5 Ways to Reduce Chronic Pain Naturally

5 tips to reduce pain naturally blog pic

“{Dr. Allen} set me up on a plan that will continue to help me for many years in the future!”

“I sought out services with Dr. Allen after suffering from chronic pain in various regions of my body. The pain had gotten so bad that it was limiting my ability to exercise, travel and other things that I had looked forward to doing now that I retired.

Instead of just addressing my pain, Dr. Allen assessed all areas of my health. I had never known or recognized how my gut health and chronic constipation were influencing my chronic pain. She helped me eliminate inflammatory foods and heal my gut.

Because of the care I received from Dr. Allen, I no longer have chronic pain. My gut health has improved and I no longer depend on laxatives to help manage my chronic constipation. She set me up on a plan that will continue to help me for many years in the future!” ~KN

5 ways to Reduce Chronic Pain Naturally

Now, this can be detrimental to the healing process in many different ways. First of all, we need the inflammation in order to trigger the immune system to increase circulation to the area bringing all the healing macrophages and lymphocytes to heal the injury. The second reason it can be detrimental is because is by masking your pain which can cause you to push through and ignore you pain; thus, causing more injury, inflammation, and setting you up for chronic pain situation. Cortisone injections have plenty of research to support the discontinued use due to the delayed healing process of the injury following. I’ll drop that research article in the comments section of this live video.

So, what are better options when experiencing pain, rather than reaching for those NSAIDS:
1. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet – you have to get rid of any extra inflammation that can fuel your currently inflammatory process. What is an anti-inflammatory diet?? Sugar, Gluten, Dairy, processed foods are the heavy hitters. Start there and trying to eat a “Whole Food” diet – things that are grown and produced on this earth. Eat the color of the rainbow and foods that are rich in vit C to help support the immune system to heal the body.
2. Gentle yoga Breathwork/healing meditation – why yoga – Our bodies natural tendency is to stop moving. Research has found especially with LBP you need to keep moving rather than stopping daily activities. Yoga combines the breath with gentle movement, stretching and strengthening. If you pain is severe, seek the help of an integrative Physical Therapist, even better one who has a professional yoga therapy certification that incorporates medical therapeutic yoga into their Physical Therapy practice.

Now, let’s talk about the break that goes with yoga. This does a couple of things. Allows you to decreased your stress arousal response to the pain. But allows you to mindfully be aware of exactly what muscles are contracting in response to pain and see if you can override that involuntary response. What I mean by that is our muscles will naturally tighten around a painful joint in order to protect it or prevent movement. But, that will often lead to increased compression in the joint which in turn creates more inflammation (which is why doctors prescribe muscle relaxers). But, if you are in a comfortable position, telling your mind and body you are safe, you have the capacity to heal and recognize muscles that are contracted, you can actually begin to actively release those muscles and gain relief.

3. Supplements: 1. Tumeric has natural anti-inflammatory properties but rather than stopping inflammation in it’s tracks, it helps to modulate inflammation.
a. Omega 3 from a good quality source – have to know the source otherwise you will end up with a rancid omega 3 that has a high level of heavy metals in it if you are not buying from a trusted source.
b. Quercetin: the compound found in apples help to reduce inflammation naturally
c. Green tea: 4. Essential oils: these are natural organic compounds that are collected from plants or trees from steam distillation. The body can easily recognize them and utilize their healing properties. Some of my favorites that I use with my patients are peppermint oil for pain relief, marjoram to relax a tight muscle, deep blue for muscle relief, copaiba for inflammation.
5. And honestly if you’ve been doing steps 1-4 and still don’t have relief then it’s time to get to the source of your problem. If you do have a chronic situation which is limiting your quality of life, ability to work or exercise or even travel, then working directly with a functional medicine provider will be the best approach. With comprehensive testing, you will gain understanding of your genetics and how predispose to inflammation or your specific genetics given bone health. You will be able to heal your deeper sources on inflammation that may be fueling your pain conditions. You will know exactly what micronutrients are missing in your body which are then keeping your immune system from working efficiently to heal the area. RA is one of the most common autoimmune diseases which causes a global attack on the joints. This is often fuels by faulty genetics, deep rooted bad super bugs that live in the gut, wreaking havoc and playing tricks on your immune system, keeping inflammation at an all time high. Without testing, then you will continue to chase your symptoms. With my program, I work with FM clients all over the US giving them the answers that most have literally sought health from so many “natural” healthcare providers and tried every approach you can think of. They will get a little better but not fully because there is still something underlying that is being missed. So, I really would encourage each of you to stop wasting precious moments of your life and regain your health! I know typically fear can also keep us frozen or the thought of investing in ourselves or our health make us feel selfish, trust me, I felt the same way initially. But, if you look at the cost of increased deductibles in the insurance world, the cost of hospitalizations and medications that will only mask the symptoms, that made it all worth it. So, my question to you all, is what will you do for yourself today that will bring a better tomorrow? Much love to each of you!

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