Mark Sircus
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 Major depression is thought to be four times greater in people with chronic back pain than in the general population (Sullivan, Reesor, Mikail & Fisher, 1992). It has been found that the rate of major depression increased in a linear fashion with greater pain severity (Currie and Wang, 2004). Thus magnesium, when applied transdermally, since it is good for both chronic back pain and depression separately, is the nutrition/medicine of choice for treating these sufferers.
Natural pain relief with transdermal magnesium chloride therapy is safe and effective. |
John E. Sarno, M.D.
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 Weil wrote: "I am a great believer in TMS, having seen a great many cases of chronic back pain disappear as if by magic when people fall in love or otherwise make radical changes in their emotional and mental life." The possibility that chronic back pain is psychosomatic was intriguing to me.
On Dr. Weil's recommendation, I read The Mindbody Prescription by Dr. Sarno. The first thing that caught my attention was his discussion on ulcers. I had a vivid memory that ulcers were very common in the 1960s and 1970s. |
Bottom Line Health
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| People who have chronic back pain tend to start avoiding things that may actually be helpful to them. But cognitive behavioral therapy can change how they think about themselves," he says. "CBT not only addresses the physical aspects of the pain, but it starts to look at how the patients think about their pain and how they behave."
Both Smeets and Eathorne say they were somewhat surprised that the combination therapy wasn't more effective than either treatment alone. Smeets says it could be that there is a limit to the amount of improvement that's possible. |
| People who have chronic back pain tend to start avoiding things that may actually be helpful to them.
Scott Eathorne, MD
The study participants all completed numerous psychological and physical function questionnaires at the start and end of the study. One questionnaire that was used to gauge improvement was the Roland Disability Questionnaire, which asks 24 questions about the limitation on physical function due to back pain. The higher the score, the more disabled a person is by back pain. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Successfully tackling the root causes of chronic back pain can mean a new lease on life for millions of people.
When the "River" Takes a U-Turn
While digesting a major meal, beneficial bacteria in your intestines generate 10 liters or more of different kinds of gases (Vata). These gases help to stimulate and facilitate the peristaltic motion necessary to transport food and waste. Once this task has been accomplished, these gases are absorbed by the blood, which takes them to the lungs for elimination. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Mesotherapy has been used in Europe for more than 50 years for relief from pain that is caused by injured muscles, as in some chronic back pain and in arthritis. It is a virtually painless technique that involves injecting natural compounds—i.e., anti-inflammatory herbs, such as coumarin or arnica, or medications, such as the bronchodilator aminophylline (Trophyl-line)—into the mesoderm (middle layer of the skin) using tiny needles approximately the size of an eyelash. |
Marshall Editions
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 HERBALISM
W
Back pain can be very debilitating. chronic back pain should be evaluated by a doctor to rule out any underlying serious structural abnormalities. See the section on muscle pains for further remedies (p. 671).
Arnica: Begin treatment by applying topical arnica to the affected area in gel or lotion form. Arnica is specific for trauma or injury to skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and acts as an anti-inflammatory and circulatory stimulant with mild analgesic properties. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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 Beyond helping with sleep, memory foam has allowed some people to resolve long-standing issues such as chronic back pain. In truth, the two issues are interrelated; if you have less discomfort, you'll sleep better. Because memory foam supports the curves of the body and provides the support the body, it can help eliminate restless, pain-filled nights and provide relief from back pain the following day.
The top layers of cushioning in a mattress are important not only for their firmness, but also for their ability to breathe and prevent overheating. |
Shannon Brownlee
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 One in four Americans claims to suffer from severe, chronic back pain.
Given how frequently it strikes, you would think doctors would have a clear idea of what causes back pain and how best to treat it. But there's not much agreement there, and doctors who have trained in different disciplines often view it through different diagnostic lenses. In a paper titled "What You See Is What You Get," back expert Dr. |
Marshall Editions
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| Local and epidural injections sometimes alleviate chronic back pain.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Herbs: In general, you do not have to take herbal medicine for a backache. |
John E. Sarno, M.D.
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| However, they said exercise treatment for acute low back pain appeared to be no better than no treatment or other active treatments. For chronic back pain, there was mild evidence that exercise could help people get back to work and be more active but no conclusions regarding pain.
Jellema and colleagues (2001) looked at the value of lumbar supports and concluded that properly conducted studies need to be done in order to determine whether they were helpful.
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been widely used to treat chronic back pain. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I'm talking about hard-core, chronic back pain here. The kind of back pain that a person who is in their twenties shouldn't be experiencing. And that's when it started with me. Maybe I was 21 or 22, but it was very early in my 20's that I started experiencing this chronic back pain.
And how bad was it? Well, it was so bad that I couldn't sit for more than a few minutes without experiencing excruciating pain. And yet, I was a writer. I used to work for a software company writing documentation. And the pain got so bad that I just couldn't sit anymore. That was a big impairment to my career. |
Tom Bohager
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 The most common cause of chronic back pain is injury, but other common causes can include poor posture, stress, arthritis, bone disease, scoliosis, and slipped discs. Another possible cause of back pain is kidney infection or kidney stones (See kidney stress).
Recommendations are dependent upon a thorough evaluation of the possible causative factors, but enzymes can be used to treat inflammation and to support the body's ability to repair tissue through nutrient absorption and availability of amino acids. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 Vertebral fractures also cause acute or chronic back pain, especially in the middle part of the back, called the thoracic spine. If there are multiple vertebral fractures, called compression fractures, the most obvious sign is an abnormal curvature called kyphosis. If back pain, height loss, and kyphosis are all present, this warrants an x-ray of the spine to determine if there is osteoporosis and/or vertebral fractures. Even excessive height loss without back pain warrants an x-ray to confirm a spine fracture. |
Mark Sircus
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| Thus magnesium, when applied transdermally, since it is good for both chronic back pain and depression separately, is the nutrition/medicine of choice for treating these sufferers.
Natural pain relief with transdermal magnesium chloride therapy is safe and effective. Magnesium may act as good opiate alternative for many who become easily dependent on narcotic painkillers whose ill affects are permeating the population and even now are getting into the hands of our children. |
James Dowd and Diane Stafford
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 Al Faraj at Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital in Saudi Arabia discovered vitamin D deficiency in 83 percent of several hundred patients who had chronic back pain for more than six months without a diagnosis. When Dr. Faraj normalized the vitamin D of those with low vitamin D levels, the back pain resolved in all of them. Two-thirds of those with apparently normal vitamin D levels also eliminated back pain by taking D supplements.
If you're gaining weight and noting a general decline in your overall health, these changes probably indicate a lack of vitamin D, too. |
| The vitamin D levels of 360 people with chronic back pain for more than six months were tested, and 83 percent had vitamin D deficiencies. Then, when doctors normalized their D levels, back pain relief improved in all of them. Two-thirds of those who'd had normal D levels also saw improvements in their back pain with supplementation.
Vitamin D, Diet, Learning, and Memory
Memory and learning are different sides of the same coin, and both are linked to brain development. |
David Wolfe
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 If you have chronic back pain, start looking into yoga and eating more green-leafy vegetables to get your body alkaline (also consider sleeping without a pillow to allow the spine to rest in its natural position).
To achieve your true potential, you must cleanse your body of tension, free your mind of stagnant knowledge, and open your spirit to the physiology of pure excellence.
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EXCELLENCE
1 Begin exercising daily. Engage in the type of exercise you enjoy, whether it be: walking, swimming, cycling, weight lifting, jumping on a rebounder, etc. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I eliminated chronic back pain and I eliminated my borderline diabetes, obesity and depression. I did it all by turning to nature and ignoring all the information from modern medicine, companies, the FDA, the mainstream press, medical schools, cancer centers and everybody else. That information will, in my opinion, lead to a life of chronic pain, degenerative disease, and medical bankruptcy.
If you want to be healthy, you've got to acknowledge your human nature and your interaction with the natural world around you. You have a blueprint for health in you right now. |
James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D.
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 For acute back pain, take a 30C potency four times daily. For chronic back pain, take it twice daily for two weeks to see if there are any positive results. After you notice improvement, stop taking the remedy, unless symptoms return. Consultation with a homeopathic practitioner is advised.
Aesculus Hippocastanum is for lower back or sacral pain that is worse when you are sitting. The pain often radiates into the right hip.
Arnica (Arnica montana) is for an injury that leaves your back feeling bruised and sore and when you have difficulty moving around. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| The only thing that really worked long term was to just completely reform my lifestyle: avoid all unhealthy processed foods, get outstanding nutrition through supplements, engage in all sorts of strength training, flexibility training, and modalities like Pilates and Yoga, which today I just absolutely swear by in terms of their effectiveness at enhancing core strength and eliminating chronic back pain.
So I did these things and I educated myself about the true causes of health. |
Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D.
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 Controlled trials using electroacupuncture have reported either benefit77 or no benefit78 for chronic back pain. A double-blind trial compared acupuncture to injections of anesthetic just below the skin at non-acupuncture points, and found no difference in effect between the two treatments.79 Controlled trials have compared acupuncture to transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS). Some,80, 81 though not all,82 demonstrated greater pain relief with acupuncture when compared to TENS, and one found improved spinal mobility only with acupuncture. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| I didn't know what was causing my chronic back pain. Being uneducated about health and nutrition, I thought, "Well, there must be something physically wrong with my back." And so of course, I started visiting chiropractors and eventually even medical doctors and surgeons. And they all said, "There is nothing physically wrong with your back."
And meanwhile, I was in such excruciating pain that I had to start standing up while I worked. So I created a desk where I could stand up and write. And that worked quite well. |
| Maybe I was 21 or 22, but it was very early in my 20's that I started experiencing this chronic back pain.
And how bad was it? Well, it was so bad that I couldn't sit for more than a few minutes without experiencing excruciating pain. And yet, I was a writer. I used to work for a software company writing documentation. And the pain got so bad that I just couldn't sit anymore. That was a big impairment to my career. I think a lot of people would have just said, "Okay! I'm going to collect workers compensation. I'm injured, I can't work. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I wouldn't know: haven't eaten at McDonald's since the 1990's when I weighed 220 pounds, was borderline diabetic, mentally depressed and suffered from chronic back pain. At that time, I ate McDonald's almost every day. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| I don't ever experience chronic back pain these days. I can sit for hours if I wish. And yet, every day, I invest in my own health. I spend several hours a day stretching, strength training, engaged in physical activity, and continuing to learn and research foods, the healing effects of medicinal herbs, and how we can become healthier human beings by relying on the wisdom of nature.
Weight loss was a major challenge
Weight loss didn't come easy for me at all. In fact, most of the men in my family have been overweight. I came from a family of people who overate and the men were always heavy. |
Mike Adams
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 For my chronic back pain, one surgeon told me he could perform "exploratory surgery" on my back and spine. Not surprisingly, this was not something that sounded wise to submit to.
I also began looking at the results others were achieving from health care. I talked to cancer patients, diabetics, osteoporosis sufferers, and people with severe depression. In every case, I found that rarely did any get better under the care of a doctor. Sure, people were able to mask the symptoms of their diseases by "managing" them with prescription drugs, but nobody fundamentally healed. |
Mike Adams
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| I had low levels of energy, chronic back pain, and mental cloudiness. My moods weren't stable, and I wasn't able to learn and focus anywhere near the high level I practice now. But after avoiding all processed foods, soft drinks, refined white flour and so on, and then taking up a diet of healthy nutrition including superfoods, chlorella, spirulina, raw vegetables and fruits, nuts, whole grains, healthy oils, and so on, my body and my mind have been powerfully transformed.
Today I'm 185 lbs. I have fifteen more pounds of lean body mass than I've ever had. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 A magnetic mattress pad has been developed and some people have found relief from chronic back pain after sleeping on it for only a short time. Experiments have shown that magnet back support has proven useful for golfers.
• Massage therapists work with muscles and tendons, using different techniques like muscle kneading and compression to lessen tension in the muscles. This increases circulation and helps the body flush out cellular debris, which speeds tissue repair and aids in healing back problems. (See Massage Therapy under pain control in Part Three. |
Alan R. Gaby, M.D., Jonathan V. Wright, M.D., Forrest Batz, Pharm.D. Rick Chester, RPh., N.D., DipLAc. George Constantine, R.Ph., Ph.D. Linnea D. Thompson, Pharm.D., N.D.
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| Colchicine is a remedy derived from autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) that may be helpful for chronic back pain (page 293) caused by herniated discs. A review of research reports that colchicine can relieve pain (page 338), muscle spasm, and weakness associated with disc disease.106 The author of this study suggests that colchicine produces dramatic improvement in about 40% of cases of disc disease. In most studies, colchicine has been given intravenously.107 However, oral colchicine may also be moderately effective for OA. |
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