This is a common enough complaint to warrant a separate discussion. There are actually medical studies which define it According to Johnson Hopkins it is: “Chronic pain is long standing pain that persists beyond the usual recovery period or occurs along with a chronic health condition, such as arthritis. Chronic pain may be “on” and “off” or continuous. It may affect people to the point that they can’t work, eat properly, take part in physical activity, or enjoy life.”
Cleveland Clinic has a slightly different definition, which overlaps the above:
“Chronic pain is pain that lasts for over three months. The pain can be there all the time, or it may come and go. It can happen anywhere in your body.
Chronic pain can interfere with your daily activities, such as working, having a social life and taking care of yourself or others. It can lead to depression, anxiety and trouble sleeping, which can make your pain worse. This response creates a cycle that’s difficult to break.”
It is imperative to know the source of your chronic pain and find treatment for this. If it is a recurrent lumbar misalignment that causes the lower back pain, a chiropractor or osteopath who still does manual adjustments can certainly help. If the kidneys, gall bladder, or other organ disorder are involved in what we feel as pain in the back, of course, other disciplines get involved in finding a treatment.
Here, we’re not going to, for example, causes of headache, such as eye strain, constipation, neck strain, cervical misalignment, or a host of organic causes The important thing is that physicians are under extreme scrutiny by the FDA as to how many prescriptions for pain they write. The medical system is more concerned about the possibility of promoting or feeding into addiction or providing powerful prescription drugs that have potential for being privately re-sold as “street drugs” I even read a piece in a non-medical journal years ago about how a terminal cancer sufferer in Sweden would be provided with an implanted pump (just one way to deliver it) for pain medication, whereas in the US, the patient largely suffers from under treatment. This latter course, as hinted in the definitions ,greatly restricts otherwise healthy activities by the pain patient, whatever the cause, and can lead to depression.
Worse, the person (and we met a person who experienced this) who had a bike accident and broke his tibia was given a high does of natproxen socieum (as in Alleve), of course at prescription prices and, of course from a big pharma source, rather than any stronger pain medicine. As a result of this, “Tim” lost sleep and had much more difficulty doing the exercises the therapists recommended zinc supervised for getting the leg back in working order.
It is as if it is the job of the nanny state to make sure that we don’t overdo or misuse anything. A logical extension of this might be having health patrols to make sure we’re not eating too many LDL fats in our diet. “Comrade, I’m issuing you a citation for that Big Mac…”
The worst part of this nanny state is how its policies always backfire. The chronic pain patient who’s told to meditate or practice breath work and take her acetaminophen or aspirin may well be tempted to look for ‘street drugs.’ Perhaps this is part of allopathy’s and the NIH’s plan for population reduction, as much of what is sold is counterfeit, produced by Chinese organized crime (their supervision and expertise) in clandestine labs in Mexico. The pill will look just like and often have the same stampings as the authentic medication but be laced with deadly fentanyl. This goes under reported as it is a consequence of a porous southern border and what amounts to chemical warfare by the People’s Republic of China.
That being said, I’d like to go over some non-addictive, yet effective pain mitigations that you might want to consider if you are confronted with chronic pain. This is not medical advice, and, just like the TV commercial advice such as “check with your physician to see if you are healthy enough to have sexual activity,” or “before trying any diet, be sure to check with your physician” is not in any way a prescription. Of course, before you take butterbar herb for a migraine, be sure to consult with your physician. If you have to wait a few weeks for the appointment, don’t have government insurance, or lack the $200 + for the five minutes with him or her where you describe the symptoms of a migraine and the doctor writes you a script for sumatriptan, then you should just endure it with whatever relief an OTC provides. We, too encourage you to always consult with a licensed healthcare provider prior to trying any of the following for your chronic pain
I’m just going to present a few of these, as folk or natural medicine globally has seen the use of hundreds of different plan derivatives for pain. I’m presenting these in no particular order just to get the discussion going.
If any of you use what you find to be an effective alternative pain mediation that is actually affordable and not too hepatoxic like acetaminophen or outrageously expensive like sumatriptan, please share your experience.
Corydalis Yanhusuo: As with a lot of natural pain remedies, one would have to consume a lot of this extract from the corydalis yanhusuo to be effective, so it is usually bought as a 10:1 or 20:1 capsule concentrated extract.
A recent Chinese study “demonstrated that YHS effectively attenuates acute, inflammatory, and neuropathic pain without causing any tolerance [16]. In addition to the various pain assays conducted, Wang et al. also showed that in dopamine D2KO mice, the antinociceptive effects of YHS were decreased in both the acute and neuropathic pain assays [16]”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8704877/
Kanna (Sceletiumtortuosum): This is also usually used as a concentrated extract. Several brands sell it as 100:1 capsules.
“Sceletium tortuosum (L.) N.E.Br. (Mesembryanthemaceae), commonly known as kanna or kougoed, is an effective indigenous medicinal plant in South Africa, specifically to the native San and Khoikhoi tribes. Today, the plant has gained strong global attraction and reputation due to its capabilities to promote a sense of well-being by relieving stress with calming effects.
… For centuries, S. tortuosum has been traditionally used as an antimicrobial agent, namely; as a painkiller for headache, local anesthetic action, abdominal pain, and for the respiratory tract [1,23]. The native people of South Africa would chew the plant to relieve toothache.” Also mentioned in this discussion were the anxiolytic and anti-inflammatory properties of kanna. Often our inflammation accompanies or actually causes pain.
Wild Lettuce (Lactuca virosa): “Wild lettuce is used for whooping cough, asthma, urinary tract problems, cough, trouble sleeping (insomnia), restlessness, excitability in children, painful menstrual periods, excessive sex drive in women (nymphomania), muscular or joint pains, poor circulation, swollen genitals in men (priapism), and as an opium substitute in cough preparations.
The seed oil is used for “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis) and as a substitute for wheat germ oil.
Some people apply wild lettuce latex directly to the skin to kill germs.
Some people inhale wild lettuce for a recreational “high” or hallucinogenic effect.
Wild lettuce has calming, relaxing, and pain relieving effects.”
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-342/wild-lettuce
I do not use this “recreationally” nor would I suggest it. I found it as a very reasonably priced supplement, a 4:1 concentrate from Carlysle Nutritionals, LLC. At the time of this writing it was less than $15 USD for a bottle of 200 of a 500mg capsule. I receive no payment for describiing such a product for you. Again, in just sharing information, when I took it for pain in broken hip yesterday, two capsules kept me mobile and with very little pain for several hours. I had a light snack after washing it down with water. I generally do this with any pain reliever so that no capsule gets stuck in esophagus- you may have no issue swallowing, so this is just my own experience.
Butterbur (Petasitus hybridus): This herb has been found effective in Adult Migraine, Pediatric Migraine -prevention of pediatric migraines, Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma, neuroprotective against Alzheimer’s Disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537160/
Maeng Da (Kratom): “Low doses of kratom are said to increase energy levels while higher doses can produce sedating effects. It is also commonly used to relieve pain, improve mood, and reduce anxiety.”
https://www.discovermagazine.com/lifestyle/18-best-maeng-da-kratom-products-in-2023
With kratom, there is some risk to persons with a history of heart challenges. As with all medicines, those derived from herbs sometimes do have risks, so, as with anything else, do not use it recreationally and be sure to check your particular state before thinking of trying it as kratom is not legal in some states. Reading up on, researching published articles on side effects is important in deciding whether to try a particular herb or not.
The allopathic oligarchy does put out distorted information, often ignoring risks or minimizing them concerning pharmaceutical products while exaggerating concerned over side effects with natural products, as many fo the ;regulators’ have worked for and may in the future work for pharmaceutical corporations. We might do well to remember the fundamental conflict of interests and incestuous relationship between governmental regulators and pharmaceutical firms. Saccharin was banned in US in 1981, and ten years later, the FDA withdrew its recommendation to ban the sweetener. Ironically, one of the pharmaceutical companies had just started producing “Equal” (aspartame) and wanted to use it to replace saccharin for persons diabetic or bariatric patients. The case is illustrative as the FDA;s basis for banning the sweetener involved feeding rats heroic doses of saccharin, equivalent to a human’s consuming over a quart of it a day, because at the extremely high dose, the rats developed bladder tumors. That was junk “science” but it is the kind of scare tactic that is sometimes used toward herbal or natural products. That said, some do have risks, so do your homework and consult a healthcare provider if you need more information
Turmeric (Curcuma longa): “Turmeric is a spice with curcumin, a natural compound with anti-inflammatory effects. It may help reduce pain and improve mobility in people with osteoarthritis, according to a study. Learn more about turmeric’s benefits, dosage and safety from Mayo Clinic experts”
Https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric
PEA (Palmitoylethanolamide):PEA has no apparent side effects. “Preclinical and clinical studies suggest PEA may potentially be useful in a wide range of therapeutic areas, including eczema, pain and neurodegeneration and at the same time to be essentially devoid of unwanted effects in humans ”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5094513/
I have read other studies indicating that PEA can be taken daily as a supplement and that it reduces ones susceptibility to pain. It is also considered a neuroprotective substance and is being studied as a preventive against dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. A popular formula for PEA also includes the anti-aging nutraceuticals, luteolin.
There are, as you can see above, many pain relief alternatives which are non-habit forming and may help the chronic pain patient without, for example, the gastric distress or slowed peristalsis that accompanies opiate-based formulas or those containing aspirin. They are any alternative to persons with concerns for liver function who may not want to take acetaminophen.
As with all such alternative treatments, consult a healthcare professional about using one of these and take just enough to reduce the pain. As with any other medicine, if, for example, you swallowed a kanna 100:1 capsule, it will not take effect for probably a half hour to 45 minutes, so give the capsules, should you want to use any of the above, time to work before taking additional.
As with any herb or medication which you have not taken previously, do be conscious of your reflexes, reaction time, and balance and do not plan to drive until you see whether or not this will affect your ability to drive or operate machinery.
Suggested nutritional support supplements are offered for evaluation only. This a pastoral healing service based upon psychic and energetic approaches to healing. Use of herbal or homeopathic remedies is based upon the literature of each discipline and on anecdotal experiences of clients or practitioners who have used these over many millennia in the ancient Scandinavian tradition of Tietaja. In some modern Tietajar training, we shamanic students learn global herbalism and so suggestions may use herbs employed in diverse indigenous healing traditions. Do research the uses and applications of components yourself and discuss it with a licensed healthcare professional prior to using.
In addition to the above, at least where joint pain is involved, consider liniments which contain capsaicin, a “hot” phytochemical from pepper plants to block substance P involved in transmission of the pain impulse or arnica Montana, an anti-inflammatory. There are also pain relief ointments containing methyl salicate and / or menthol. I also recently tried out Kailo strips, printed nano technology that you wear “between pain and the brain,” an energetic approach to lessening pain.
Hopefully, this will begin a search or a conversation here or with your peers about ways to mitigate pain without habit forming effects or other health or behavioural issues from pain relievers.