Using What’s In Your Kitchen to Alleviate Pain & Inflammation

More and more people are trying to find more natural and less invasive methods of treating pain and illness these days.  With all of the problems we hear routinely regarding prescription & OTC medication side effects and problems they cause, it isn’t any wonder people are using more natural ways of treating their problems. ChicagoHealers.com Practitioner, Dr. Steven Arculeo, DC, says this about NSAIDs:

Each year, the use of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs), account for an estimated 7,600 deaths and 76,000 hospitalizations in the United States. NSAIDs include: aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, and tiaprofenic acid. Researchers are now linking inflammation to an ever-wider array of chronic illnesses such as hay fever, heart disease, depression, diabetes and colon cancer.

Arculeo recommends ridding these items from your kitchen as they may cause inflammation:

• Soda
• Processed foods
• Alcohol
• Hydrogentated/trans fat
• Red meat
• Caffeine
• Sugar

Replacing the above food items with fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and lean meats may decrease inflammation which in turn may help reduce illness and pain.  Here are some food items Arculeo suggests:

• Apples & Blueberries: these fruits are packed full of nutrients and are natural anti-inflammatories
•  Kale: contains over 80 nutrients per serving
• Fish: one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory foods, fish contains heart healthy and anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids. Choose cod, salmon or tilapia instead of the fatty deep water bottom dweller fish such as shrimp or catfish
• Ginger: aids in digestion
•  Garlic: lowers hypertension and cholesterol
• Basil, Parsley, Rosemary, Turmeric, Thyme, Chili Peppers & Cinnamon: all are proven to have anti-inflammatory properties
•  Oil: use cold pressed extra virgin olive oil to aid in decreasing inflammation

Guest Blogger Post: The Messages in Physical Pain

Please welcome Abigail Steidley, owner of The Healthy Life, LLC Life Coaching Services and blogger of The Vagina Dialogues as guest blogger for this week.  You can read Abigail’s bio at the end of her post.

Pain and illness are ways the body sends important information to us. Think of pain as an email or text from your inner, wise self. Before you get angry at your body for sending such a strong message, realize that it’s been trying to speak to you in gentler ways. The body is the conduit for all wisdom from our wiser, higher self. It will nudge you with emotions, physical tension, and sensations. If you’re not listening, it has no other recourse besides pain and illness.

For me, even after I understood this concept, the hardest part was decoding the message. I would fume, arms crossed, as I tried to find a way to glare at my body. I even yelled at my own body, saying “I’m listening! I hear you! But what the hell are you saying? Don’t you speak English?”

As a coach, my primary job is to help others decode the messages held within the pain. Generally, this involves quieting the mind chatter and learning to tune into all the physical sensations happening in the body at any given moment. After a short stint of stillness, you’ll find that yes, the body does speak English. In the quiet stillness, aha moments and revelations happen.

After much of this work, though, I can tell you the common body message themes. Most people’s bodies are sending messages about the following:

Learning to nurture yourself instead of push yourself

Learning to love yourself – unconditionally

Learning to release the constant pressure you’re putting on yourself

Learning to be gentler with yourself

Learning to consistently check in with the body so it doesn’t have to shout

Learning to honor and feel emotions

Learning to recognize the power of thought and begin to think intentionally

Learning to focus your awareness on yourself first – only then are you truly effective and helpful to others

Learning to develop inner joy

It’s so easy to just ignore these messages, but take a moment to ponder this idea: The body/wise inner guide finds these concepts so vital that it sends a strong message you cannot possibly ignore.

Indeed, if you were to take the messages above to heart and focus on studying them daily, you would find every aspect of your life unfolding in new, easier, more joyful ways. You would be astonished at the good, loving experiences you would begin having. Just ask any of my clients, for they are all doing the homework from this same lesson plan. The small, personal details in each body’s message may be different, but the general class outline is definitely the same.

These lessons are a life’s work, but I’ve never studied a more interesting curriculum. It’s a fun life’s work, and it doesn’t take long before the benefits arrive. It just keeps getting better.

In the following weeks, I’ll be talking about each of the messages/lessons in turn. Stay tuned!

Abigail Steidley is a Mind-Body Health Coach and author of The Vagina Dialogues (http://vulvodyniacoach.wordpress.com).  She writes about her personal experience utilizing a mind-body approach to get relief from IC and vulvodynia.

Pelvic Pain Seminar to Be Held In New Jersey

On November 7th & 8th, there will be an Orthopedic Management of Pelvic Pain Seminar in Englewood, New Jersey. Orthopedic Management of Pelvic Pain is a lab-based continuing education seminar designed for the clinician that has practical experience in the evaluation and treatment of pelvic pain conditions. it will explore, in depth, the role of sensitization, referred pain patterns and neurological convergence in pelvic pain patients, introducing a new treatment strategy that can be easily melded into your current strategy.

Both the patient and clinician will benefit from the immediate & measurable reduction in the patient’s level of pain, muscle spasms and dysfunction.

When: November 7th & 8th, 2009

Where: 177 North Dean Street, Suite 302. Englewood, NJ 07631

Course cost: Free introductory offer

CEUs: to be awarded to those that complete the two day course

For additional information on the course and/or to register to participate, please email: peter@philipphysicaltherapy.com.

Sign Petition To Protect Our Rights to Pain Medications!

Please read the following press release from the Interstitial Cystitis Association and click on the link where indicated to sign the petition.  We need our pain medications and they should not be taken from us!   Instead of taking these needed pain medications from patients why not educate patients and physicians on how to better use them and prescribe them? 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering advice from its Advisory Committee that would eliminate all prescription acetaminophen combination medications (like Vicodin and Percocet).  In addition, they are recommending taking the 500 mg (extra strength) dose of acetaminophen (the medicine in Tylenol) off store shelves and making it available by prescription only.  These changes could negatively affect people suffering from pain who rely on these medicines every day. Visit the American Pain Foundation website for complete information on the proposed acetaminophen regulations.

The FDA must consider all comments received by September 30, 2009 that are submitted to the official docket for this decision.  Please sign the petition letter by September 27, 2009 and the American Pain Foundation will submit the petition to the FDA.

Act Now and Sign the Petition! 

Webcast On Chronic Pain

I received an email on an upcoming webcast by Dr. Russell Portenoy of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, who is a world renown pain medicine physician. The July 20th webcast will discuss how to treat all areas of chronic pain. Here is the press release on the webcast with further information and details.

Defining and Treating Chronic Pain

Beth Israel Medical Center’s Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care Offers Hope Through a Webcast Premiering on July 20

NEW YORK – July 20, 2009 – An estimated 70 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, which is generally identified as a medical condition whereby the pain persists beyond the original injury or illness that initiated it, lasting for three to six months. Pain is an enormous problem in public health in this country because it severely damages individuals and families. For this reason, specialists from Beth Israel’s Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care in New York will speak of the many areas of chronic pain through a Webcast premiering on July 20, 2009 5:30 PM EDT detailing what everyone with chronic pain needs to know.

Dr. Russell K. Portenoy, Chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel, kicks off the Webcast by defining what pain management is and details the interdisciplinary focus of the department. He explains that pain management is usually an outpatient practice, where specialists from a variety of disciplines collaborate to bring about improved patient outcomes.

“Although pain management is now recognized as a formal subspecialty of medicine, few patients with persistent pain every see a specialists,” explains Dr. Portenoy. “Beth Israel’s Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care has an interdisciplinary group of specialists who treat all forms of chronic pain.”

Dr. Ricardo Cruciani, Beth Israel’s Vice Chairman of the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, is also included in the Webcast and discusses the important area of neuropathic pain, or nerve pain, and a promising treatment he offers called transcranial stimulation.

Other topics in the Webcast include:

• Hope for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome
• Latest interventional procedures
• Support services

Throughout the Webcast, physicians from Beth Israel’s Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care demonstrate their understanding of chronic pain syndromes—offering hope for many who mistakenly are led to believe that their pain is mainly psychological. The series of compelling interviews is appropriate for anyone with chronic pain who is not obtaining relief with conventional care, and who may benefit from a better understanding of pain medicine as a medical specialty. Medical professionals, laypersons, friends and family members are also encouraged to view the Webcast to better appreciate the complexities of chronic pain conditions.

The Webcast also features interviews with patients who are under care of physicians at Beth Israel’s Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care. These individuals reveal their struggles to be heard and the successes they have achieved with help from chronic pain specialists. The Webcast is divided into chapters and allows viewers to select the most pertinent topics.

The Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel is a 2009 winner of the Center of Excellence Award from the American Pain Society.

The view this webcast and other video from Beth Israel Medical Center visit http://www.orlive.com/bethisrael/videos/defining-and-treating-chronic-pain . You can also make an appointment, make a referral and request more information.

FDA Says Darvocet Must Include Stronger Warnings

 

Darvocet, Darvon and generics for these have not been banned by the FDA but the prescriptions must include stronger warnings about the potential for overdose and death.   The advisory panel was recommending that Darvocet and Darvon be banned but the FDA says that the drug can stay on the market with a warning label on the prescription bottle.  Also included with the prescription will be a special pamphlet that explains the risks of taking too much.

The FDA has also ordered drug manufacturer Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc. to do a study on how taking more Darvocet than recommended can affect the heart.  A study is also to be conducted on how the medication affects elderly people.

According to the MSNBC.com article, the consumer watchdog group, Public Citizen, are not happy with FDA’s decision.

“This is a reckless decision on the part of the FDA unless they believe Americans are resistant to the death-causing properties of this drug in a way that Europeans and people in the U.K. aren’t.  You’ve got a drug which has a barely perceptible benefit and a very clear risk.”

The generic of Darvocet includes both the narcotic propoxyphene and acetaminophen. Acetaminophen has been recently in the news because the advisory panel wants to see over-the-counter dosages of the medication reduced and prescription pain medications with the ingredient banned. If Darvocet has not been banned, what is the likelihood of Vicodin and others like it being banned? What are your thoughts?

Gingko May Help Nerve Pain

Ginko is an herb Fibro patients can take to help with brain fog but there has now been another use possibly found for gingko:  nerve pain and pain that is felt with normal touch, also known as allodynia.  Allodynia is what Fibromyalgia patients experience when they feel immense pain from just a normal touch on their bodies.  I know there are times where my husband will just lay his hand on my back or go to put his arm around me and I jump from the terrible pain.

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum says that lipoic acid is also used to help treat nerve pain and he has a product he recommends that includes both lipoic acid and gingko.  It is called Remember and you can purchase it through his website at this link.  If you suffer from both brain fog and nerve pain, he says this supplement may be particularly helpful to you.

I have read Dr. Teitelbaum’s book, From Fatigued to Fantastic, and he probably has the most informative and helpful book I’ve ever read on ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia.  I have never tried any of his products, however, but I have followed some of his protocols using supplements he recommends.  If you have ever tried the Remember product, please leave me a comment.  I am always looking for something new to try to see if I will benefit.  I have both the fibro fog and nerve pain.

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