| Finding
Chronic Back Pain Information on the Internet
Information on the treatment and management
of chronic back pain can be found in extensive virtual libraries
throughout the Internet and this information base is growing exponentially
in leaps and bounds each day. It is difficult however to point patients
with chronic back pain to one specific site to satisfy all the questions
that they may have.
In today's technologically sophisticated community, we believe that
most competent Internet users can find all the medical information
that they require on chronic back pain. Generally it is in sorting
the validity of the information that pops up on our screen, and
determining the relevance specifically relating to our Internet
search that requires some explanation. Rather than providing links
to numerous sites that may require frequent updating, we believe
some basic advice on internet "medical surfing" is probably
more helpful.
Using the well-known search engines such as Google, Yahoo and others,
most Internet searchers will find an abundance of information on
the topic of "chronic back pain". Each individual should
then apply the rules of common logic and common sense to determine
if the information is appropriate, up to date and accurate.
Use of the following guidelines can assist you in evaluating the
medical information that you find:
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Look at the qualifications
and credentials of the author offering the knowledge or advice
that you are seeking. If none are offered, then perhaps it
is wise to give the review a pass. One should take notice
as well as to the authors' tone and whether they appear to
have an "axe to grind". Often authors who tend to
be intolerant or dismissive of orthodox accepted therapies
may want to present their own viewpoint of information with
a prejudicial "jaundiced eye", not always fair in
representing all of the facts.
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Locating information on government
or respected organizational sites, especially large national
sites is a good method of finding "vetted" information.
Generally these organizations have qualified individuals or
committees that regularly review information posted on their
sites to ensure accuracy of information prior to posting.
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The information found in a published
article can offer clues as to validity of the presentation.
If a magazine or journal has an established reputation for
presenting scientific material, for example, the New England
Journal of Medicine, Scientific American, or Nature or
is peer reviewed, then the presented material has likely been
reviewed prior to publication by other scientists who believe
that the information which although perhaps not verifiable
at present, has a likely basis in scientific truth.
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Look to see if the information is
recently dated; medicine like many other sciences can quickly
become outdated as new information is discovered and new treatments
identified. |
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