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Alleviate Pain Through Nutritional & Herbal Remedies

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For those of you seeking to alleviate pain through nutritional and herbal remedies there seem to be a significant benefit for those with pains and aches caused through degenerative and progressive pathogen illness and disease.  Certainly, it is well founded through scientific studies that healthy and nutrient strong foods (visit our health repository and read MAE articles on super foods) intake contributes greatly as a preventative measure against illness and disease that lead to and cause pain.  If illness and disease can be defeated before it ever gets the opportunity to become a pain disorder within the body then one has a good chance minimizing and managing normal aches and pain while aging.  Healthy cell development and maintenance of the body at the molecular level requires proper nutrients and is of great importance in keeping the body pain free and/or alleviating pain once a pain disorder is present.

In order to determine a nutritional or herbal remedy course of action that would work for you, you first must understand the concept of a customized pain management program.  My premise is “what remedies work for others may only work in part, whole or not at all for what is causing your particular pain disorder.”  That’s right, what nutrients and herbal remedies work for me in my pain management program may not work for you at all, or have insignificant pain alleviation benefits.  Within my chronicles “Mirror Athlete with Chronic Pain” located within the Chronicles Repository, I discuss customized pain management programs in detail and how you can begin to apply this knowledge to your particular “unique” pain program regardless of pain disorder.  You must learn to educate yourself in such matters in order to find natural cures, super food quality supplements and whole foods that will work for you providing a better quality of healthy life experience.  I’ve also written articles, “Man Made Foods Bad, Natural Foods Good,” which you can also find in the health repository.

Good nutrition is one of the “key” preventative means to a healthy mind and body in order to have a fighting chance at combating unhealthy cell mutations that cause pain.  In my opinion, stressed cells that cause “pain symptoms” should not be confused with long-term illness leading to “pain disease and disorders.”  This is because sick, or stressed cells that cause acute pain, may, or may not propagate other cells to become permanently damaged leading to chronic “long-term“pain disease.  The point is, don’t let the acute pain get out of hand to become a chronic pain disorder that will not go away.  One of the best ways to combat cell illness causing pain is to feed it God’s natural foods provided on this earth.  Note – When I refer to foods I’m also referring to herbs.

The premise that good nutrition and herbal remedies will stave off increased pain disease in all cases, or cure pain illness, regardless of medical situation is not all inclusive, but certainly can’t hurt for a hopeful health or pain alleviation outcome for a terminally ill patient.  For example, there are terminal pathological diseases, regardless of treatment will not abate the damage done to the internal immune, muscle, skeletal, nerve or organ systems, etc., within the body.  Even if a patient has terminal disease with significant pain a holistic customized pain management treatment approach appears to provide a better quality of life outcome than not implementing such a treatment.  When I refer to customized pain management treatment, I’m referring to treating the mind, body and soul of an individual.  The predominant healthy activity components of a pain management program include, but not limited to:  Nutritional-herbal, exercise, spiritual, physical therapeutic, alternative medicine, social and healthy activities.

You can live a better quality of life as opposed to a never ending treatment program that fills your life with inactivity, or doctor’s visits that only seem to appease the aggravating pain for moments in time.  You can also accept the never ending supply of pharmaceutical prescriptions to dull the aches and pains while battling frequent depression, weight gain and other illness symptoms as a result of medicated body rejection.  Or you can become proactive in your pain management program and expand your pain alleviation efforts by adding good nutrition and herbal remedies to the mix.  Also stop bad consumption habits, e.g., smoking, drinking, consuming enriched package-can foods, drinking diet sodas, to include high fat and other sugar enriched foods (read Aspartame the Silent Killer, MAE Health Repository).

Through much research, pain modality and alleviation experiences; I have treated almost every major muscular-skeletal articulation in my body.  I’ve learned to customize a pain program for myself where I believe anyone that applied my pain management principles would experience a better quality of living while significantly alleviating, or eliminating pain.  Although I’ve been successful at customizing my own pain management program, I cannot guarantee what works for me will work for you one hundred percent.  However, I can guarantee if you apply my principles you will be able to enjoy a better quality of life.  This is because I teach you how to use my 25 years of pain management experience and education to apply to your specific pain program using sound & tried principles!  Some of my techniques use healthy daily nutrition, supplements which include herbal remedies.  Of course, you should know by now proper nutrition is a key ingredient to alleviating pain.  As mentioned, the holistic pain management approach must address the whole being; mind, body and soul.  Proper nutrition and herbal remedies (natural cures and super foods) is a big component of the healing and healthy being maintenance program.

The cold hard truth, “You must learn how to become your own pain management advocate!”  But you don’t have to go it alone.  I can teach you how to do this.  The point here, if a doctor prescribes a specific treatment and you don’t receive a significant pain relief benefit and/or the treatment is impacting your mood… Search for alternative treatments to discuss common sense referrals if possible.  Find a course of pain alleviation that works well for you!  If the mind is depressed so will be the body.  Although your body may receive pain alleviation “at first” regardless of pain modality therapy, if you don’t consider incorporation of a sound nutrient program, your illness, or disease “most likely” will continue to degenerate and may accelerate the disease progression.  This is because the body and mind are complicatedly interlinked (psychosomatic).  Our Western medicine and insurance policies and procedures are so decentralized and complicated in terms of pain modality treatment and practice, it is no wonder chronic pain issues are so difficult for the patient to find resolve.   For example, does the patient advocate for the mind, body, or soul?  Or is the best course of pain alleviation treatment a combination of the entire being?  Do our Western medicine practices treat the whole being when dealing with pain management?  The answer is simple, No.

You must strive always to improve and make preventative and corrective pain management modifications especially as you age, or pain intolerances and depression occur.  A customized pain management program is “almost always” in a state of flux.  This means you must be proactive with the management of your pain program making modifications to daily activity based on pain tolerance and intolerance.  What I mean by this statement, you must develop a pain program that addresses all changing workloads, exercise, activity, nutritional & herbal requirements for your particular lifestyle while living with pain.  I address this work load pain prescription in detail, see (http://www.mirrorathlete.org/ChroniclesRepos.html ) within “Mirror Athlete chronicles and mentioned within many articles and home site (http://www.mirrorathlete.org/HealthRepository.html).

It’s what you don’t know that creates much more pain and depression than is necessary to experience.  I started out by saying that there are nutritional and herbal remedies that will be of benefit for your pain alleviation.  I’ve also made some presumptions for you.  Such as, with the correct natural super food and herbal remedies it is certainly possible to prevent illness and disease that would cause pain in a progressed state, slow down pain disease, or abate the pain pathology.  It is certainly possible to reverse or mitigate disease and illness through applicable super food and herbal consumption as case studies have been verified throughout the medical community.  Use any search engine on the Internet and type in Natural Cures, or Supplements and/or Herbal pain cures, etc.  I cannot possibly list all the combinations of potential cures for all ailments.  Only that you should highly consider implementing after researching a nutritional super food, or herbal remedy that may help your pain disorder situation if you have not done so.

There are a lot of personal testimonials, medical controlled studies that show positive results by those that have incorporated these super foods and herbs into their diet while consulting their medical providers.  Primary care physicians that don’t subscribe to natural cure herbs or foods may only provide you pharmaceutical prescriptions.  Pharmaceuticals are man-made and not necessarily in your bodies best interest in all cases.  If in doubt as what to do, pharmaceuticals, or natural cures decision…  Have discussions with your medical providers about taking both herbal and prescription medications simultaneously.   In many cases, supplementation of super food and herbs with pharmaceuticals does not create, or complicate pain, or health conditions.  Instead, pain patients state dramatic pain alleviation results where prescription use declined, or were no longer necessary.

It is scientifically proven your body requires specific nutrients to maintain optimum health.  Imagine if you could find a pain treatment that cures what ails you, to include remove your pain regardless of pathology!   Well folks, it is possible and it happens every day.  Some like to refer to terminal disease remission as a miracle, because in most cases, complete chronic pain abatement in my opinion “is a miracle regardless of disease.”  One must never rule out the soul’s spiritual positive power of healing.  To do so would be a grave mistake in the pain healing and terminal illness remission process.  Without necessary nutrients the body begins a degradation phase prematurely regardless of age!  Think of your body like a car engine.  Without a good air, or oil filters (body equivalent – kidneys, liver, lungs) one might experience tenderness, irritability, pain irregularity in the liver, kidneys, intestines, stomach, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, skin discoloration, etc., due to poor eating habits where toxin builds up in the body.  Through time, without consideration to toxic food consumption the body becomes less efficient at removing the toxins.

The car experiences poor performance, iritic operations and poor start, or out of tune characteristic when oil, gas and air filters are not maintained making it more difficult to remove pollutants from the car engine.  The engine parts like the body begins to experience degradation when organs begin to fail due to toxic consumption habits and improper preventative health practices.  Like the body’s internal organs, the car’s engine components eventually break down due to poor fluid filtration characteristics, air and fuel quality circulation, etc., causing erratic operation.  This breakdown uncorrected within the body creates illness and disease, hence pain!  Your car may still run for many years.  But unlike the car you feel pain and discomfort.  The cost of car repairs at some point to keep the vehicle on the road soon outweighs the benefits of corrective maintenance costs and you eventually replace the car.  Since our body is not a car, we simply cannot replace or remove parts in most cases to alleviate the pain and make the body whole!

It is for this reason; you must look to incorporate proper nutrition and possibly herbal remedies into your diet!  At the molecular level regardless of pain disease, or illness one must understand the benefits of a holistic pain management approach while customizing a pain management program.  If your expectation is to reduce pain through a customized pain management program, you also need to consider the body’s molecular nutrient requirement!   Nutrition, herbal remedies and exercise should be incorporated if possible within a pain management program to have optimal chances at cell repair, or win a fight against any illness or disease!  You may also avoid going under the knife and possibly creating a worse pain, illness, or disease scenario while incorporating such practices within your pain management program.  Surgery should be your last recourse!

 

Author:  Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, USA Medical Services Officer, CPT, RET.  2009 Copyright, All rights reserved.  Mirror Athlete Enterprises Publishing @: www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your free eNewsletter.

Alleviate Pain-Movement Based Therapies

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In many of my articles I have stated the importance of movement specifically through physical exercises or activity.  For without movement activities, the body and mind will quickly deteriorate creating more aggravating pain while increasing risk for more illness or disease.  There is a direct connection between the mind-body (psychosomatic) neurological meridian connections.  I like to refer to these meridians as the “health highways” electrical conduits throughout the body.  This is because mobility or lack of it can have an impact on positive “healing” nerve-holistic body stimulation, delay, or worsening of the healing process through these connections.

There are two fronts where lack of motion or mobility can impact overall health byway of these health highway connections.  1)  Mind-Body connection – Depression can and does contribute to pain disease if you allow it to motivate a sedentary lifestyle; opposed to pain tolerance learned and applied appropriately provide greater mobility and health benefit.  On the flip side, 2) Body-Mind – You “may not” be depressed but have severely limited your activities due to body function pain.  In either case, lack of activity creates a negative impact on motivation, self-esteem, disease mitigation, quality of life and other health risks.  Both ends of the “mind-body/body-mind” connection can turn full circle limiting activity, causing depression and can cause serious or grave harm to your overall health.

You must never give up on finding some form of activity, therapy and/or exercise within your day to offset further body degradation while maintaining a pain management program.  Depression is a pain patient’s worst enemy (MAE Health Blog, “Dealing with Depression,” M.T. Woodard, 25 Aug 08).  In my opinion, incorporation of a movement based therapy program is essential toward a holistic pain healing, or health maintenance program.  For without a daily movement program it is very difficult for a pain patient to thwart off depression and worsening of pain!  I do realize there are some that are completely incapacitated where my recommendations to increase activity or mobility may not be practical.  However, I encourage and highly recommend you consult with your doctor, or specialists to see if they could assist, direct, or refer you toward specialized movement based therapy resources relative to your chronic pain condition.

Some examples of non-specialized movement based activities if your pain tolerances will allow full or partial participation:  Gym membership, task specific exercise, i.e., walking, riding a recumbent stationary bike, low impact aerobics, e.g., treadmill, hand pedal stationary unit, bicycle and daily stretching exercise, etc.  Hobbies/social – Camping, fishing, community involvement, church choir, hiking, travel, home and garden, etc.  Find something that will get you excited about life and within acceptable pain tolerance that does not cause severe aggravation, or further damage to existing pain problems.  Discuss these movement based activities with your pain specialists, etc., to assess your pain conditions before you incorporate any of these recommendations into your pain program.  Just because you have varying levels of chronic pain, does not mean you are 100% “movement” disabled (MAE HealthBlog, “Disabilities & Public Perception,” M.T. Woodard, 7 July 2008).

Listed below are specialized movement based therapies to further your research and consideration of such program (s) within a customized pain management program while working with pain specialists and/or doctors.

1.  Physical exercises or activity.  Physical activity provides benefits to strengthening muscles, joints, ligament, tendons; oxygen-enriched blood to all cellular structures; improved structural alignment and release of natural feel good endorphins.

“You’re body produces natural and addictive chemicals that are optimally activated during exercise, or during increased activity:   1) Adrenaline a neurotransmitter and hormone produced by the adrenalin gland just above the kidneys, also known as norepinephrine and epinephrine (provides attention focus in brain).  Together these chemicals activate your fight or flight stimulation designed to get the body out of a stressful situation, or survive an injury scenario.  It acts as a natural pain killer, boosts oxygen and glucose fuel to brain, muscles and suppresses depression.  2)   Dopamine is produced and synthesized in the brain which boosts positive behavior, cognition, motor activity, motivation, sleep, mood, learning and attention.  3)  Serotonin is synthesized within the CNS (Central Nervous System).  This chemical is also found in many mushrooms, plants, fruits and vegetables.  Research shows Serotonin plays an important role in liver regeneration and induces cell division throughout the body (important for repair and healing of the body).  Serotonins role as a neurotransmitter of the brain is to modulate anger, mood, aggression, sleep, sexuality, appetite and metabolism.”  (MAE HealthBlog, “An Addictive Chemical to Stimulate Will Power,” M.T., Woodard, 22 Jan 2009).

“I know a lot of you out there are hurting with disabling pain thinking there is nothing more you can do to increase your physical activity, receive further health benefits and/or improve your health condition, or quality of life.  There are solutions, but you have to want to become a mirror athlete as your number one goal.  Remember a mirror athlete will use health management techniques customized within a pain management program to improve posture, alleviate pain, while improving, or contributing to overall health through daily activities and/or exercise maintaining a healthy mind, body and soul.”

My contention, if you can move segments of your body, you “can” receive a health benefit.  If you suffer from depression, there is group support within the medical community and much information to be found in libraries or the Internet.  If you’re on a pain management program, you “may be able” to reduce your daily pain prescription to allow focus on activities for periods of time in a day.  (MAE HealthBlog, “Disabilities & Public Perception,” Woodard, 07 July 2008).

2.  Physical Therapy – Since movement is central to good health, physical therapy focuses on rehabilitation, promotion of body movement, or exercise.  The major pain alleviation modalities are manual handling, electrotherapy, massage, physical medicine, ultrasound, etc.   Other areas of physical therapy specialization include:  Health limitations due to cardiopulmonary, geriatrics, neurologic, orthopedic, pediatrics problems, burn patients and post surgical treatment in assisting with focus in habilitation, or rehabilitation (enable take care of oneself; restore to former state).  Physical therapy includes the use of many variations, or singular pain treatment modalities to assist and stimulate healthy movement, while working through pain issues, recovery, rehabilitation, etc.  Other areas of physical therapy specialization focus on psychological and emotional well-being activities.  Therapy is performed by a licensed physical therapist (PT) or an assistant acting under PT direction.  Offices and practices vary by demographic and specialties mentioned above, settings include:  Hospices, industrial workplaces, outpatient clinics, offices, inpatient rehab facilities, extended care facilities, private homes, and education, also research centers.

3.    Specialized and assisted movement programs.

a.  Yoga, Indian meditation posing and stretching – Purification of the physical body or mind to strengthen the body, or well being as a whole unit.  I will not go into the detailed specifics behind various Yoga philosophies as this is beyond the intent of information I’m providing you.  If you want to learn more about Yoga philosophy and techniques I highly recommend you contact a Yoga studio, read books on Yoga, or research the Internet to become better informed how Yoga could benefit your well being.  Yoga posing and stretching techniques have positive health benefits on the mind and body while alleviating pain.  Positive mind focus through concentrated and careful body movement focuses energies on piece of mind while stimulating the natural physical healing cycle of the body.

b.  Pilates, strengthening core muscles through resistive exercise routine – The premise of Pilates uses the mind to control the muscles.  Since the program focuses on postural muscles; abdomen, lower back, hips and buttocks, there is great benefit in body balance through strengthening these “core” major muscle groups which is essential to spine health.  This program concentrates on breathing ensuring proper alignment of the spine while strengthening deep torso muscles.  Pilates breathing techniques teaches the importance of continuous and deep breathing techniques as essential to remove toxins and provide oxygen enriched blood to maintain overall health and pain alleviation.  Those with disabilities can apply a customized Pilate’s program to better aid in and improve overall function.  One should “only” participate in a Pilate’s program while under the supervision of a certified instructor.  If interested in learning more about the Pilates program research the largest certified Pilates program worldwide, Stott Pilates.  Also see Pilates Method Alliance (PMA), which is an umbrella organization attempting to standardize certification worldwide.

c.  Tai Chi, Chinese practice of slow movement and focus on balance.  This program makes use of Soft Chinese internal martial arts where “chi” energy makes use of an opponent’s strength against them – Instead of using overpowering muscular force and strength to defend against an opponent, the body’s chi energy is effectively tapped where brute force is not necessary to protect oneself.  The opposition’s strength is applied against forced assertion through focus and fluid motion during the defense.  Tai Chi has many health benefits associated with this form of concentrated, low impact and fluid motion just through practicing concentrated movement techniques.  The health and fitness benefits of Tai Chi exercise are well recognized worldwide without the physical strains associated with intense exercise.  The benefits associated with the practice of Tai Chi’s relaxed movement techniques:  Lowers stress levels, slows down aging, improves postural alignment, better breathing technique, pain alleviation, improved blood circulation, flexibility, etc.  Disease prevention and/or health disorder mitigation: Arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular, etc.  The theory of Tai Chi is based on traditional Chinese medicine, through the body’s electrical Chi meridians (neurological “health highways”) much in the way acupuncture is used to remove blockages that create pain in order to heal disease.  Tai Chi exercises can be used to achieve the same results.

d.  Feldenkrais – Efficiency of movement through specialized therapy. Physical well-being is established through movement patterns.  Therapy focuses on assistance in re-learning more proficient movement behaviors as opposed to inefficient and negative health impact movement that may lead to further body degradation.  Moshe Feldenkrais believes the mind and body are inseparable and as such every action is a single process of thinking, feeling, sensing and moving.  As each action impacts ultimate health transmitted through the nervous system, therapeutic movement can reinforce, or even reinstate better health and well-being by activating healthy movement patterns by triggering past feeling and thinking behaviors.  By shaping the body through active movement the whole (holistic) body, mind & soul receive the benefit.  As prior to therapy, one may have been confused, fixated and maybe lacked purpose of being.  Through Feldenkrais exercises a more relaxed and stress free holistic body creates a greater zest for life.

Common exercises include stretching, strengthening and aerobics.  However a fundamental drawback is these exercises… They do not effectively improve our characteristic movement.  In other words, you may be able to go through exercise where precision and exact movement may not be fluid, or within your pain range tolerance to perform certain moves, or movement characteristic of an unimpeded person.  However, you do receive a health benefit by participating!  General exercise routines very rarely improve useful functionality, while often aggravates habitual movement throughout the day.  Inefficient action or movement can lead stiffness, aches and pains, arthritis, fatigue and limitations.  Pain alleviation through Feldenkrais bases exploration of movement possibilities integrated with flexibility, strength and cardiopulmonary health is well worth consideration as a movement therapy incorporated into your pain management program.

By learning to sense self through proper relaxed movement one can sense proper balance, articulation, felt movement, tissue tension, pressure and pain.  Hence if tension and aggravation is felt through improper movement, one can learn to correct the pattern that is creating pain through sensory feedback to the brain.  Since Feldenkrais derives effortless pleasure in motion and holistic improvements compared to conventional stressful exercise those that participate in a program such as this want to continue to improve their abilities and overall well-being.

The key point I want you to take away from this read… Stay active; find an alternative movement based therapy, hobby, or interest to improve your quality of life through motion and/or exercise.  Although there is a balance of pain tolerance one must learn to overcome during movement based therapies… Specialized movement techniques are well worth the exploration and research to consider participation.  Through movement, one can relearn to mobilize and heal themselves through acceptable, low impact pain sensory rehabilitative feedback exercises, and/or activity.   I believe any movement therapy, or activity has a direct connection between the mind and body through neurological “Health Highways” establishing healing energy (Chi) to damaged tissues while alleviating pain and mitigating illness and disease.  Using non-stressful movement techniques or other activity participation “in my opinion” will improve well-being and should be included within any pain management program if at all possible.

Author:  Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, USA Medical Services Officer, CPT, RET.  2009 Copyright, All rights reserved.  Mirror Athlete Enterprises Publishing @: www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your free eNewsletter.