One in 85 million Americans suffer from chronic pain., are you one of them? Pain is an uncomfortable feeling, it tells you something is wrong in your body.  What you may not believe at the moment is that this is not always a bad thing, as this is the bodies warning sign telling you that something is wrong.  Pain may be a nuisance, like a mild headache but when it doesn’t go away this provides you with an opportunity to investigate the cause and make changes.

Let’s start with finding the location of the pain. That’s where Thermal Imaging can be useful as this technology maps out the areas of inflammation, nerve damage and blood flow problems.  Pain usually has an inflammatory component which may or may not be related to nerve damage and blood flow issues.  For many who suffer from Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome the only test that shows your pain locations is Thermal Imaging and this can be very reassuring for patients to have something that actually provides a physical image of their pain points.

Dr. Doug Meints, DC of Thrive/Lancaster pointed out in his presentation, the importance of the mind body connection and that laughter is our best medicine. Did you know that children laugh 300 times per day compared with adults laughing only 3 times per day!  Our mind is listening to every word we say, think and hear and reacts to that in a way it thinks we want it to.  Just think if we were more careful with our thoughts and words, we may have more control over the outcome. A few examples:

  • Shoulder pain has been linked with needing time for yourself
  • Eczema has been linked with liver issues which are tied to anger and being upset

Here are a few references for you to learn more on this topic:

  • The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles by Bruce H. Lipton
  • Feelings Buried Alive Never Die … by Karol K. Truman
  • How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body by David Hamilton

Ella McElwee, PhD, ND of Health by Choice provided us with simple inexpensive things we can do to reduce pain.  Sometimes the simplest things seem too simple to us and we overlook them such as standing with our bare feet on the ground for 30 minutes a day!  That’s right, it’s called “Earthing” and the book Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever? By Martin Zucker, Clinton Ober & Stephen T. Sinatra describes how this works.  If you can’t wait for the book visit the web site www.earthinginstitute.net.

You see the earth surface has a strong electrical field with negatively charged ions and when we connect to it with our bare skin those negative ions combine with the positively charged free radicals in our body to improve healing time and decreased our environmental electrical interference.  These negative electrons help to re-balance our body and reduce inflammation. Drs Zucker, Ober & Sinatra have documented how people who have had pain for years found relief once they began “Earthing” either with their feet on the ground or by sleeping on “Earthing sheets” (a grounded bed) with considerable reduction in pain.  Tour de France cyclists noted increased recovery time and increased endurance; there are other examples in the book of ways “Earthing” benefits our health.

Here are a few more simple and inexpensive things you can do to help reduce pain:

  1. Stay hydrated – drink ½ your body weight in ounces per day of clean pure water
  2. Get ½ teaspoon of good natural sea salt per day – helps with nerve conduction and movement of nutrients in and out of your cells
  3. Castor Oil packs – soak wool flannel in Castor oil, warm it in the oven for a few minutes (not the microwave!) and wrap the painful area with the soaked wool flannel, cover with plastic wrap. For liver detoxification, lay the soaked wool flannel over the liver, cover with plastic wrap and a warm heating pad – duration time of 1-2 hours; do this for 3 days in a row, break for 3 days and repeat again for 3 days.
  4. Poultice of charcoal and flax seed – put mixture in an old sock, pour coconut oil over it and heat in oven so it’s warm (not hot)– place over painful area.
  5. Tooth Pain – clove essential oil
  6. Fever – Homeopathic remedies; rotate Aconite, Belladonna & Bryonia
  7. Shingles – apple cider vinegar on a cloth, placed on affected side as a compress; Homeopathic remedies good for nerve pain: Aconite, Arnica, Hypericum
  8. Saunas
  9. Slippery elm tea for stomach ulcers – it’s soothing and calming to the gut
  10. Essential Oils – Frankincense, Helichrysum, Wintergreen, Balsam Fir, & Peppermint are just a few
  11. Rescue Remedy to help reduce anxiety and stress (Bach Flower Remedy)
  12. Somatic Exercises
  13. Reflexology and Myofascial Release work

Here are a few book references for you:

  • Somatics: Reawakening The Minds Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health by Thomas Hanna
  • The Sustainable You – Somatics and the Myth of Aging by John Loupos
  • The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand and Move in the Modern World by Mary Bond
  • Awareness Heals: The Felderkrais Method for Dynamic Health by Steven Shafarman
  • Comfort at Your Computer: Body Awareness Training for Pain Free Computer Use by Paul Linden
  • Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain by Peter Egoscue
  • Heal Your Body by Louise Hay

It goes without saying that what we eat and how we eat (hopefully in a relaxed atmosphere) has a lot to do with our health and subsequently our pain levels too.  We hope you find these resources useful in your efforts for Optimal Health!

Movies you might find of interest: