Smart Strategies to Deal with Chronic Pain, Naturally

We have all experienced pain and for most of us its something that is fleeting and temporary. But for 1 in 5 Australians ongoing pain is a fact of life, with 1 in 5 GP consultations involving chronic pain and chronic pain being Australia’s most costly medical issue after cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal issues (which also produce pain!) and harmful ripple effects from chronic pain massively affecting society such as loss of productivity and detrimental effects on mental health.

Despite causing suffering, pain is often a critical component of the body’s defence system. It is part of a rapid warning relay instructing the motor neurons of the central nervous system to minimise detected physical harm.  Pain can be classified as acute or chronic and here the differences are important. Acute pain is short-term pain or pain with an easily identifiable cause. Acute pain is the body’s warning of present damage to tissue or disease. It is often fast and sharp followed by aching pain. Acute pain is centralised in one area before becoming somewhat spread out. This type of pain responds well to pain medications.   Chronic pain is pain that has lasted 3 months or longer. This constant or intermittent pain has often outlived its purpose, as it does not help the body to prevent injury. It is often more difficult to treat than acute pain and causes great psychological distress, anguish and discomfort.

The experience of physiological pain can be grouped according to the source and related nociceptors (pain detecting neurons) 1)  Somatic pain originates from ligaments, tendons, bones, blood vessels, and is detected with somatic nociceptors. The scarcity of pain receptors in these areas produces a dull, poorly-localised pain of longer duration than cutaneous pain: examples include sprains. 2)  Visceral pain originates from body’s viscera, or organs. Visceral pain is extremely difficult to localise, and several injuries to visceral tissue exhibit “referred” pain, where the sensation is localised to an area completely unrelated to the site of injury. Visceral nociceptors are located within body organs and internal cavities. 3)  Neuropathic pain or neuralgia, can occur as a result of injury or disease to the nerve tissue itself. This can disrupt the ability of the sensory nerves to transmit correct information to the thalamus, and hence the brain interprets painful stimuli even though there is no obvious or known physiologic cause for the pain.

Frontline medical care for pain involves prescriptions for pain relieving medications such as NSAIDS such as Ibuprofen or stronger opiate analgesics. Medication of course has its place, but long term can have frightening side effects and addictions and due to the patient developing tolerance to the drugs which can result in more and more drugs being needed to achieve the same effect.

Thankfully natural medicine is rich with complementary treatments which can work alongside medications or be used instead of medications if the person chooses. The lifestyle choices that a person suffering pain follows are of course VITAL.

I recommend that a person suffering chronic pain 1) Reduces Inflammation 2) Implements Positivity  3) Implements Regular Movement into their lives. These changes can have startling affects- believe me I have seen this over and over again with chronic pain sufferers.

So to Reduce Inflammation using nutrition I recommend cutting out processed and sugary foods, excess alcohol and caffeine and excess carbohydrates, which are all pro-inflammatory; upping the intake of fish, nuts, seeds and other good fats which reduce inflammation; loosing weight if necessary; and following an elimination diet or gut testing if gut complaints or food sensitivities are suspected, investigating celiac disease and/or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. These changes can be complex, challenging and should be individualised, so I highly recommend talking with a Naturopath or Nutritionist about these matters- I just happen to be one, so I would love to hear from you, check out what I do HERE

To Implement Positivity I recommend counselling, meditation, journaling, revelling in fun times and social connection, vision boards, pursuing rewarding and fun hobbies, support groups, cognitive behavioural therapy, visualisations, progressive muscle relaxation, tai chi, the list is literally endless- what makes you happy? Are you doing it? How can you implement positivity into your life?

For Regular Movement I recommend bodywork such as physio, Chiro, Osteopathy, massage, yoga, Pilates, walking, stretching, swimming, gentle resistance training again the list is endless and I really recommend that you consult with an awesome physical therapist to assess your needs and abilities, there are so many of them around (contact me if you live in SW of WA and need some recommendations)

I also love to complement these positive changes with some wonderful herbs and nutrients that can GREATLY improve the pain picture, but remember herbal and nutritional medicine should not be used as a first aid medicine cabinet, it should be part of a wholistic plan addressing the underlying drivers of the condition. But these are the supplements that I most commonly use to reduce the symptoms whilst doing this:

To reduce inflammation, pain and swelling  I use the herbs devil’s claw, turmeric, willow bark, ginger, boswellia plus quercetin