TUESDAY, May 23, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- If you're planning on having knee replacement surgery at some point in the future, it's a good idea to start talking to your doctor now about your options for controlling pain.

That's because new research found that when people had taken powerful opioid painkillers before knee replacement surgery, they had greater pain after the procedure.

Knee replacement is used to treat knee osteoarthritis. But patients spend an average of 13 years before surgery using non-surgical treatments such as physical therapy, injections and painkillers, the study authors noted.

TUESDAY, May 2, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Knocking off some extra pounds might take a harmful load off your knees, researchers report.

Obese and overweight people who lost 5 percent or more of their weight over four years saw less degeneration of their knee cartilage compared with people whose weight stayed stable.

"Our study shows that a lifestyle intervention such as weight loss can slow the process of knee joint degeneration in patients at risk for and with osteoarthritis," said lead researcher Dr. Alexandra Gersing.

"Therefore, it may slow the worsening of symptoms, such as pain and disability," said Gersing, who's with the University of California, San Francisco's department of radiology and biomedical imaging.

WEDNESDAY, April 26, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- One reason women are more likely than men to have complications after hip or knee replacement surgery may be because they're more sensitive to the metals in joint implants, a new study suggests.

Researchers reviewed the cases of more than 2,600 patients who were evaluated for unexplained pain after total hip and/or knee replacement. All had metal implants. None had signs of infection, inflammation or other conditions that would explain their pain.

Sixty percent of the patients were women. They had higher average pain scores than men -- 6.8 vs.

TUESDAY, April 25, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Proponents of mindfulness-based stress reduction claim it can improve relationships, mental health, weight and more. But, one complaint it's unlikely to fix is lower back pain, researchers now say.

Lower back pain doesn't respond to the programs, which embrace meditation, heightened self-awareness and exercise, according to a review of seven prior studies.

Although short-term improvements were reported, "no clinical significance" was found in terms of overall pain or disability when mindfulness was compared to standard treatment, said study lead author Dennis Anheyer. Anheyer is a psychology research fellow in the faculty of medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.

FRIDAY, April 14, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic low back pain can be a challenge to treat, but new research suggests that massage therapy may provide some relief.

"Current medical guidelines actually recommend massage therapy prior to the use of opioid medications for lower back pain," explained William Elder, the study's principle investigator.

"Yet even with those guidelines, physicians and nurse practitioners are not recommending massage therapy," said Elder. He's with the University of Kentucky's departments of family and community medicine and clinical services.

Low back pain is a common problem, and for most people, it's short-lived.

TUESDAY, April 11, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Chiropractors can help ease some cases of low back pain, though their treatments may be no better than taking an over-the-counter pain reliever, a new analysis finds.

The review of 26 clinical trials found that manipulating the spine can bring "modest" relief to people with acute low back pain -- pain that has lasted no more than six weeks.

Chiropractors perform spinal manipulation, as do some doctors, physical therapists and other health professionals. Most insurers, Medicare and Medicaid pay for some chiropractic services, according to the American Chiropractic Association.

WEDNESDAY, April 5, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Hip or knee replacement patients who smoke are at increased risk for infections requiring repeat surgery, researchers report.

They analyzed data from more than 15,000 patients who underwent either total hip or knee replacements between 2000 and 2014. The investigators found that the overall risk of repeat surgery for infections within 90 days was only 0.71 percent.

However, the risk was 1.2 percent for current smokers, compared with 0.56 percent for nonsmokers. After adjusting for other factors, the researchers concluded that current smokers' risk was 80 percent higher than nonsmokers and former smokers.

TUESDAY, March 28, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Knee replacement surgery isn't always a game changer, according to a new study that raises questions about the increasingly common procedure.

The patients who benefit most have severe osteoarthritis. But for people with milder symptoms, the expense might not be justified, researchers determined.

"This study suggests we should reconsider doing this procedure on people who have more mild pain, and less severe knee arthritis and loss of function," said Daniel Riddle. He's a professor of physical therapy and orthopaedic surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Some in the medical community wonder if the procedure is overused, said Riddle, who wasn't involved in the study.