Holistic Chronic Pain Management: Natural Therapies and Supplements

I used to cry out of pain. Arthritis, stomach ache, low memory. Even painkillers didn't help me. Everything changed when I tried a coffee enema.

About 1 minute after coffee goes into my body, pain just disappeared. It worked for headache, period pain, joint pain, just about any pain.

I get sharp and aching pain in my lower legs and tight calf muscles. Also vericose veins. It comes and goes. I used to drink a lot of coffee and take asprin. Here are a few things that help:

No caffeine or soda (Coke, Pepsi).
Capsules of CoQ 10.
Ted's lemon and baking soda remedy.
An alkaline diet. Such as eating just peaches or oranges and spinache all day.
No gluten (bread, pasta, cereal, soy sauce).
Yogi brand Joint Tea. (also gets rid of headaches and fatigue) Good steeped with a teaspoon of crushed black peppercorns and drunk hot. The tea is cool mint flavored and the peppercorns are hot :)
A glass of calcium fortified soy milk, a banana and a nap.
[Curcumin supplement]. Maybe take a C and a B vitamin and some Milk Thistle with it.

I've recently become aware of a promising therapy for pain (for me it's an arthritic knee) and would like to know whether any EarthClinic users have any experience with it. It's called Bowen Therapy, named for the Australian healer who developed it and there is lots of info on the web about it.

What is Bowen Therapy?

This method of muscular and soft tissue release originated in Australia in the 1940's by way of Tom Bowen. Although it is world renowned, surprisingly few people know about it.

While laying on a massage table while fully clothed, your practitioner will gently roll your muscles-tendons-ligaments in different directions and orders. He or she will leave the room for two to five minutes to allow your body to process the reflexes that take place.

Many of the moves are made over the meridian points and along the meridian pathways, so the Chi is stimulated and moved. Additionally, the reflex arcs, which are the opposite of a knee jerk reaction, initiate the muscles to release rather than contract.

Since the meridian points contain many chemicals including endorphins, these are released during the treatment. The meridian points are also direct current transformers.

The sum total of the Bowen moves are; muscular relaxation, energy stimulation, nervous system balancing, and postural re- alignment.

It is effective in the relief of a number of medical issues.

To find a practitioner: www.bowendirectory.com

Pycnogenol, is a patented form of it... More expensive, but I prefer it's potency over non patented.. But really can't verify if it is better. There are many different products... Read some reviews here... (I found the 100mg to be too strong... I prefer 50mg)

http://www.iherb.com/product-reviews/Healthy-Origins-Pycnogenol-100-mg-60-Veggie-Caps/4128/?p=1

I have found acupuncture very helpful. Several years ago, I had pain, both sharp and dull, bloating, indigestion, etc, for many months. After treatment for about a month, all gone! Recently they flared up and I'm returning to treatment again. If possible, find a practitioner trained in the classical Chinese medicine, not TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine, a misnomer, since it was developed after the Revolution, in the 1950s).

I have suffered from shoulder pain for quite a few months now. I don't know how I did it, but over time I've had less and less mobility in my shoulders, right far worse than the left (I'm a righty). They get stiff but the night time was the WORST. I'm sure some of it was from sleeping on it - but I would wake up in the middle of the night from the pain and I was always on my back and literally wouldn't be able to move my arm for a minute or two, then would have to support my right arm with my left hand so I could move it and loosen it up. The pain was horrible.

I've been reading lots of info on here and decided to try the magnesium oil as it seemed the easiest and wouldn't taste badly (I tried ACV, blech). Well, wouldn't you know a few hours after putting magnesium oil directly on my right shoulder the pain had subsided. I slept almost straight through the night that first night. That was just four days ago. I've been applying the magnesium oil in the morning and at night. My shoulder is still having discomfort but the pain lessening is awesome. I'm going to try h2o2 next, already have my food grade diluted down. I'm going to try the spray directly method first but will probably start drinking it in the morning as well. Here's hoping I have even better results! Health and happiness to all and thank you EC - I've told so many people about it looking for cures to acid reflux, migraines, reynauds, etc. You guys rock!

Lately I have been experiencing nasty pain down each side of my legs, coupled with chronic lower back pain I was hobbling around in misery. Came to Earth Clinic and read one of the posts about Coconut Oil being used for pain relief, I was sceptical but desperate so I used about a teaspoonful and rubbed into my lower back and the residue down my hips thighs and calves. I lay down after this thinking how can oil fix pain ?.. Within 5 minutes I was pain free!! It did'nt last past a couple of hours so I renewed the application. Same result. So far I have been rubbing in the coconut oil for three days and the effects are lasting longer each time. I am totally convinced. When I told a friend of mine who comes from the Maldives, she said it was used extensively there for massage. If you are hurting try it!! Be well and thank you Earth Clinic

I said I used a teaspoonful of coconut oil, but that is a heaped spoon of hard oil. (it's always hard in this climate except for a couple months in summer) Measurement was probably closer to a tablespoon of liquid oil. I am still using it, just night and morning gently rubbed into any hurting bits. Great stuff!!

I have a Sota Magnetic pulser and it does help to relieve pain by pulsing bio-north magnetic energy into the lymph and tissues. I have also found a laser therapy pen useful for relieving pain and speeding the healing process. Both of these are helpful for rejuvenating skin/tissue.

Now you got me mixed up.... I thought that Cod liver oil was something to avoid..... terribly bad for you.....

My husband and I use coconut oil as a rub for aches and pains. Hubby had his right shoulder replaced 10 years ago and coconut oil keeps him pain free. I need back surgery but am too old so I use coconut oil to relieve pain. We also use it to rub arthritic knees, hips, elbows and hands. We were in Majuro for 18 months five years ago and were introduced to coconut oil by the natives when I stepped onto a red ant pile and was severely bitten all over my legs. Instant relief from coconut oil. We don't measure, we just scoop out a little and rub it on. It has to be 100% pure coconut oil to work.

Hello Magda,

Sorry you are having so much trouble for so long, but you are not the first person I have read about who developed Epstein Bar Virus following a flu shot. Consider yourself lucky that you aren't paralyzed.

With that said, beware of getting unnecessary vaccinations in the future, especially when the unwanted side effects can be worse than the mild disease it could cause! Epstein Bar is a virus and for any virus, I would be trying (for adults-reduce for children) 2 grams of L-lysine and l gram of vitamin C every 4 hours until all symtptoms are gone.

Someone posted that coconut capsules are good for Epstein-Barr. Soothes the spleen.

hello just like to say i have been taking acv for five days now and feel great, no aches & pains at all, i have a bad hip, just wanted to know if it would cure sore throats as my son suffers a lot from them, he gets them a lot, he gets so fed up with them,.... i have started taking acv in 8 ozs of water & honey, i find i am sleeping better too

As everyone should be I was very skeptical when I read of all the cures acheived with ACV. I started out looking for relief for my partners enlarged prostate. When I kept looking at all the things ACV could do, I said what the heck and tryed it along with him. Well let me just say that I feel like a brand new woman! I have had sever back pain and degenerative disease since I was 11 yrs old. About 6 yrs ago I was in an auto accident that I have had constant neck pain from. More recently, with my age now being 48, I have had knee and hip pain on my right side. After taking ACV in water, 2 tbls in 8 oz, for three days my hip no longer hurt! I decided to follow the recipe better and slowly drink 3 to 4 glasses of the same recipe all day. While at the gym I realized I could move my neck and look over my shoulder with no pain!! When I get up in the morning I no longer have to hang on to the counter when I kneel down to get something from the bottom of the cupboard!! I wake up everyday now PAIN FREE! I can't wait to see what happens next! As for my man, well he see's what it is doing for me and wants to do it too but hates the taste and doesn't have the patients. I have been doing all I can to get him to do it. He will now and again but won't do it every day. Does anyone have any ideas how to make it taste better for him? I am used to it already and really with everything it has done for me wouldn't care how it tasted.Thankyou so so so much for this site! Who would have thought that a little bottle from the grocery store costing all of one dollar could make me feel younger then I ever have!!

Dear Kate, like me and many others the ACV work very well but if you add some turmeric that can help more.

Remember ACV & Turmeric (organic much better ) works very well in different hours in the day. You can drink 4-5 times daily. If you have some Hydrogen Peroxide 5 or 6 % - can spraying or make a bath with, something like 2-3 % solution mixed with water twice a day that really help and make less inflammations in your joint.

Hope you geting better, Pierre

I was waking up everyday with sore, swollen hands. I noticed when I used aspir-cream on my legs for my bad chronic pain, that my hands felt so much better! Also, teas made with willow bark, dandelion root, uva ursi, slippery elm, and a tad of catnip can help with pain AND the swelling.

Apple cider vinegar all but eliminated swelling and pain. I am 58 and have been in good shape most of my life but had a low back injury over 3 years ago and have had severe pain and stiffness which has sent me to doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists and even a rolfer for 15 sessions! All of these helped but very temporarily. I have also been doing yoga and exercises from a book called Relaxercise (excellent by the way) which have also helped but only somewhat. I had been getting worse within the past few months and had develped knee, foot and hand pain along with swelling of these areas especially one ankle and foot which was twice the normal size. It hurt to walk or wear any type of shoe. My husband is an RN who looked at my swollen ankle and foot and told me it almost looked like gouty arthritis. This comment prompted me to research the subject and I found a blog of 100's of people all of who had been using ACV and all but 1 person rated the treatment 5 stars. I immediately went to a health food store and bought the organic, unfiltered ACV and started by taking 3 tablespoons in a large glass of water sweetened with organic raw honey. Following the first dose the night before, I woke to find the swelling reduced to about 1/4 of what it had been and the pain nearly gone. The stuff works like a miracle! I have continued to take it every day but have cut down the dose to 2 tablespoons 2-3 times per day in the same amount of water with honey. I have only a twinge of pain and 1 spot of swelling about the size of a quarter remaining on my ankle. Amazingly, my low back has less pain and more mobility than what I have ever had since the injury over 3 years ago. All this and I have only discovered this treatment less than 1 week ago! Amazing!!

I have lifted weights for 15 years off and on. For the last 3 years i had a shoulder pain in the front of my right shoulder. It hurt bad sometime and sometimes not as bad but the pain was still there, so i stopped lifting and it got worse, what is going on. I thought it would have gotten better but i was worse. Well for other reasons i inhalled hydrogen peroxide, Not thinking that my shoulder would heal up, it did. I now can twist it raise it, sleep on it and even do pushups again. I am amazed, it healed in alittle over a month. No more pain. From Ken

A follow up on my back muscle pain. I am using essential oils of Peppermint and then DMSO gel 99.9 pure on the lower back. The spasms are greatly reduced this morning. I worked yesterday and moved about. This morning I still had some discomfort but an application of those two things has worked wonderfully. The Scripture says< Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Noperscriptiondrugsforme

I have severe elbow pain from both tennis elbow and golfers elbow caused by trauma to my elbow and then repetitive use. What has helped make it bearable for me is massage and acupuncture. I also use Traumeel cream on the elbow and Traumeel tablets dissolved in mouth 3x daily for relief of pain and inflammation. If the pain is bad and elbow is very inflamed, such as after alot of use, try icing for 10mins or an ice massage (rub an ice cube over affected area for 3-5mins should feel cold,then burny, then achy, then numb be sure to stop when it starts feeling numb). I also wear an elbow brace to support the elbow this helps alot if you have to use your elbow alot.

I'm a forty year old man who feels like he's in his late fifties. For a long time I just figured it was from being overweight and I still am sure that this contributes. But the sheer level of aches and pains for someone so young seemed extraordinary. Every joint hurts constantly, especially on my left side (I'm a lefty so it figures).

Being overweight, there were two things I did to keep from becoming more so. First, I never liked sweet sodas, so started drinking lemon/lime seltzer. Second, I do like sweet coffee so used a single packet of aspartame in each cup I drink.

One weekend I ran out of seltzer, and being too lazy to get more I just started drinking up my wife's diet orange sodas. By the following Tuesday my aches and pains had worsened so much I considered going to the doctor. Visions of wheelchairs and leukemia were swimming in my head.

I put two and two together and went cold turkey as far as artificial sweeteners go, and about three days later and ever since I have been 100% pain free.

I'm convinced.

Praise God This Works. Thank My GOD, And Thank You, I had a sence of tiredness and I have arthrits, an knee problems, bone on bone,(PAINFUL) I took 2tabs. ACV, 1.tesp.baking soda, plus I've been on lemon, [baking] soda (same dosage) and 1000uts of MSM I need some potassium, but it's much better.

You may be highly dehydrated.

Hello, I have had pain in my legs for awhile now & decided to try the ACV although I have been using 2 tbsp in 6 oz water for about a month or so I just couldn't stand the taste anymore' but I am taking ACV tablets & them with prayer together work VERY well! I LOVE this site & just happened to come across it on google. thank you so much for this website!!!