5 Common Types Of Pain And The Best Treatments For Each Case

The pain is the first reason for medical consultation by far above all others. “It hurts here” is the phrase that opens that curious nexus between doctor and patient, by which he not only reports his problem, but also predisposes himself to an improvement.

And it is that this very common symptom is the body’s way of indicating that something is not right. But it is also usually the trigger that leads to go to a professional to resolve the situation.

There is a tendency to believe that the factors that have motivated the painful condition are due to a clear and quick to resolve cause. However, while that is sometimes true and a simple pill can ease a headache or low back pain, this is not always the case. The causes are not always clear.

It is then that pain becomes a symptom of great value, which can help to discover facets of our life that we had ignored. By bringing these problems to the surface, it is possible to try to clean up the ground in depth and give a positive turn to existence.

Kinds of pain

The pain can be joint, muscular, neuralgic, vascular … and any of them, acute or chronic:

• Acute pain : By definition, acute pain, such as pain caused by a blow, lasts less than 15 days.
• Chronic pain : they usually last more than three months and an example is cancer pain.

There are also temporary pains but that recur periodically, such as menstrual pain or migraines.

However, there are pains that we are not aware of. The pain that we discover in the soles of the feet when receiving a foot reflex therapy massage, described as “pleasant pain” by most people, is an example. When you have an organic problem, such as chronic constipation, the points of the large intestine on the sole of the foot hurt in a hidden way, and somehow we take them for a walk when we walk.

The same happens with other reflex pain, such as acupuncture. Thus, whether we are aware of the pain or if we have forgotten it after incorporating it into daily normality, that pain is the signal with which the body warns that there is something that should be addressed.

Treat pain naturally

In the event of slight and eventual pain, each person has their own way of acting; in fact, with simple resources the case is usually solved. For example, a hot bath on the feet when you get home can calm a headache that has developed after being cold.

A gentle massage on the shoulders allows to dissipate the tension accumulated during the day and prevent future contractures. And applying an ointment with arnica or mint is a way to alleviate the pain due to a slight ankle sprain.

The problem arises when we are faced with a more intense or lasting pain, or that it appears cyclically. It is then when it is necessary to apply an appropriate treatment for each case.

Let’s look at some of the most common pains below and how they can be treated naturally.

1. Tendinitis: relieve them with shock waves

Tendon inflammation, associated or not with sports, is a problem that affects many people.

Conventional treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs is very often not enough, and other options have also been exhausted: rehabilitation sessions, infiltrations, surgery (as this often does not guarantee good results).

This is the case, for example, in shoulder tendonitis (such as rotator cuff), elbow tendonitis (both tennis player’s epicondylitis and golf player’s epicondylitis), hip trochanteritis (a type of bursitis) , patellar tendinitis of the knee (basketball players), or that of the sole of the foot (plantar fasciitis).

In these cases the so-called “shock waves”, identical to those used to dissolve kidney stones (lithotripsy), are of great help.

The difference is that they are applied to the body without immersing it in water. These are pressure waves of a mechanical type, which break down the calcium compounds in calcific tendonitis as if it were kidney stones. In noncalcified tendinitis, shock waves produce analgesia due to changes in terminal nerve transmission.

They are also anti-inflammatory thanks to the increase in the degradation of chemical mediators of inflammation by a process called “induced hyperemia”, which improves tendon function and makes pain disappear. Between three and five sessions are usually necessary.

Rest is also important, since the restriction of activities avoids the effort of the affected area and accelerates the healing. Care must be taken when performing certain movements, especially those involving the affected muscle.

2. Back pain from a contracture: the best manual techniques

The fossils of the ancestors of Homo sapiens indicate that many already suffered from back pain due to osteoarthritis of the vertebrae. It is another thing to know how they perceived that pain!

It seems that by verticalizing the posture we acquire the conditions to suffer neck pain, back pain and low back pain more easily.

Faced with persistent back pain, the diagnosis is essential, and for this it will be necessary to go to a good professional. Those pains that patients describe with terrible expressions – they suffer so much – are often erroneously attributed to the bones, despite the fact that the vertebrae are in optimal condition and the x-rays do not reveal any abnormality.

When it comes to a contracture, the hands of a good body therapist can accurately diagnose what is happening and treat the case appropriately, sometimes without the need for the patient to say a word about what is happening. Perhaps the problem is not only in the area that hurts, but it may be a pain related to other parts of the body and materialize in a specific one through the interaction of muscle chains, fasciae and connective tissue.

• Osteopathic or chiropractic experts can manually locate and treat the root of these knots.
• The RPG treats pain with postures and exercises. In fact, it “re-educates” the body to adopt the appropriate postures that are its own, with the participation of breathing. Gentle muscle stretches are performed and the correct posture is maintained, with the permanent assistance of the therapist. The patient does not focus only on a specific point that hurts, but works globally to discover the origin of the problem – usually bad posture -, correct it and eliminate the pain. This back stretch is an example.
• Through acupuncture, the acupuncturist will feel in his fingers the patient’s pulses that reflect the state of his different organs, as well as the acupuncture points that are painful along the path of the meridian that runs through the painful area. One of the most affected is usually the gallbladder meridian, which runs through the neck and the trapezius muscle of the shoulder. When this happens, in addition to poor posture at work, there may also be nervous tension or contained anger, an emotion that according to acupuncture blocks and energetically alters the gallbladder. It is a very frequent situation in clinical practice, and relatively easy to treat through local acupuncture points and others found on the legs and feet, since the gallbladder meridian reaches the toes. .

3. Low back pain: test with acupunura

In this problem, acupuncture is usually the most effective therapy, above conventional analgesics, as different studies have confirmed. The solution depends on each patient, but may require treating the meridian points of the affected area, such as the bladder meridian, the longest meridian in the human body.

4. Herniated disc: the help of RPG

When a protrusion of the intervertebral disc increases in size, the “bulge” that comes out between two vertebrae presses on a neighboring nerve structure and pain is assured.

Until today, the only remedy proposed by orthopedists is surgical. But the hernia is usually caused by repeated misuse of the body.

In this case, RPG may be the most effective long-term natural therapy. The RPG expert will determine which are the postural errors that have affected the genesis of the hernia and will prescribe the best exercises to correct them.

Active and passive stretches are usually performed to correct the muscle shortening that favored this condition, which frees the painful area of ​​its excess pressure. It will then be possible to reverse the hernia without surgery, and even confirm it with tomographies (CT) and resonances (MRI). By avoiding surgery and scarring, the plasticity and regenerative capacity of the tissues will not deteriorate.

The path of healing requires generating the space between vertebrae and vertebrae that the intervertebral disc needed.

5. Headache: four very effective natural therapies

In the head all the meridians considered yang begin or end: those of the stomach, large intestine, small intestine, bladder, gallbladder and triple heater. This means that the head is the most yang (fire) end of the body, and that any alteration in these organs can be responsible for a headache. For instance:

• Poor digestion
• The constipation.
• Gallstones.

The acupuncture takes this into account and is one of the therapies that can more help against headaches. However, there are others that also obtain very good results, such as foot reflexology, hydrotherapy and neural therapy.

• Acupuncture: One of the main causes of headache is again the gallbladder meridian, as it runs along the side of the head, between the temples, the temporal area and the occipital area (before going down the shoulder), which it is where a migraine or “hemicrania” (literally “half of the skull”) affects.

  Once the energy is harmonized with acupuncture, they can be symptom-free for years, requiring only a very occasional maintenance session.

Although they do not know acupuncture, migraine sufferers know perfectly well how to point out the points of the gallbladder meridian located on the head, because they feel pain in that area.

• Foot reflex therapy: It is excellent for headaches. We have more than 70,000 nerve endings in the sole of the foot. Through pressure on the therapeutic points it is possible to tone, sedate or unblock different parts of the body, which alleviates the symptoms and gives way to the resolution of the problem.
• Hydrotherapy: When we have a digestive headache, a simple but effective hydrotherapy practice can resolve it in a few minutes. It consists of applying a cold water compress on the belly. For this, a rectangular-shaped cloth is prepared that covers the entire belly. It is soaked in cold water, drained until it does not drip, and is placed on the abdomen. Previously, the patient will have been lying on a towel, which will now wrap the body, and which is held with safety pins. For this practice the only requirement is to have done the digestion. The reaction that the body produces in just 20 minutes can release a heavy headache.
• Neural therapy: It is effective in resistant headaches. Neural therapy consists of the subcutaneous application of a drop of a local anesthetic (lidocaine or procaine). This minimal amount of anesthetic influences the vegetative nervous system and triggers various actions at a distance. It offers results similar to acupuncture.

Pain: better safe than sorry

The things that happen to us are in intimate connection with the cosmos. Probably nothing happens just because, because we are not independent from the rest of the world. This reflection applies to any pain, but also when there are accidents, minor or not so minor.

For example, why do we fall on any given day?

We are at home or on the street, making a habitual movement, and suddenly we lose our balance. It could be a minor mishap or possibly an injury. We may even forget the fall, but perhaps in a few days we will experience a major health problem or a serious life setback.

When a person’s rhythm or direction takes them away from their essence, they become more vulnerable. Something inside him demands a pause to reconsider the situation, be it family, emotional, work, spiritual … or perhaps a little of all of it at the same time.

Occasions to get sick or faint are not lacking. It would seem that the body takes advantage of one of the many that are presented ; then there is no choice but to stay home for a few days or even seek therapeutic help. When you rest or stop acting by inertia you have time and perspective to analyze things.

Pain helps to reconnect, because it is accompanied by a whole set of sensations that can be useful to discover and analyze.

Adopt healthier habits

Before the patient who complains of pain, the doctor or therapist first tries to distinguish what type of pain it is and what body structures are causing it. In the case of recent but intense pain, sometimes a local treatment may be sufficient.

But chronic pain is likely to require a more thorough change in habits, lifestyle, and posture.

The good news for those who suffer from acute pain, and especially chronic pain, is that, as we have seen, alternative medicine offers a wide range of possibilities to get rid of pain without taking drugs, or by substantially reducing its dose. This also relieves the metabolic system and gives a well-deserved rest to the liver and kidneys.

The risk of abusing pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, and other drugs

Painkillers, along with anxiolytics, have been the best-selling drugs for years. There are many types of pain relievers, and some have a long list of side effects. Among the most serious is kidney failure when anti-inflammatories are taken regularly for a long time.

Let’s not forget that kidney failure leads to hemodialysis for people who for one reason or another have taken many anti-inflammatories throughout their lives.

On the other hand, fighting pain with a pain reliever can ease the discomfort without getting to the root of the problem. Over time, this can cause the pain to settle permanently and appear intermittently, with greater or lesser intensity.