For how we live.
The NIH-funded STArT trial in children and young adults was halted for futility: time to crisis resolution was 60.8 hours with arginine versus 65.8 with placebo, well within the range of chance.
Acute otitis externa is usually treated with ear drops, not tablets. In trials antibiotic-steroid drops cured most people, and guidelines say not to start with oral antibiotics for an uncomplicated case.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is median-nerve compression at the wrist. Cochrane reviews find steroid injections clearly help for about a month, while surgery beats non-surgical care at three and six months.
Up to a third of children get the label, but a review of 145 studies shows doctors do not agree what growing pains are — not even that they involve the legs. Here is what the evidence supports, and the warning signs.
Topical diclofenac and ketoprofen beat their carrier gels for knee osteoarthritis pain, with about 60% of users reporting much less pain. A large network meta-analysis now rates topical diclofenac a first-line option.
A Cochrane review of 39 trials found a steroid injection lowered heel pain by about 6 points on a 100-point scale in the first month, and made no difference by six months. Most cases settle anyway.
For acute ankle sprains, a review found only two poor trials and no clear benefit from ice. For sore muscles, cold-water immersion helps modestly. For low-back pain, a heat wrap has the best support.
In 370 nulliparous women, instilling mepivacaine into the uterus before IUD placement lowered pain by about 15 mm on a 100-mm scale versus saline. It is a real effect, not a cure for the procedure.
Cochrane reviews of paracetamol, ibuprofen and aspirin for tension-type headache find each beats a dummy pill for a minority of people — a real but small effect, with side effects no higher than placebo.
The beliefs — that Black patients' skin is thicker, their nerve endings less sensitive — predicted lower pain ratings and less accurate treatment recommendations for a Black patient in the same experiment.
A double-blind trial found a lidocaine paracervical block lowered pain during IUD placement, most in women who had never given birth. A separate meta-analysis found the benefit hinges on the drug and route.
Ten years of national anti-doping reports show NSAID declarations flat at about 45%, a significant shift away from COX-2 selective drugs, and glucocorticoids making up around 13% of all prohibited-substance findings.