Antiinflammatories
Antiinflammatories and
other pain killers may be needed to effectively manage your
pain. By all means use them
but be mindful that they can have ‘side effects’.
Inflammation
is a response by your body to trauma, impact or strain,
infection, or a foreign body – that is something in you that is
not you.
It indicates something is
wrong.
5
signs
The cardinal signs
of inflammation are heat, redness, swelling, pain and
reduced function.
These 5 signs are
often associated with muscle, joint and back
problems.
Inflammation is
usually best managed with rest, cold packs,
antiinflammatories and reducing strain that caused it in
the first place – which is where your osteopath and
stretching comes into the picture
Beware
If you take other
medications or have other health concerns you must
use antinflammatories under the supervision of
your doctor or chemist because they may simply be
inappropriate for you.
Take care not to
overuse them.
They're good for
temporary relief but they usually don’t address the cause of
the problem. They are cheap,
accessible, convenient, fast acting and
effective. But that's not all.
Problems
The commonest down side
is gut problems and recently they have been blamed
for an increased likelihood of heart attacks,
strokes and liver trouble. A few have been taken off the
market in the last few years.
Three of the
anti-inflammatory drugs that have been around the longest
are aspirin, naproxin sodium (naprosyn, naprogesic,
etc) and ibuprofen (herron blue, nurofen, advil
etc). They are available
‘over the counter’, no prescription required. But they are not risk free.
Food
The single most
effective gut strategy is to take them with
food. If they are going to
effect your stomach, you'll know about it pretty quickly.
You may feel nauseous, pain or queasy.
For some people this
occurs when they take their 1st tablet. Most
likely they feel burning or nausea.
If this happens to you,
stop taking that particular medication and ask your
chemist of doctor if there is an alternative. Not all
antiinflammatories are the same, you may be sick on one
type and fine on another.
It may take a few days
of taking the tablets before they start effecting your guts
adversely.
Long
term
Any sort of initial
reaction is usually mild so take note at that point and
stop. Most people who I've
seen that have gotten stomach ulcers from
antiinflammatories, have taken them for years on end, often
every day. Because the arthritis and pain were there
every day.
If you have heart
problems, ulcers or a blood disorder you may not be
able to take antiinflammatories. Many medications preclude
the use of antiinflammatories so if you are on regular
medication especially for your heart, definitely check with
your chemist, pharmacist or doctor before starting on
them.
Symptoms
better, problem worse
Another danger is the
symptoms abate but the problems that cause them are still
there. Worsening.
This often happens with
antiinflammatories or analgesia. Pain is our bodys
loudest call to action. If something hurts you
will do what you can to protect it and minimize the
pain. You take care and reduce stress and strain
on the area. You move it slowly and cautiously. You
take action or rest it, to look after it. Pain is your
guide.
But if it suddenly
stops hurting, guess what, you suddenly stop looking after
it. Beware this trap. Chemically suspending
or removing pain does not mean the problem is
fixed.
It just doesn’t hurt
anymore so we get back to using it as if there was nothing
wrong, and that can sustain and
ingrain the problem.
We
adapt
Our bodies adjust to
whatever we and our environment throw at them. So
however stiff your joints, misaligned your bones or tight
your muscles get, your body will adapt. It constantly
updates what is “normal” and if any anomaly is there
for long enough, your body begins to see it as normal
because it is familiar. Sound
familiar?
So instead of taking it
too easy, do some stretches and gentle
exercises. Get professional advice
and treatment if the pain persists.
Mechanical
problem is still there
Even if your pain is
reduced or relieved by antiinflammatories, the chances are
that the mechanical problem that causes your
chronic and recurring pain is still there, wearing away
and in the long run, making the problem a whole lot harder
to deal with when it eventually catches up and demands
more drastic intervention (like surgery).
Hip
pain
Hips are an absolute
classic for this. Taking antiinflammatories and
analgesia is the recommendation of most well intended
doctors from the time your hip moderately hurts or bothers
you all the way through the slow and painful process of it
becoming hopelessly arthritic and horribly painful to
the point where you become a candidate for hip replacement
surgery.
Avoid
surgery
Joint replacement
surgery is great when it's needed but what if you could
avoid most or all of that slippery slope of pain and
debility, by doing a few minutes of stretching every day to
keep the joint moving well in the first place?
Glucosamine
Glucosamine and
chondroitin, appropriate herbs and other supplements like
omega 3 oil can very useful. The only way to find out if a
given remedy will work for you is to try it. I recently had
someone tell me that Goji juice fixed his gout. He has
thrown out his drugs and is sticking with the juice.
Investigate and experiment.
Start with the
glucosamine with or without chondroitin. They have
been proven to repair damaged cartilage. They are frequently
prescribed by doctors and orthopaedic
surgeons.
Glucosamine and
chondroitin doesn’t work like a drug, with the desired
effect being felt very quickly.
It can take months for
the beneficial effect to be felt. Even if you still have
pain, studies have shown that the protective effect on the
cartilage is still occurring, and reducing long term
degeneration of the joint.
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