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Do I need a pain diagnosis?

Do I need a pain diagnosis?

I was standing in front of the piano along with my fellow choir members.  Heading back to my seat, I realized my right leg was dangling from my hip. No feeling. Just a dead weight.  While standing for rehearsal something, probably in my back, pinched off a nerve to the entire leg.  Numb.  If I took a step, would I crash to the ground?

 

This has happened before.  I was alarmed by the numbness in late May of 2013. I was leaving in a few days for a writers’ retreat in southern France.  While I have experience the numbness off and on during the past two and a half years, when it came on right before leaving for a 100-mile hike in England in May of 2014, I was worried.  I remembered walking from Montmartre to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore on the left bank, talking to my right leg the whole way, “Lift, swing, step, lift, swing, step.”

 

The incident last week was much worse.

 

Dr. Kirdahy, the chiropractor who has been keeping me out of the operating room for years, was puzzled when I went to see him.  “You have no pain?”  “No” I reassured him.  “I have no pain.”  “How can that be?”

 

Maybe because I take Shaklee’s Pain Relief Complex first thing in the morning and as often as required to keep pain at bay all day long.

 

“What’s in this Pain Relief?”

Pain Relief contains two herbs:  Boswellia and Safflower

 

Boswellia extract

  • A controlled clinical trial found that a daily dosage of 1,000 mg of Boswellia

Extract taken in divided doses significantly improved joint discomfort,

Knee flexion, and walking distance.1

  • In a clinical study, an extract containing boswellic acids was shown to promote

comfortable joint movement.2

Safflower extract

  • The benefits of the safflower are newly discovered in the West, but have a long

tradition of use in Asia.3

 

  1. Kimmatkar et al. Efficacy and tolerability of Boswellia serrata extract in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee: a

randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. Phytomedicine. 2003;10:3–7.

  1. Etzel R. Special extract of Boswellia serrata (H15) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Phytomedicine.

1996;3:91–94.

  1. Hsu HY. Oriental Materia Medica. A Concise Guide. 1986. New Canaan, CT, Keats Publishing Inc. and

Oriental Healing Arts Institute, Long Beach, CA.

[From the Shaklee Product Guide, a fact sheet]

 

I told Dr. Kirdahy I would come back next week after 36 hours without any Pain Relief Complex.

This chiropractic visit induced a search of the literature for the answer to my question: does pain help diagnosis?

According to Spine Health, because the causes of back pain can be very complex, it is often more difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for back pain than for other medical conditions. While some spinal diagnoses are relatively straightforward (such as tumors, infections, or fractures), for many conditions there is little agreement among spine specialists about a diagnosis.

However, getting an accurate diagnosis of the cause of back pain is critical, because different diagnoses will require very different treatment approaches. And the sooner an accurate diagnosis is made, the sooner the patient can find an appropriate treatment for pain relief and to improve his or her ability to enjoy everyday activities.

Pain is our friendliest enemy — it keeps us out of trouble even though it often seems to actually be the problem.

The body ‘locates’ pain near the surface quite well but has trouble indicating the source when the pain is deep. Pain from deep injuries, diseases or infections of organs, such as the heart, stomach, lungs and back may seem to come from somewhere else nearby or may radiate into multiple places. Intense pain may be more localizing but not always.

Therefore, when back pain is accompanied with other changes, fever, swelling, redness, heat, neurological problems or changes in body functions, the diagnosis may be sharper — and the back pain diagnosis may be more serious.

 The milder backaches that one feels over one’s lifetime can generally be successfully managed by simple back pain treatments — rest, medication, massage, the application of salves, exercise, weight loss and learning to put up with it.

So, if the severity of back pain does not serve as a guide for when to see a physician, the question is how does one know? While there are exceptions, there are several generally accepted guidelines of when to see a doctor for back pain:

If the back pain has any of the following characteristics, it is a good idea to see a physician for an evaluation:

  • Back pain that follows a trauma, such as a car accident or fall off a ladder
  • The pain is constant and getting worse
  • Back pain that continues for more than four to six weeks
  • The pain is severe and does not improve after a day or two of typical remedies, such as rest, ice and common pain relievers (such as ibuprofen or Tylenol)
  • The pain is worse at night (most common forms of back pain are alleviated by rest)
  • Severe pain at night (e.g. pain that wakes one up from deep sleep)
  • Abdominal pain that accompanies the back pain
  • Numbness or altered sensation in the saddle area (upper inner thighs, groin area, buttock or genital area)
  • Neurological problems, such as weakness, numbness or tingling in the leg(s) or arm(s).

I have seen orthopedists, neurologists and sports medicine doctors for my chronic pain.  Currently, I handle the pain pain relief20667with Pain Relief Complex, exercise, Back2Life machine every morning, and moving as much as possible during the day (sometimes a challenge as I am a writer!)  So I would say I live my life pain free.

The above article persuades me that it is time to cut out the Pain Relief for a day or two to see just how bad this pain is.  Before leaving for England last May, I had an MRI and a consultation with the Sports medicine doctor at my clinic. She told me I have several bulging discs, a normal condition in people my age, but that I was not at risk for hospitalization or major trauma on my hike.  In fact, she assured me, the 100 miles hike would be good for me.

And it was.

The degree of increase in the numbness worries me.  Doing without Pain Relief even for 48 hours worries me, too.

I’ll keep you posted.  Next week, I will discuss the most common medications used to handle osteoarthritis pain, and why you might want to think twice about using them habitually.  Stay tuned.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

betsy@hihohealth.com

 

Leave your comments.  They help other readers and me, too.

 

 

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Alternative pain relief

Plants for Alternative Pain Relief

Boswellia serrata

Boswellia serrata

Extracts of Boswellia serrata have been clinically studied for osteoarthritis and joint function, particularly for osteoarthritis of the knee. Positive effects of Boswellia in some chronic inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma, osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease have been reported. A Boswellia extract marketed under the name Wokvel has undergone human efficacy, comparative, pharmacokinetic studies. Some see Boswellia serrata as a promising alternative to NSAIDs, warranting further investigation in pharmacological studies and clinical trials. (from Wikipedia)

Boswellia is a tree found in India known for its gum resin which has many pharmacological uses, particularly as an anti-inflammatory. It’s also known as Indian frankincense, salai guggal, and boswellin. Its proper botanic name is boswellia serrata.

As a side note, the Biblical incense frankincense was probably an extract from the resin of the tree, boswellia sacra.

Boswellia has been used for thousands of years to treat many types of conditions. Recent research has determined many of the conditions were caused by inflammation.

Safflower flower

saflower flowerSafflower is a highly-branched annual thistle-like herb that grows to a height of 3 feet producing yellow or reddish flowers. Each branch will usually have several flower heads containing 15-20 seeds per head. The dried flowers of the plant and its seeds are used commercially.

Traditionally, safflowers were grown for their seeds and used for coloring foods and making red and yellow dyes. Its flowers can be used alone or in formulas. They can be prepared as dried powder, tinctures, or decoctions (extracts).

The oil from the seed has been used externally in therapeutic massage and as a natural alternative to mineral oil for use on babies. It’s also beneficial in applications for bruises, sprains and arthritis pain

Safflower is source of several flavonoids

More recently, the plant has been identified as the source of several flavonoids with strong antioxidant compounds.

Flavonoids are any of a group of oxygen-containing aromatic antioxidant compounds that includes many common pigments that help to lower inflammation as well as counteract the damaging effects of oxidation on body tissues.

The well-known antioxidant, guercetin, is one of the flavonoids found in safflower. Quercetin has many health benefits among which it can help reduce the inflammation that results from bursitis, gout, and arthritis.

Side effects

The safflower flower is often used in conjunction with herbs with no reported interactions. There are also no reported interactions of the extract or oil with standard pharmaceuticals.

Its use in dissolving clots, however, suggests that it should not be taken with blood-thinning treatments.

Safflower and boswellia combination effective for joint discomfort

Every day, many of us push ourselves to the limit both occupationally and recreationally. In the end, our bodies, and especially our joints, pay the price. Pain is the common symptom. It’s the body’s natural warning system and it deserves a natural response.

Safflower extract and boswellia extract are proven effective and safe for relief of arthritis pain, joint discomfort, and restricted knee flexion.

When combined in a natural product that contains a patent-pending blend of both extracts. it provides long-term relief within just a few weeks and is especially helpful for relieving chronic pain. Continued use of this natural product keeps pain away or markedly reduces pain daily.  [thanks to Marty Saffell] Thanks to the anti-inflammatory plants Safflower and boswellia combination, so effective for joint discomfort

A web search for other herbs that are helpful with joint pain produced this anti-inflammatory triad:

Turmeric, ginger and bromelain work as effective anti-inflammatory agents. Each works to relieve pain, stiffness and swelling. In combination, they provide a powerhouse of natural medicine. The three substances are synergistic to one another, each boosting the other’s effectiveness…  You can google products containing the three herbs together.  I know of no clinical trials to substantiate these claims, nor can I vouch for standardization or purity of the herbs used.

Personally, I have been using the products Shaklee makes with Boswellia serrata and safflower flower extract for a number of years to manage my arthritis pain.  I can recommend Pain Relief Complex without reservation.  These Cox 2 and 5 Lox pain path inhibitors do no damage to the stomach, can be taken multiple times daily with no side effects whatsoever.  It is a great relief to me to find an arthritis pain reliever that does not have any damaging side effects as I took a great deal of aspirin for years to try to kill the pain in my knees from early onset arthritis.  I have no knee pain today.  It is wonderful to have anti-inflammatory herbs to take.

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