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Achieve pain control through diet, not painkillers.

Pain is not a disease, but often a result or a symptom of disease.

Pain is a subjective experience – the perception of pain varies with individuals. Pain is often difficult to describe, but you know it when it strikes you. Nobody is immune from pain throughout lifespan. Some learn to accept pain as part of the unpleasant side of life, while others fight pain tooth and nail.

Your diet plays a significant role on pain control.

Pain is often connected with diet, given that it is related to disease, which may be a result of a poor diet. You reap what you sow, and you become what you eat.

Fortunately, foods not only can prevent pain but also effectively fight pain.

Research findings have shown that foods work against pain, even acute and chronic pain. Research studies have also shown how and why foods work against pain.

Foods have nutrients (not junk foods), which can work miracles in the human body against disease and pain.

At the site of injury, nutrients can reduce further damage done to cells and tissues. In addition, appropriate nutrients can cool your body’s inflammatory response to the injury inflicted. Furthermore, they provide analgesia on pain nerves, thereby instrumental in alleviating, if not suppressing, the pain. Finally, good nutrients from foods may enhance your brain’s chemicals to reduce pain sensitivity.

Different types of pain require different types of foods or nutrients for optimum pain control. For example, if you have arthritis, you need to use diet to stop the joint damage as well as to suppress the pain caused by the damage. If you have cancer pain, you may want to use foods to control the disease progress, thereby minimizing the resultant pain.

Research has shown that certain foods have certain food nutrients for different kinds of pain. For example, brown rice (not bleached white rice, which is partially depleted of its nutrients) soothe your digestive tract. Ginger has been used by the Chinese for thousands of years to cure migraine and headaches. Cranberry can alleviate pain due to bladder infections. Vitamin B6 enhances your brain’s resistance to pain or its pain sensitivity.

Therefore, it is important to choose pain-free foods as your staple foods to avoid pain in the first place.

Pain-free foods are foods that do not cause any pain or allergy leading to pain. They include rice, green vegetables, colored vegetables (with the exception of tomatoes). They are all safe for consumption in any amount.

Then, you should add other foods that may ease your pain, that is, foods that improve your blood flow to prevent inflammation or stagnation; or avoid foods that tend to cause blockage in your blood vessels. All dairy products and foods rich in animal protein are not friendly to blood flow. Foods rich in fiber help your body remove unwanted fats and cholesterol, which may cause blockage and inflammation. It is also important that you eliminate any food that causes allergy and reaction in your body.

If intake of foods is inadequate in pain control, you may consider taking supplements of herbs, extracts, and vitamins to enhance your pain control.

Author: Stephen Lau
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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You have a pesky headache, so you reach for the aspirin. You can ice a bruise to reduce swelling. When youve had surgery, painkillers are prescribed. The pain resulting from these situations may be acute but thankfully, its usually temporary. Chronic pain, though, lasts for days, months or even years, undermining quality of life. Chronic pain is common, yet managing it successfully can be elusive.

Chronic pain is a complex condition, involving the source and history of the pain how it has been treated, the perception of pain by the individual and the psychological toll it has taken. If youve experienced chronic pain, you may have suffered lethargy, fatigue, depression or anxiety. Dont ignore untreated, persistent pain; it could be symptomatic of a disease or injury that will only get worse without treatment.

How we address chronic pain

We first diagnose the source of chronic pain, and review its history, treatment, if any, and results. This may be difficult, because pain may have no discernable source, such as the widespread pain of fibromyalgia. Pain, with or without a known source is real, and should be taken seriously.

We find that a multidisciplinary treatment program is the best pain management approach, because it takes addresses the whole person, including physiological and psychological aspects of pain. Pain management is not all about medications. With appropriate medications, complementary therapies and lifestyle changes, patients engage in their recovery and gain a renewed sense of control of their lives. While a cure may not always be possible, managing pain should be.

Common causes of chronic pain i

These include headaches, back pain, arthritis, cancer pain, post-injury and post-operative pain, and neuropathic pain, which result from nerve injury. Treatment is specific to the individual. For example, someone with arthritis may need occasional over the counter medications, while another is prescribed regular aerobic exercise or physical therapy and prescription antiflammatory drugs.

Americans are conditioned to look for the quick fix, the magic pill. In some cases narcotic prescription drugs are appropriate, but the majority of chronic pain cases, theres a variety of effective and safer therapies, including some exciting new drugs. These therapies usually take more time to work, requiring more patience.

At Hanley Center, hanleycenter.org we treat many patients recovering from addictions to pain and other medications. Addiction is a brain disease with genetic components, so talk to your doctor about appropriate, non-narcotic pain medications if you have a family history of addiction, or if you are in recovery. Narcotics can also significantly change ones perception of pain, often making it intolerable. The impulse is to over-medicate. This dangerous and probably wont lesson pain in the long run.

Pain medications

Drugs traditionally used to treat chronic pain are acetaminophens, such as Tylenol, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, such as Aleve (OTC) or Naprosyn (prescription). These drugs inhibit hormones that stimulate nerve cells the injury site, causing swelling and infection. Opioids such as morphine and codeine can be very effective for treating severe chronic pain. They block pain by locking onto opioid receptors in the brain. But they can be addictive and can cause lack of concentration, drowsiness, dizziness and constipation.

Newer drugs to treat pain have often been developed to treat other conditions such as seizures or depression. Duloxetine (Cymbalta) is an antidepressant, and is effective in treating diabetic neuropathy. Neurantin (brand Lyrica) affects chemicals and nerves in the body that cause seizures, and can treat some types of pain, as in herpes virus or shingles.

Managing pain with narcotics, other prescription medications and OTC drugs can cause serious side effects and interactions. Inform your doctor about all current medications.

The mind/body connection

Why do some people totally recover from injuries and others with similar injuries suffer for years? How a person physiologically responds to pain may determine the development of chronic pain. For example, after the initial trauma, the bodys neurological processes may cause the central nervous system to create a memory of the pain. And if the injured person relies solely on medication and doesnt carry through with prescribed physical therapy and exercise regime, chronic pain can become crippling.

There are many pain management methods. Some of these include:

• Acupuncture
• Expressive and creative therapies include art, music, movement, and journaling.
• Cognitive behavior therapy
• Massage
• Meditation
• Breathing exercises

Appropriate Exercise is important for almost anyone suffering from chronic pain. Weight bearing exercise is therapeutic for osteopina, the precursor of osteoarthritis. Try aqua-aerobics if walking is difficult. Yoga can be gentle, strenuous, or meditative. Many find Tai Chi and Jin Shin Jitsu healing.

Biofeedback: By using an electronic machine, the patient becomes aware of and gains control of muscle tension, heart rate and skin temperature, then learns to affect changes in her response to pain.

Attitude is key to successfully managing pain. Having a routine, a support system, paying attention to proper nutrition, getting adequate sleep, and not skipping exercise are all effective. Join a walking group, a gentle yoga class, the Y for aqua aerobics. Get moving and get involved.

Author: Barbara Krantz, D.O.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Pain is our nations hidden epidemicmore than 75 million Americans live with some kind of chronic or recurrent pain. Pain is the number one reason people seek medical care.

Inadequate treatment of pain has serious physiological, psychological and social consequences. Pain uses up all reserves in the immune system, thus leaving it weakened and leaves the person susceptible to other disease. Pain diminishes the quality of nearly every aspect of a persons lifeincluding sleep, work, social and sexual relations.

Pain is simply a message sent by the body to the brain, signaling the presence of disease, injury, stress or strain. Without pain, you would be unaware of many problemstorn ligaments to cancer. Pain is simply, Mother Nature’s way of telling you something is awry.

Traditional medicine focuses on killing the messenger with narcotics, anti-depressants and tranquilizers that take care of the symptoms, but not the cause of the pain. This treatment only masks symptoms of serious dis-ease, but can also create a lifetime cycle of chronic pain.

The good news is with adequate holistic care nearly all chronic pain can be eliminated or greatly eased.

Unfortunately, there are barriers that prevent people from engaging in the most effective pain treatments. Pain carries a stigma. Many people with pain are fearful or embarrassed to let others know they are in pain because they believe they will appear weak or they will be accused of making it up to avoid lifes travail.

Another major barrier is government and insurance policies impede adequate pain treatment by restricting access to holistic treatmentsuch as: Chiropractic, Acupressure, Acupuncture, Metaphysical HealingMind, Body and Spiritusing Hypnosis, Rolfing, Massage, Biofeedback, Cranio Sacral Therapies, Body Walking, Bodywork and Movement Therapies.

Another important part of holistic treatment is herbal remedies. Herbs have been used for centuries for their pain relieving qualities. These herbs are recommended for pain relief:

Cramps and Spasms: angelica, cramp bar, kava, rosemary, valerian root.

Nerve Pain: capsaicin, chamomile, gotu kola, licorice, white willow.

Back Pain: hops, wood betony, passion flower. Migraine: feverfew, linden, skullcap.

Headaches: peppermint, spearmint.

Joint pain: ginger, sea cucumber.

Sniffing or applying essential oils is believed to change brain chemistry so that pleasurable neuro-transmitters called endorphins are released to relieve pain. Geranium, jasmine, juniper, lavender, peppermint, rose, rosemary and thyme are oils commonly used to ease pain.

As the body ages the ability to manufacture or produce certain elements diminishes and thus diminishes the ability to short-circuit the cycle of chronic pain. Green lipped sea mussels, glucosamine, sea cucumber, spirulina, Sam-e, HGH (Human Growth Hormone), MSM (Methulsuflonydmethane) and melatonin, aid joint, muscle, head, teeth, jaw and general tissue pain.

Meditation is highly recommended to calm the mind so that it is not racing with thoughts and anxieties that might be contributing to an unnecessary belief in the existence of pain. There are hundreds of different meditation techniques. They fit into three categories: concentrative, mindful and transcendental meditation.

Eating a well balanced diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables can raise your pain threshold or resistance to pain. A deficiency in any of the main vitamins (A, B, C, D or E) can cause chronic pain. Vitamin E is used to treat joint pain. A deficiency in calcium, iron, magnesium and other minerals can lower your pain threshold. A calcium magnesium supplement taken in a 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium relieves joint pain and headaches. Manganese is a vitamin that is sometimes used for chronic headaches and neuralgia. A deficiency of the B vitamins can cause nervousness, headaches and chronic pain.

Research indicates that bodily functions that were previously thought to be beyond conscious control, such as chronic pain, can be controlled thorough the use of visualization. Guided imagery encourages the sufferer to think in pictures that eliminate negative thoughts thus raising levels of pleasurable brain chemicals, such as serotonin, decreasing anxiety and increasing the effectiveness of the immune system. Through guided imagery, the mind brings forth mental scenes in order to better direct the body’s energy. For instance, if a person is suffering from a stabbing pain, she/he might want to imagine a knife being removed from the spot and a subsequent glowing feeling of relief. Guided imagery has been used successfully to manage headaches, sinus problems, arthritis and cancer.

Inadequate pain treatment has an enormous toll on the U.S. economy. The National Institute of Health estimates that pain costs the American public over $100 billion per year in medical expenses, lost wages and other costs.

Adequate pain treatment requires educating yourself, a support system and willingness to buck traditional medical treatmentsi.e. pain medication and surgery.

Author: Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera News