Due to the high numbers of opioid and prescription painkiller overdoses in recent years, natural remedies would be very beneficial in creating an alternative for pain relief. Studies have shown reasons why natural pain relief remedies can be better for pain relief than opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They are a safe and usually fairly inexpensive method to relieving pain. There are usually not too many risks or side effects. A handful people who turn to natural pain relief remedies stick with them. For example, many users of things like medical cannabis choose to not go back to using opioids or NSAIDs.
There are many effective ways to relieve pain naturally. The type of pain relief you need depends on the type of pain you are suffering from. There are three main types of pain. They are transient, acute, and chronic. Transient pain is a type of pain that is basically just everyday things like bumps, bruises, and scratches. Transient pain can also include things like hangover headaches. Acute pain is tissue injury, and it usually lasts for a somewhat short period of time. Examples of acute pain would be childbirth or surgeries. The third type of pain is chronic pain. Chronic pain sometimes results from previous injuries or diseases but continues to be painful after they are healed. Some forms of chronic pain are arthritis and cancer. Different types of pain require different types of relief.
The United States is currently in a prescription painkiller overdose epidemic. From the years 1999 to 2014, 165,000 people died from a prescription painkiller overdose (Hsu no. 3). Some studies have shown that the cannabinoid compounds found in marijuana work to help relieve pain. A study by Simon Haroutounian watched 176 people who used prescription pain medication for 7 months. He also gave them medical cannabis to take at the same time as the prescription medication. He showed that in those 7 months, 44% of the 176 people stopped taking the prescription medication and switched to using only marijuana. Another study held by the University of Michigan surveyed 185 current medical marijuana users.
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All of the users said that using marijuana cut their opioid use in half (Hsu no. 3). Robert Pickrell is a user of medical cannabis. He said that playing football in high school has causing him lasting chronic back pain. His doctor prescribed him opioids and anti-inflammatory medication which over time have caused kidney failure and become ineffective. The author says that using medical marijuana “has resulted in a significant decrease in the need for opioids and a better quality of life (Pickrell 2016).” In Canada there is an oral spray called Sativex that is made from cannabis. A study was held in the United Kingdom that watched 189 people with Multiple Sclerosis on Sativex. 40% of the people studied said that they had less pain when using Sativex (Durand, et.al 2007).
While many are worried about the side effects of marijuana, Doctor Mark Ware began to study medical cannabis after one of his patients told him that marijuana was helping to relieve his pain. In one of the studies he conducted 215 people were given cannabis that was 12.5% THC and were watched for a year. His data showed that the users were at no greater risk for side effects compared to regular prescription medication (Maclean’s 2016). Doctor Ware is now conducting research on different levels of CBD and THC in the vaporized form for pain relief (Maclean’s 2016).
While marijuana is popular natural pain reliever, there are other natural methods as well. Coconut oil has been shown to work just as well as Indomethacin. Indomethacin is a prescription pain medication. The Journal of Pharmaceutical Biology showed that coconut oil has anti-inflammatory analgesic properties, just like many prescription medications. Coconut oil has also shown to be effective at helping muscle cramps when massaged into the skin by helping blood flow (PainPathaways Magazine 2017). Another effective natural pain reliever is acupuncture.
Acupuncture is an ancient needle insertion practice that uses the nervous system to release pain relief endorphins (Oaklander 2015). Researchers took a group of 517 people with chronic neck pain for at least 3 months and had them take the regular, prescription steps to relieve pain. They then assigned a small group 50 minute acupuncture sessions. After being studied for one year the small group reported 32% less pain from the beginning of the year, compared to the other group who did not do acupuncture only reporting 9% (Oaklander 2015). Another study in 2012 said that 18,000 people with chronic neck pain who tried acupuncture said it worked better than tradition chronic neck pain relief.
Jamie Starkey, an acupuncturist, said she prefers acupuncture over typical pain relievers because you get both an anti-inflammatory, and completely natural pain relief. Another useful type of natural pain relief is heat and cold therapy. Physicians have found that intense heat, when applied directly to the area, can help with chronic pain and cold can help reduce swelling and help with pain tolerance. This is because heat and cold will interact with the nerve impulses in the spinal cord to your lower brain (Snyder 105).
Natural pain relief remedies are a great option because they help you avoid health problems brought on by prescription medications in the future. A non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug is a medication that reduces pain, fevers, and inflammation, however it comes with many side effects. It has been shown that using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for an extended time can cause health problems like ulcers, liver damage, and sometimes even heart disease (Turner 35). Inflamed joints, however, can be helped using MSM, butterbur, or craniosacral therapy. Craniosacral therapy uses massage to remove inflammatory proteins. Butterbur is a plant extract that has been shown to help migraines and headaches. A study showed that butterbur extract reduced the intensity of migraines in the studied people by 50% (Turner 35).
In conclusion, natural pain remedies are an amazing option for pain relief. By turning to natural remedies the amount of deaths caused by prescription painkillers could be reduced. Also, people would no longer have to suffer from the the terrible side effects, like ulcers, liver damage, or heart disease, of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids. Many who have already switched from NSAIDs and opioids to things like marijuana and acupuncture have stuck to these natural remedies and lived their lives with less pain and no worry for useless side effects.
