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Instant gratification

Patients begin by popping too many pills to deal with a migraine or a simple tension-type headache. When the medications stop, another headache follows, similar to a hangover. Sufferers race again to the medicine cabinet, and before long they are locked in a cycle of headaches and overmedication.

At any given time, more than three million Americans are suffering from headaches they are inflicting on themselves, according to Dr. Stephen D. Silberstein, a professor of neurology and director of the Jefferson Headache Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “If a patient’s headaches have grown markedly worse or more frequent, the problem is almost always medication overuse,” Dr. Silberstein said.

“Overuse has less to do with how many pills you take to relieve a single headache than with how often you take them,” said Dr. Robert Kunkel, a headache specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Headache Center. “If you get more than two headaches a week and take pain pills for them, you’re at risk.”

Instant gratification

Pain relievers may offer quick relief for occasional headaches, although there is a limit. If you find yourself taking pain medication more than two or three days a week, you may actually be contributing to your headaches rather than making them more manageable. This is a cycle known as rebound headaches.
In the case of a rebound headache, your body actually starts to get used to the drugs. With rebound headaches, your body actually starts craving the drugs, as if they have somehow become essential nutrients! Many commonly used immediate relief medications, when taken in large enough amounts, have been found responsible for inducing rebound headaches.

Here are some incredible statistics. It seems that with current approach to health care the treatment is worse than the disease.

I am not blaming all the doctors here.

I am blaming the whole “Health care” industry that feeds on our health and our ignorance.

* The term iatrogenic is defined as “induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially to pertain to a complication of treatment.”

Furthermore, these estimates of death due to error are lower than those in a recent Institutes of Medicine report. If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. Even at the lower estimate of 225,000 deaths per year, this constitutes the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Another analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings, with:

116 million extra physician visits

77 million extra prescriptions

17 million emergency department visits

8 million hospitalizations

3 million long-term admissions

199,000 additional deaths

$77 billion in extra costs

The high cost of the health care system is considered to be a deficit, but it seems to be tolerated under the assumption that better health results from more expensive care.  However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as many as 20% to 30% of patients receive inappropriate care. An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among these patients die each year as a result of medical errors.

My advise: again and again please educate yourself. Don’t trust the medical establishment. Don’t go for instant gratification-quick pain relief. Pain is worning you of a problem.

Stress relief, exercise, proper food and natural supplements and vitamins will in many cases help with your headaches and many other pains.

For example strong stomach and back muscles will help with your back aches.

So drop the pills!

Dr Kevin Finnan

Golfers Elbow

Golfer elbow is simpler to the tennis elbow in which inflammation and degeneration of tendons occurs. The more appropriate and technical name of it is medial epicondylitis. It has been observed that it not the problem of golfers only but has occurred in many people who are involved in sports especially with racquet sports such as tennis and squash. Few cases of golfer elbows have been diagnosed in cricket bowlers, weight lifters and archers. It is known as tendinopathies where very little inflammation occurs and sometime there is no inflammation but degeneration and pathological alteration of the tendon occurs and it gives the symptoms.

The main cause of pain the degeneration occurring in the tendons fixed in the elbow bones and sometimes little inflammation is also observed to another cause. Muscles by which we rotate and move our forearm originates over medial epicondyle which is an important bony tendon inside the elbow.

Golfers Elbow is more likely to occur in golf players and tennis players who use more topspin. The reason of more risk to such people is because of high stress that occurs during the golf swing or racquet swing especially when the wrist is cocked before throwing and when the golf club is accelerated to high backswing just before ball is hit.

The golfers elbow can be treated by corticosteroid injection and osteopathy. The first concern of any doctor is to make patients aware of the conditions and the critical factors. They tend to teach their patient to change the style of racquet or golf swing mechanism to avoid the problem and to give proper rest to the wrist.

Osteopath in Sydney gets the maximum patients of golfer elbow because of high number of people involved in such sports in that region. The golfer elbow can be worsened if not taken care of at the early stages the symptoms are the pain in the inner elbow which increase with the increased wrist bending. The pain can be reduced by rest but it might come again.

The main focus of the treatment by the osteopath in Sydney is the reduction of pain when the case become very sensitive this is done by ice treatment, deep friction, ultrasound and anti-inflammation medication. When the recovery phase starts osteopath change their treatment approach for example they increase flexibility and returning towards the normal routine but within proper amount of time.

About Author

Dr Kevin Finnan ( Rydenaturalhealthclinic.com.au) is an Osteopath in Sydney, Australia who specializes in the non-surgical treatment of chronic neck, back and joint pain. Kevin’s gentle but effective hands-on approach has helped hundreds of chronic pain suffers free themselves from pain.

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About pain by Dr OZ

Pain

“Chronic pain is one of the costliest health problems in the U.S., with an estimated annual price tag of close to $50 billion. Lower-back pain is by far the most common complaint, affecting 70% to 85% of adults at some point and leaving 7 million either partially or severely disabled. Lower-back pain accounts for 93 million workdays lost every year and consumes over $5 billion in health care costs. Arthritis pain affects 40 million Americans, and 45 million suffer from chronic headaches.”

MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) — Obesity and chronic pain are both linked with family history and mood disorders, a new study suggests.

Previous research has shown that overweight people are at greater risk for chronic pain, mainly due to excessive weight placed on the joints. The most common pain disorders related to overweight and obesity are low back pain and osteoarthritis.

The study authors also concluded that depression and family history play a significant role linking obesity and pain.

Obesity and back pain

In terms of depression, behavioral factors play a role in obesity and pain. Depressed people are often sedentary, which can lead to obesity and contribute to acute pain becoming chronic pain, the researchers explained in a news release from the American Pain Society.

Exercise and stretching can often help alleviate pain. Medications such as anti-inflammatories (the ibuprofen family), opioids and antidepressants are effective in the short term, but there are worries about long-term use. Pain-relief medication is one of the most abused areas of the pharmacopoeia. More extreme interventions — surgery, cortisone shots, nerve blockers and local anesthetics — should be explored as a last resort.

One of the best imports from Eastern medicine — acupuncture — comes from a time before ibuprofen and Bengay. Not everyone agrees on how acupuncture works, but physicians believe it activates endorphin systems, and many consider it a highly effective complementary therapy.

People who invented acupuncture would tell you that it affects the flow of KI energy in the body.

By the way western trained doctors will not be able to figure out why acupuncture works because they ignore the very foundation of oriental health philosophy: KI (CHI) the life energy.

A lot of chronic pain problems can be avoided by regular exercise, cardio and strength, maintaining proper weight and good and healthy diet.

In my own experience (I have lower back flair ups periodically) it is mainly time that heals. It takes a month or more for your body to heal and reduce the pain.

Acupressure mat

But what helps is regular exercise (do the best you can), acupressure (or acupressure mat), acupuncture and stress relief.

Also to prevent inflammations I use Multivitamin and OPC-3 in Isotonic form

Using painkillers such as ibuprofen, aspirin and paracetamol in pregnancy may harm development of the sex organs in unborn boys, warn researchers.

They blame prolonged use of painkillers – two weeks or more – for contributing to an increased risk in boys born with undescended testicles.

Around half of women take over-the-counter painkillers during pregnancy, usually for headaches.

A new study shows women who used more than one type of painkiller simultaneously, for example ibuprofen and paracetamol, had a seven-fold increase in giving birth to sons with some form of problem with the testes.

It found the most vulnerable stage of pregnancy is four to six months when painkillers doubled the risk compared to women who took nothing.

Using ibuprofen and aspirin during the second trimester of pregnancy increased the risk four-fold, with a doubling of the risk for paracetamol.

Simultaneous use of two painkiller during this time increased the risk 16-fold, says the study, published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today.

These disorders can lead to poor sperm quality and testicular cancer in later life, warn researchers from Denmark, Finland and France.

They claim painkillers may be behind the increase in male reproductive disorders in recent decades, along with exposure in the womb to chemicals in the environment known as endocrine or hormone disruptors.

The researchers say that the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryologyis markedly higher than that seen for known endocrine disrupters such as phthalates, and that, as most Western women are inevitably exposed to low levels of endocrine disrupters, these together with analgesic use, could be contributing to the increased incidence of cryptorchidism and later life reproductive problems.

Joint pain

A mixture of herbal extracts & essential oils

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Below you will find an interesting article regarding the side effects of Codeine, a common pain killer, which apperantly is dangerous that we thought it is.
Chose the natural solution for your pain, with no side effects whatsoever.

Canadian medical journal warns codeine can kill

4 Ontario deaths
Fast metabolism can provoke morphine overdose
By SHARON KIRKEY, Postmedia News October 5, 2010

Codeine can be lethally toxic even in normal doses, and now Canada’s leading medical journal says it’s time to seriously consider phasing out the popular painkiller.
The Canadian Medical Association Journal says codeine -a drug that has been in use since the 1800s -has never been subjected to the safety testing now mandatory for modern-day drugs, and that a person’s genetic makeup can leave them vulnerable to life-threatening or fatal reactions.

“Health professionals and the public generally believe that codeine, used responsibly, is safe, a perception fostered by the availability of codeine-containing products for purchase over the counter in many countries,” the journal says in an editorial published this week.

“However, recent advances in our understanding of pharmacogenetics raise serious concerns about the safety of codeine, including emerging evidence that the narcotic can cause death even at conventional doses.”

The liver converts codeine to morphine. But some people are ultrarapid metabolizers, meaning their bodies break codeine down far faster than most, leading to a toxic accumulation of morphine that can be deadly.

Researchers from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children were the first to report the case of a healthy, 12-day-old breastfed baby who died from a morphine overdose five years ago. The baby’s mother had been prescribed codeine for postpartum pain. Lab tests revealed she carried the genetic variations that made her an ultrarapid metabolizer of codeine, which led to high levels of morphine in her baby’s blood, although she was taking less than the recommended dose.

Last year, the Sick Kids team warned using codeine after tonsil surgery could be fatal for toddlers after reviewing a coroner’s case involving an otherwise healthy 2-year-old who was sent home with a prescribed dose of codeine and acetaminophen syrup after a tonsillectomy. He died two days later. Genetic tests revealed he was a hyper converter of morphine. He died of a morphine overdose.

The researchers know of two more cases involving Ontario toddlers -one of whom died.
The chance of being an ultrarapid metabolizer varies among populations. Health Canada estimates it to be one per 100 people for those of Chinese, Japanese and Hispanic descent, and one to 10 per 100 for Caucasians. North African, Ethiopian and Arab populations have the highest prevalence, at 16 to 28 per 100 people.

By Rachelle Holmes of Chicago Breast Augmentation and Chicago Liposuction Center, MetropolitanMDs

Acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of health care and treatments on the planet, but it still serves its purposes even today. Now, while inserting dozens of needles into your body doesn’t seem like the most fun way to treat ailments, acupuncture is a tried and true therapeutic practice that has helped people deal with pain for centuries.

By inserting needles into various pressure points around the body, physical pain and stress can be relieved and even treated using acupuncture. For most, it’s funny to think that sticking needles into the pain areas and pressure points of the body would be the answer, but when it comes to people who suffer from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, it might just be that.

New studies have shown that that acupuncture in certain areas of the body releases adenosine, which is a natural pain killer that is usually released after an injury. This allows people who are suffering from constant fibromyalgia to gain some much-needed relief.

By releasing adenosine, pain signals can be blocked from ever reaching the brain thus helping sufferers deal with their pain problems. This brings up a lot of questions about how much acupuncture has to do with adenosine release and if this is the reason that so many benefit from it. Yet, whatever the reason, studies have shown acupuncture to be great at treating the condition and helping the people who suffer from it.

From the fatigue angle, the study also went on to show that adenosine released from acupuncture has a lot to do with the regulation of the sleep cycle. By being able to regulate sleep correctly, chronic fatigue syndrome may be able to be properly treated and even fixed.

Acupuncture paired with the correct medicine can help both constant pain and fatigue, as new studies have gone on to show. This is good news for sufferers of both ailments, and goes to show that this ancient art of health may still have some new tricks to share.

from USNews.com 

We’re dynamic creatures, and we aren’t supposed to sit for eight or 10 hours at a time. If you look at our muscularity, we’re meant to be lower down, in a hunched position. By sitting all day, you’re shortening the iliopsoas [a powerful muscle group that flexes the hip and the trunk], and when you try to stand up, it can cause a lot of discomfort [in the back muscles, which are forced to constantly pull back to keep the spine straight].

If we looked at the musculature, we might say, hey, listen, it’s really short and tight, so let’s reduce that tightness [with manual therapies designed to loosen up muscles and break up scar tissue] to improve pain. If we took that conservative [step] first, along with stretching and strengthening, we wouldn’t have to look at the structural problems. Now I’m talking about the vague back pain so many people have, not something potentially serious.

Do you recommend stretching to prevent pain or muscle problems?
Instead of generally asking “to stretch, or not to stretch,” the question should be: Should you stretch for a particular condition, and if so, what kind? For example, static stretching [traditional stretching, bringing the muscle right to the end of its range of motion and holding it for 20 or 30 seconds] really seems to have its place in post-surgical rehab for injuries to the capsule [a sleeve of collagen surrounding a joint], for example, in the hip joint or shoulder joint. It can really break up post-surgical scars. It can also really increase the flexibility of the joint capsule for people who need it, like ballet dancers or gymnasts. [The book notes that static stretching for most athletes has not been shown to be particularly helpful in reducing injury or boosting performance.]

Dynamic stretches [which incorporate movement to bring blood to the area; an example is simply moving your outstretched arms from the front to the side and back, crisscrossing in front of the chest] are great for people who want a little more flexibility before a run, for example. They’re also a great progression to a more active role after surgery. I’d rather see athletes do no stretching at all rather than the wrong stretch. I’d rather see them warm up really well, doing their activity for 10 to 15 minutes at a very low level.

I love these oils and creams before and after the stretching. And Levona Stress Relief Bath Emulsion is the best thing in this world before you go to sleep.

If you have pain in your back, knee, ankle, or other body part, whom should you turn to for help?
We’re often taught to go to the top of the diagnostic chain, the orthopedist. But the truth is that most orthopedic surgeons, unless they [have some particular interest or specialty], don’t want to see patients unless it’s a surgical case. Otherwise, it’s just evaluating and referring out. A good manual therapist who will refer out when it’s necessary–whether a chiropractor, a physical therapist, or an internist who works with manual therapy–is a good port of entry.

But some of the indications to see an orthopedist [first] include tingling and numbness, an extremity with swelling or redness, edema, or pain in the area that really limits your range of motion. And anything that’s a result of an acute injury should be checked out. You should immediately seek medical help if you have any injury or trauma in the vicinity of the spinal cord, progressive muscle weakness in any part of your body, or a change in your bowel or bladder function. Heat and fever are also symptoms that should make you head to a doctor.]

Are there easy ways to deal with back pain on your own?
You can definitely loosen up the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and the glutes [by self-massage and stretching]. (Check out the New Rules of Stretching.) Unfortunately, the most important thing--the psoas–you cannot self-treat. That’s in the front of the lumbar spine and should be left to the experts. Lotions and ointments are helpful. There are many available but we suggest all natural stuff.

A lot of people experience the excruciating symptoms of arthritis and its related diseases. These include swelling, inflammation, pain, redness, and stiffness. When it comes to treatments, there are prescription medications that can be used but they may come with potentially harmful side effects. Although these drugs can help treat symptoms, the possible adverse effects led people to seek safer and natural alternatives.

Natural remedies for joint pain relief from arthritic conditions have been found to be a better solution for suffers that are at risk for dangerous side effects. Safer treatments for joint pain now include natural oils, minerals, and even effective ointments made from organic ingredients.