Everyone will suffer pain at some point in their lives. Grim as this may sound, some pain is necessary – it’s a signal from our brain that something is wrong in our body, something we need to address to protect our health and well-being. It can be caused by anything from a dental cavity to a broken bone to a disease. Once we determine where the pain is coming from, we can diagnose and address the health problem, thus alleviating the pain.
Sometimes, however, pain isn’t done away with so easily – it remains with us despite all efforts to banish it. This is called ‘chronic’ pain, distinguishable from ‘acute’ pain by its persistence. Common examples of chronic pain include backaches, migraine headaches, and arthritis.
The most popular treatment for chronic pain are prescription medications, but these often have adverse side effects ranging from nausea to fatigue, and can cease to be effective once a patient builds a tolerance. Acupuncture has been used as a form of natural pain relief and cure for many chronic conditions for over two thousand years. Originating in China, acupuncture involves piercing the skin with thin needles on specific points of the body. Patients have claimed acupuncture has proven effective in treating ailments such as neck pain, migraine headaches, arthritic pain, and even depression.
Herbal remedies offer another time-tested alternative to conventional therapies, providing natural pain relief to sufferers without many of the unwanted side effects of conventional medicines. There usually several herbal treatments for a particular condition; popular herbal remedies include emu oil, which can alleviate the pain of arthritis, and good old Vitamin E, which helps minimize scarring. The downside of herbal treatments is that they often take longer to achieve noticeable results; the upside is that you aren’t introducing man-made foreign compounds into your body, and run less risk of side effects or damaging your overall health.
Although it may sound like well-worn advice with little glitter or pizzazz, perhaps the best advice is to take care of yourself – get proper nutrition by eating fewer processed foods and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Take care to get enough sleep each night, and take time out of each day for exercise – even simple activities like taking the stairs at work or a walk around the block go a long way towards improving your health.
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Chronic Pain Relief: An Overview
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Everyone will experience pain at some point in their lives. Pain is a necessary form of protection against injuries, diseases, or conditions that would otherwise impair or even kill us. Pain alerts us that something is wrong. Pain can be either ‘acute’ or ‘chronic’ –...
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A Look at Pain Relief for Fibromyalgia
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Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic disease that affects the musculoskeletal system. Symptoms vary widely among sufferers, but generally include muscle and joint aches, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches and tenderness in several of eighteen specific areas, or “trigger points” on the body. Fibromyalgia...
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Joint Pain Relief: An Overview
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Your knees, shoulders, and elbows are all large joints. Your hands and feet contain many tiny joints. Our joints are used for almost every movement we make. Half of adults over age 65 – or more than 20 million Americans, endure recurrent or chronic joint...
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Sciatica Pain Relief
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The term “sciatica” refers to pain along a specific nerve – the sciatic nerve, which runs from your lower back down through each leg. It usually caused by a wayward vertebral disc, more commonly referred to as a pinched nerve or a herniated, ruptured, or...
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Muscle Pain Relief: An Overview
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After an auto mechanic spends hours under a car or a writer spends all day in front of a computer, their muscles later complain at this overextension. Everyone gets a muscle ache once in a while, but chronic muscle pain can be a debilitating condition...
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Approaches to Knee Pain Relief
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You use your knees every time you walk, run, or move your lower body at all. Knee pain, therefore, dramatically affects the daily life of sufferers, who must use their knees throughout the day. Knee pain is the second only to back pain among American...
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Pain Management
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Nobody likes to suffer pain. An unpleasant sensation, pain is a reaction of the body to physical illness, injury, or mental disease. Pain is generally divided into two categories: acute and chronic. The former occurs suddenly because of injury suffered by a tissue. The injury...
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Back Pain Relief
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Different types of back pains have different types of causes, and to gain some relief, the cause rather than the symptom should be addressed. People suffering from back pain are often suggested by friends and relatives to have complete bed rest, which is a misconception....
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Gout Pain Relief
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Gout is caused by the increase in the amount of uric acid in the blood. Uric acid is normally removed from the body through the urine, however if it is not excreted it can form crystals, which irritate body tissues like the lining of joints....
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Chronic Pain Management
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From over-the-counter and prescription drugs to mind-body techniques to acupuncture, chronic pain can be treated in many ways. However, no single method can guarantee you total pain relief. Rather, a combination of options may help you get rid of the pain. Mild pain may be...