written by APF's Executive Director Will Rowe, available at HealthCentral's ChronicPain site. The site will also feature videos of first-person experiences with pain.

"Our inaugural blog is timed for the September Pain Awareness Month observance and furthers the APF's mission to raise public awareness about pain as a critical health issue," said Will Rowe, Executive Director of APF. "HealthCentral's online pain community is keenly interested in the research and policy agenda of APF and my blog will encourage everyone affected by pain to contribute to the fight for fair access to better paincare."

"APF's Pain Information Library complements the extensive patient-contributed content on HealthCentral's sites, providing great synergies for our respective sites," said Chris Schroeder, CEO and President of The HealthCentral Network. Pain management is central to many of HealthCentral.com's featured health conditions including migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, and breast cancer. Each of HealthCentral's Websites combines a base of comprehensive medical information and interactive tools with patient experts and health professionals to help people of all ages manage their conditions and learn from other patients who have first-hand experience.

As a part of this collaboration, the APF will provide a co-branded version of HealthCentral's personal web service that offers people an easy way to create an online community of support for caregiving when a loved one is disabled. HealthCentral is also serving as host for APF's Pain & Creativity Exhibit, a forum for people affected by pain to share their artistic expressions, and for select artists to be honored through print and online publications, that was announced earlier this month.

For more information, visit healthcentral.com

Cincinnati Cosmetic Dentist Purchases Neuromuscular Dentistry Equipment

A cosmetic dentist who treats patients in the Greater Cincinnati area recently purchased a Myotronics K7 Evaluation System to broaden her practice to include neuromuscular dentistry.

The K7 Evaluation system provides Dr. Mindy Munowitz, who serves patients in Cincennati , three technologies for measuring, displaying and storing objective data on physiologic and anatomical status and function: jaw tracking, electromyography and joint sonography. This objective data enhances the diagnostic and treatment considerations with information not previously available, Munowitz said. Munowitz has had remarkable success in using neuromuscular dentistry techniques to treat patients suffering from migraines and temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMJ, she said.

"This new equipment will enhance what we're already doing in the way of treating patients neuromuscularly," she said.

Neuromuscular dentistry looks to the hard and soft tissues, muscles and nerves when creating a treatment regimen, while traditional dentistry evaluates primarily the teeth, bones and gums.

Many people don't think to make a dentist appointment when they suffer from headaches, neck pain and facial pain, but often these symptoms are associated with the jaw, Munowitz said.

Munowitz treats those symptoms using Ultra Low Frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Neural Stimulation, or ULF-TENS. Simply put, this stimulation emits pulses to gently massage the jaw muscles and relax them. ULF-TENS relieves the pain by stimulating the body's production of endorphins, the body's natural anesthetic.

The positive feedback Munowitz hears from some patients is that their doctors no longer have to prescribe migraine medications to them.

Neuromuscular dentistry can treat more than just migraines and TMJ symptoms. Other physical problems and symptoms it can be used for include:

• muscle tension headaches
• Sinus headaches
• Face or jaw pain
• Muscle twitching
• Neck, shoulder or back pain
• Forward head posturing
• Teeth clenching or grinding
• Clicking, popping or grating sounds in the jaw joints
• Soreness or pain in or around the jaw joints
• Limited jaw movement
• Ringing in the ears
• Congestion or stuffiness of the ears