Pestering, Pounding, Punishment Plaguing my entire body. A Pressing Problem Panging a Paroxysm of anxiety, frustration, and depression. Pain, specifically rheumatic pain, is defined as physical suffering or distress due to injury or illness. Suffering is the key word here. Presently experiencing pain myself and struggling to find a way out of the cycle, I can’t help but be distressed knowing that so many people live with pain on a daily basis for weeks, months and even years. David Hoffman, author of “Medical Herbalism”, states that “…skeletal misalignment can impair the function of the neurological system and other organs and disrupt the harmony of the whole body.” His words cannot ring truer to me. What started as a back injury has truly effected my entire body from the actual physical injury, diet, exercise, and emotional state to hygiene and quality of life. Having to change the way i get dressed, shower, and sleep. Daily activities take 3 times longer or have been eliminated completely leaving my apartment dirty and difficult to navigate. Eating and cooking has been minimized to the quickest and easiest and usually and unfortunately lacking nutrition. My career and finances have plummeted. However, it does get better every day. Slowly but surely. Once committed to bed rest unable to focus on anything productive, I am now sitting up, typing, carrying books, researching and focused on getting better. Starting at the beginning: In result to injury, Pain receptors in our tissues are stimulated and send a signal to the brain that screams OW! PAIN! And then the body goes into response mode, creating heat, inflammation and all that good stuff to protect the area to aid in healing. Damage to bones, tendons, and ligaments will also cause surrounding muscles to contract which then again triggers pain receptors OW! DOUBLE PAIN! (you don’t actually feel “double pain” due to the gate control theory which only allows one pain signal through at a time; this is why if you stub your toe, then bang your knee, you won’t feel the toe pain anymore) So, what do you do when over the counter NSAIDs aren’t giving you any relief and you can’t afford to go to the doctor to get “real painkillers”? (Obviously if it is a serious injury, go to the doctor anyways) Tip 1: Drink a bottle of wine and cry in bed! Whiskey, would be better…but whatever you have works. But seriously, rest. Make yourself stay still. All of the pain and inflammation that you are feeling is your body doing its job to heal. It is making you immobile for a reason. Suffer through it, you will thank yourself later for not pushing yourself possibly re injuring and making it worse. This is where the wine/whiskey comes into play because it will make you forget about it for a while. Not to push the booze on anyone, you can do other things to distract yourself, watch a movie, listen to music, meditate, read a book, sleep etc. Remember that alcohol used to be #1 in first aid kits/ doctors bags for a reason. For medicinal purposes of course. Tip 2: ICE is so nice. There was so much heat coming out of my body that I was sweating even with a giant ice pack on my back. I made one of those DIY ice packs that you see on pinterest with rubbing alcohol and water. Make sure you double bag it because eventually it will start leaking, i guess the alcohol eats through the plastic or something, but mine lasted a good few weeks. *REMEMBER NO MORE THAN 20 MINUTES AT A TIME* Also, my cat loves licking the frozen condensation on the outside of the bag: Tip 3: Do your research and get help: Ask neighbors, friends, co-workers, and significant others to help you. Like I said earlier, we all experience pain. Someone you know may have been through the same thing that you are going through. Search the internet for advice and seek out the medical support that you feel that you need. Massage therapists, chiropractors, doctors etc. My favorite herbs for my pain have been:
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AuthorI am an herbalist, massage therapist, childless, wife just trying to live a healthy, fun, magical life in this crazy beautiful world. Categories
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February 2020
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