Health

Heal Inflammation to Relieve Pain

All acute pain (and most chronic pain) is the result of inflammation.  In fact, pain is one of the four classic symptoms of inflammation, which are: heat, swelling redness and pain.  So anytime you injure yourself, the pain you're experiencing is the result of inflammation.  So is the pain from sore throats, earaches, indigestion and most headaches.

When most people reach for a pain reliever, the reach for an analgesic.  An analgesic is a remedy that numbs the nerves to deaden the sensation of pain. Sure that lessens the experience of pain, but it doesn't do anything to heal the inflammation that's causing it.

The justification people use for this is that natural remedies are "slow-acting" or undependable.  I disagree. When you understand inflammation, you can relieve pain very rapidly using safe, natural remedies.  I've posted a very extensive article on the subject on my personal website.  You can read it by clicking  on the following link:

Applied Lymphology: Unlocking the Secret to Pain Relief

This article explains what happens when tissue becomes inflamed and how to relieve the pain of minor injuries (and reverse the damage) using pressure, massage and rapid, light stroking.  What makes these techniques even more useful is to combine them with the use of topical analgesics, remedies that help to ease pain when rubbed into an injured part of the body.  (See article below, "Tei Fu: My Favorite Topical Analgesic")

Using massage and topical analgesics, it's not only possible to ease acute pain, it's also possible to promote healing in many chronic conditions, as well.  I wrote about my own experience in helping my injured knee in another article I've posted:

Chronic Pain Relief: A Tribute to Dr. C. Samuel West

This article tells about how my kneecap was broken when I was 23 and how I managed to help it heal using the same techniques described in my article on Applied Lymphology.  I'd be lying if I said that my knee never bothers me, because it acts up from time to time, but I simply repeat the technique to get it feeling good again.

So, for 31 years I've been able to keep my knee working well without drugs or surgery, using these simple techniques. It may eventually give me problems, but considering the severity of the injury, I've done very well.

Teaching people how to relieve pain by reversing inflammation is one of my passions.  It's the primary focus of my Dr. Mom-Dr. Dad course and I'm expanding on this knowledge by doing two webinars on herbal remedies for pain with K.P. Khalsa, who co-authored our Chinese herb module.  You can learn more about our Pain Relief Without Medication Class at treelite.com.

The plant kingdom contains some pretty powerful pain relievers that actually work better than many modern drugs.  They are fast acting, effective and safer than drugs.  Herbs aren't "magic bullets" for pain because they aren't isolated chemicals.  They're complex mixtures of substances that act on the body in multiple ways.  You just have to know how to pick the right remedy for the kind of pain you're dealing with.

 Nerve Eight is a natural anti-inflammatory and analgesic herbal blend. It works on pain and inflammation in several ways.

First of all, it contains two herbs with natural salycilates (the forerunner of aspirin), white willow and black coshosh.  Both are helpful for inhibiting the prostaglandins involved in the inflammatory response, just like aspirin.  Black cohosh also has the benefit of being antispasmodic, so it eases muscle tension (another common factor in pain).

The antispasmodic action of black cohosh is aided by valerian and hops.  These are sedative herbs, meaning they sedate the central nervous system.  This gives them a relaxing and mild pain relieving action.

Wood Betony and Devil's Claw are two more herbs in this formula with anti-inflammatory properties.  Devil's Claw, White Willow and Black Cohosh have all been used historically to ease the pain and inflammation of arthritis. Wood Betony is a good remedy for soothing the nerves and has been helpful for neuralgia (nerve pain).

The capsicum and ginger in this formula help to stimulate circulation. Ginger is anti-inflammatory and capsicum is directly analgesic. Capsaicin, a compound in capsicum directly blocks pain receptors.

Nerve Eight is an excellent blend for chronic muscle and joint pain, tension headaches, arthritis, neuralgia and other forms of pain due to chronic inflammation.  Take two capsules every two to four hours up to about 10 or 12 capsules per day maximum.  Nerve Eight combines well with Joint Support for arthritic and muscle pain.

Ever notice that your instinct is to rub something that's sore?  That's because massage moves lymph and moving lymph helps reduce both pain and inflammation.

But, if you want your rubbing to have a more long-lasting and healing effect, it's even better to apply a topical analgesic.  Topical analgesics are remedies that relieve pain when applied to the skin.  They may have a direct analgesic (nerve-numbing effect), but they may also work by:

1) Promoting blood flow to the area (which brings in oxygen and nutrients for tissue healing and repair)

2) Encouraging lymphatic drainage (which reduces swelling and "cleans up" tissue debris)

3) Providing a direct anti-inflammatory effect.

I've tried a lot of essential oil blends that work as topical analgesics (Tiger Balm, Olbas, and many others), but my favorite is still Nature's Sunshine's Tei Fu oil.  It's an incredible remedy and one that I try never to be without.  It's available both in lotion and oil form.

I've used Tei Fu oil for insect bites, colds, sinus congestion, sinus headaches, tension headaches, muscle aches, sore neck, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, bruises and canker sores.

Tei Fu works really well when used in combination with lobelia extract and capsicum extract combined in equal parts. Capsicum has a direct analgesic effect and draws blood into the area.  Lobelia relaxes muscles and promotes lymph drainage.

These three remedies can ease backache, neck pain, sore muscles, arthritis pain, sore throats, headaches and much more.  One of my favorite uses for these three remedies is doing an "herbal back adjustment" as described below.  

Herbal Back Adjustment

Here's a little secret. Bones are held in place by muscles, so when your back is out of alignment, adjusting it by simply moving the bones doesn't really fix the problem.  The secret is to get the muscles on both sides of your backbone to relax, so the vertebrae move more easily into position and stay there. 

This can be easily done by means of an "herbal back adjustment."  This procedure can be done before going to the chiropractor to make adjustments easier and hold longer, or it can be done by itself to encourage the spine to align itself naturally.

Start by applying a mixture of capsicum and lobelia extracts to the muscles on both sides of the spinal column and massaging them in.  Follow this by putting Tei Fu oil on both sides of the spine and massaging that in, too.  If there are problems with disks, spray Nature's Fresh on the spine before applying the Tei Fu.

If you have chronic back problems try doing an herbal back adjustment every day and taking KB-C daily.  I think you’ll be pleased at how much this will help.