pain relief
Relieve Back Pain Naturally
April 17, 2009 | 
Author Back pain is one of humanity’s most repeated complaints. Back pain is one of the most common medical problems today, affecting 8 out of 10 people at some point during their lives. The pain can range from a dull constant ache to a sudden, sharp pain. This conditions may be the result of an infection in the bone (osteomyelitis) or in the spinal cord. Pain in the lower back or low back pain is by far the most common concern, affecting up to 90% of Americans at some point in their lifetime. Back pain is a common problem most frequently caused by overusing or misusing the muscles of the back. The pain may not be prevented completely, but there are things you can do to reduce the severity or frequency.
Treatment
Treatment of back problems should be directed at the cause. Treatments will range from doing nothing to spinal surgery. Many find relief from back pain through stretching exercises or alternative therapies like yoga, but chronic back pain may require medication and treatment that is more intensive. There are trouble-free home treatment along with proper body mechanics, which will often heal your back within a few weeks and keep it functional for the long haul.
One of the simplest ways to relieve back pain is to use hot and cold compressed. You must be sure alternate the compresses. First do five minutes as hot as you can stand it. Then one minute of an ice cold compress. Repeat this five to seven times. You will be amazed at how well this works. This brings great temporary relief.
Here are some examples of common herbs used to treat back pain:
Some natural pain reliever:
Feverfew
Burdock
Stringing Nettle
Willow Bark
Ginger
Here are some natural anti-inflammatory:
Saw Palmetto
Rosemary
Bromelain
Cat’s Claw
Licorice
Valeria
And here are some antispasmodics:
Angelica
Cramp Bark
Black Haw
Exercises
Exercises are important to prevent, reduce, and ultimately get rid of the pain. They must consist of stretching exercises. These include exercised for the back and leg muscles. Any exercise program must have strength, stamina, and stabilizing exercises also. These include exercises for the back, stomach and leg muscles. There are particular exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles in the abdomen, buttocks, and back can help stabilize the spine and decrease strain on he disk that cushion the spine and the ligaments that hold it in place.
In conclusion, we must realize that back pain is not a diagnosis, it is a symptom of an underlying condition. Back pain is a symptom that can arise from many causes. Being one of humanity’s most frequent complaints, you can be sure though back pain may not be prevented completely, but there are natural things that you can do to reduce the severity or frequency.
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Can Hypnosis Help to Eliminate Pain?
Pain is a subject that touches everyone. After all, it is a human condition from which we all suffer at one time or another. There are headaches, dental procedures, sports injuries, broken bones, soft-tissue injuries, and psychosomatic pain.
Research shows that 75% to 80% of all adults will experience lower back pain at some time in their lives. Approximately 40 million Americans suffer from arthritis pain and as many as 45 million suffer from chronic, recurring headaches. There are thousands of people every year who suffer the agony of surgical interventions and thousands more who endure the pain of debilitating or terminal illnesses.
All of this pain falls into two basic categories: (1) acute pain, which is of short duration and (2) chronic pain, which continues for weeks, months or years.
Most people respond to pain – whether acute or chronic – by taking drugs of some kind. But drugs are often a temporary solution.
What few people realize is that the ancient art of hypnosis offers a safe, effective alternative for reducing sensitivity to pain.
Hypnosis has been shown effective in the management of various types of pain. Besides providing an effective solution for maladies such as headaches and acute injuries, hypnosis offers a unique solution for those suffering from chronic conditions like back pain and arthritis as well as intermediate and advanced stages of cancer. Studies show that patients with chronic diseases require fewer painkillers to achieve pain relief when they practice hypnosis. These same patients exhibit fewer signs of anxiety and experience greater comfort during medical procedures.
Hypnosis also has been shown to be effective in reducing nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients.
The most effective approach for acute pain appears to be the use of hypnotic suggestions focusing on anxiety reduction and minimizing the importance of the pain. For chronic pain, it is more effective to confront the pain directly under hypnosis, dealing with both the pain’s physical and psychological effects.
Another area where hypnosis offers significant positive results is in dealing with pre- and post-operative patients. Using hypnosis in preparation for surgery has been shown to reduce the experience of pain during surgery, resulting in the need for less anesthetics. Hypnosis as a pain management tool with surgical patients also has been shown to reduce nausea and greatly increase the recovery rate in most patients, thereby truncating the length of time spent in the hospital. (That creates another rarely mentioned positive result: reduced medical costs!)
But efficacy and lower medical expenses are not the only positives related to the use of hypnosis for pain management. This modality has no dangerous side effects. Unlike medications, hypnosis does not become less effective with use and does not require stronger and stronger doses to cope with pain. While patients may have to ingest costly medications several times a day for years, they have the potential for reducing or eliminating their pain in just a few hypnotic sessions for significantly less cost.
Does hypnosis always work? In the area of pain control, everyone can be helped to SOME degree. There are essentially five categories into which subjects fall:
1. Those who find total and permanent relief.
2. Those that have a decrease in the severity of pain.
3. Those who experience pain relief initially, but who need occasional reinforcement.
4. Those that experience intermittent relief.
5. Those that still have pain, but feel 10-30% less pain than before.
What accounts for these differences in relief? The answer appears to be the patient’s susceptibility to hypnosis – the level of relaxation reached during the hypnotic sessions. The deeper the relaxation, the more effective the pain reduction.
Certainly, no treatment for pain – whether chemical, physical or psychological – is effective all the time. However, hypnosis has shown over and over again that it can help people reduce or eliminate both acute and chronic pain. Best of all, it works its magic without any side effects.
As a safe, effective alternative for reducing sensitivity to pain, hypnosis is second to none.
Have You Tried Reflexology?
One form of alternative treatment for pain relief that is becoming more and more popular is reflexology. This natural method uses your feet to treat your whole body and is gentle and painless.
Reflexology can be used to achieve good health and balance or to alleviate symptoms from stress, migraines, infertility, back pain, arthritis and injury. It is not a means to cure ailments but rather a method to soothe and ease pain without the side effects of medications. Reflexology can speed the healing process and may be used alongside traditional medicine and medications.
The benefits of reflexology extend past simply relieving pain. This alternative method of healing can also be used to achieve balance and health as well as to maintain good health.
If you are thinking of adding reflexology to your regime, then you must take care when selecting your practitioner. Since reflexology is becoming more and more popular, you should have plenty to pick from in your area. Make sure the practitioner you choose has the appropriate qualifications and is someone that you feel comfortable with. If you do not like your practitioner or they do not have a demeanor that is soothing to you, your sessions could be adversely affected.
Your first session will be mostly a learning session for the practitioner. This is a time for them to get to know about you and your problems so that they can map out the best course of treatment. This is actually the most important part of the therapy as learning about the patient is critical to choosing the treatment that will best suit your needs. You will also receive your first reflexology session using your feet. Plan an hour for each treatment. Once the practitioner zeros in on where your pain is, they will be able to use your feet to treat your inner organs.
After the session, pay particular attention to how you react as this information is important feedback for your practitioner. It is important that you report back your reactions so be sure to write them down and bring the paper to your next session. Everyone responds differently to treatment, but most people report a feeling of total relaxation and well being. Remember, the healing process is different for everyone and can take time so don’t expect miracles on your first visit.
Reflexology is a great alternative method to relieving pain or just maintaining your general well being. It is totally natural, non invasive and has no adverse side effects. Why suffer needlessly from back pain, migraines or any other ailment when you could give reflexology a try?
Living with Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a chronic and painful condition that is extremely hard to diagnose. The main symptoms are constant pain and stiffness in the musculoskeletal parts of the body, soft tissue tenderness and sleep disturbances leading to extreme tiredness. The pain is mostly felt in the neck, back, pelvic girdle and hands, though any other parts of the body may be affected.
This disease is very hard to diagnose because so many of the symptoms are similar to other problems like chronic fatigue, rheumatism and arthritis. Doctors must rely a great deal on their patients’ description of symptoms. There is a manual standardized test that can be given to discover if there is pain at specified points of the body. If 11 out of 18 of these specified points are tender, and the patient has had pain in all four quadrants of the body for at least three months then Fibromyalgia is certainly suspected.
A compounding problem is that these symptoms can come and go from week to week. Numbness, tingling and burning may also be present and the pain can be affected by emotional stress, trauma and also by weather conditions such as humidity and cold. Too little or too much activity can also play a part in the amount of pain experienced.
Sometimes FM can be triggered by an illness or injury, but it is also thought to be genetic. New research has shown that it may be caused by an interpretive defect of the central nervous system that causes abnormal pain perception.
Once the condition has been diagnosed, there is much the patient can do to relieve the symptoms. Certainly the advice of a medical health-care provider should be sought and followed, but there are many alternative treatments that offer relief from the symptoms and most doctors agree that sufferers of FM should put into place a multi-faceted treatment regimen that includes nutrition, exercise, dietary supplements, acupuncture, aroma-therapy, relaxation techniques and even the use of hot-cold therapies and humor to aid in pain relief.
Over the counter pain relief medication such as ibuprofen can be used, while low doses of anti-depressants from the doctor can certainly help the sufferer to get better sleep. Lidocaine injections into tender pain points may also be needed for relief. Gentle exercise and stretching will prevent the muscles from wasting away and is also beneficial in reducing pain and stiffness
Because living with a chronic illness such as FM can be so debilitating, sufferers need emotional support as well as physical. Joining an FM support group can provide helpful insights into the disease, while counseling sessions with a trained professional can open communication with friends and family who often cannot understand the extensive disabilities caused by FM. If you are an FM sufferer, it is important to keep a hopeful attitude even in the face of debilitating pain, because this disease does tend to improve over time and there are always new and different treatments being discovered.
