FOHAC News Fighting Chronic Pain #251a

Published: Wed, 06/04/14

Fair Oaks Health News

Welcome

June 4, 2014

Fighting Chronic Pain

Hi ,

As you might guess the main reason people come to see me is for pain relief. I get the occasional person that wants to improve their health through diet and lifestyle changes, but most of the time pain is the prime motivator for folks. If you are a reader of this newsletter, then most likely you are a patient of mine. Thus, you already know how effective my application of non-force Chiropractic care is for pain relief. This article is about what else I recommend for pain relief.

Although over the counter pain relievers are somewhat effective temporarily, their use comes at a high cost. Their use damages your kidneys, liver, stomach, and intestines. The body will bounce back from this damage if you use these painkillers very infrequently, but their use for chronic pain like arthritis is a bad idea. Tens of thousands of people die every year from the consequences of using the common over-the-counter pain relief medicines such as Advil, Tylenol, Celebrex, ibuprofen, and aspirin. In fact they are

so lethal as they mix it with opiate painkillers like Vicodin to keep people from overusing the opiates and beco ming addicted.

Chronic pain sufferers are the most at risk population for these deaths as they need pain relief several times each day as opposed to the occasional user that might use these meds a few times a year.

So what else is there? The first pain reliever on my list is turmeric - specifically the curcuminoids found in turmeric. A recent study of joint pain sufferers found that across the board turmeric provided better relief than over-the-counter pain relievers. Turmeric has one major problem - it is hard to absorb in the body so you either have to take excessively high doses or use a form that has been treated to improve absorption like the Turmero Active liquid. I have it in the office. Straight high curcuminoid turmeric in

capsules is only about 1% absorbed, while the special blend in Turmero Active is about 10% absorbed. Smaller doses are actually more effective in getting into the bloodstream where it will do some good. It also saves money by being better absorbed.

Second on my list are anti-inflammatory creams like Super Oxicell and Boswellia creams and anti-inflammatory essential oils. Many herbs and nutriceuticals reduce inflammation when applied right over painful areas. As the inflammation goes down, the pain goes down. A 2005 study by Dr. Sue Chao on the anti-inflammatory properties of essential oils looked at 77 different oils. The study found the top six oils for reducing inflammation were oregano, nutmeg, lemongrass, Melaleuca ericifolia (Tea Tree), dill and peppermint. Lemon, myrtle, tangerine, myrrh, frankincense and lavender closely followed these.

Third on my list is high potency proteolytic enzymes. Sports teams have used these for decades to help with athletic injuries. They provide a completely different pathway in the body for decreasing inflammation as well as reducing scar tissue and promoting circulation to bring good nutrition to the unhappy tissues. In the office we carry Vitalzyme and Purozyme for reducing inflammation. Many patients of mine swear that these enzymes have saved them from back surgery.

If you don't mind smelling like garlic, another popular anti-inflammatory is DMSO. You have to be careful with DMSO as it is very good at carrying other substances through the skin - so the skin has to be very clean and free of any poisons you don't want transported into your body. This is particularly good for sore joints. Also specific to joints is the use of chondroitin sulfate and MSM as they support the cartilage formation in joints - if you need it. I tell patients to try a trial for chondroitin or MSM for 1 month to see if it will do any good. It takes a couple weeks to feel any effect. If it is helpful, then use it for about three months only as it stops being helpful after that time.

Counter-irritant rubs, sprays, creams, and roll-ons are a nice way to achieve short-term relief. In the office we use Bio-freeze and Sombra - one cools you down and the other warms you up. These work by providing a mild irritation to the skin. This in turn blocks deep joint pain. The nerves are wired up to pay more attention to the skin nerves than to deep joint nerves. So when you stimulate the skin nerves, a type of switch is flipped that tells your body to ignore the deep stuff and pay attention to the skin. Chemical "hot packs" that don't actually warn up fall into this category as well.

My favorite therapy for pain in the office is using a heated gel pack for 15 minutes followed by 15 minutes of a refrigerated gel pack (not freezer cold) placed directly the effected area. Muscles like heat to increase circulation to flush away pain chemicals. A heating pad, sauna, spa, hot shower, and a hot pack will also work well. The joints like cold to reduce swelling and pain. Ice is too cold and will shut down circulation too much. While ice is good to stop bleeding into an area in an acute trauma, ice is not good for chronic pain problems. If you are in the office, I might recommend ultrasound treatment as it does the same thing as the heat and cold, except the ultrasound is able to penetrate much deeper into the tissues for a better effect.

With joint pain many studies have concluded that the single best long term pain relief tool the patient has is exercise. You would think that if a joint hurts that you would want to rest it and keep it quiet. Yet study after study has shown that gentle movement exercise is the best thing for long term management of joint pain. The trick is to do things that do not impact the joints heavily. One conflict here is that high impact exercise is exactly what is needed to prevent osteoporosis. Simple walking has been found to be no help in stopping osteoporosis. I get around this conflict by using whole body vibration in the office. Standing on a vibration plate has been shown in many studies to stop bone loss and even help build bone without damaging the joints. Mini trampolines are another choice.

Acupuncture is an excellent choice for managing pain in the body. It is powerful enough to be used to anesthetize patients for dental work and major surgery. Since the causes of many chronic pains involve imbalances in the communication systems of the body, acupuncture is also good at these types of problems.

Along these same lines is the use of massage for chronic pain management. Massage is much more than just a feel good rub down. With a good massage therapist, you will help flush out pain toxins, improve circulation, release spasms, and improve range of motion. It is hard to say enough good things about massage.

Some people derive great benefit from Homeopathic medicines and other energetic treatments. There are many different energetic treatment forms available these days like Jin Shin Jyutsu, Reki, Shiatsu, and many others.

Not to leave it out, but a very simple source of pain control is our diet. Eliminating vegetable oils, which promote inflammation along with sugars and excess carbohydrates, is a huge step toward reducing the pain you feel. Eliminating any foods from your diet that you are sensitive to also is a big help. For instance potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers are a common cause of joint pain for many people. Making sure that you eat foods that you can digest well is very important for back pain sufferers. So often I find someone suffering with terrible low back pain that is actually coming from an inflamed digestive tract. The intestine inflammation causes the big leg flexion muscles going from the low back to the legs to go into spasm jamming the low back forward pinching the low back joints.

This brings me to my last category for chronic pain relief - visualization, meditation and prayer. All of these have been studied extensively and all are amazingly effective. Pain is a subjective experience and the part of the brain that perceives pain has a dimmer switch in it that controls how much pain we feel. With hypnosis it is shown that the brain can completely shut off pain or increase the lightest touch of a feather into a horribly painful experience. While most of us are not able to have that level of control over our pain consciously, we can gain a fair degree of control through the use of visualization, meditation, and prayer. There are many books and audio programs on this subject available and I urge you to consider making use of these resources for pain control. This puts the experience of pain right in your lap where you can choose to experience it differently.

I don't like pain. Most of you do not like it either. So having lots of alternatives for fighting pain is good stuff. Especially helpful is the fact that all of these methods can be used together in any combination that suits you to produce the best results for your situation.

Pain is no fun, and you are in the best position to do something about it.

Take care,

David

Ellen Update

6/3 Life is settling down at last. Recovery is now the name of the game. Being stuck in the hospital takes it out of you. Two weeks in bed will cost you half your muscle tone. Right now Ellen is working to get her strength back and slowly dissolve the blood clots in her lungs. So life gradually will return to normal.

Ultrasound Physical Therapy

Now available in the office

Tuesday afternoons and Fridays

On the Wire

Pain 'dimmer switch' discovered by UK scientists

People all have different responses to pain. We are all wired up differently and so feel pain differently. In this study researchers looked at identical twins who should be wired up the same for pain. Yet even here the twins had very different responses to pain - one more sensitive and the other less sensitive. This shows that environmental factors change our sensitivity to pain because two twins that started life exactly the same became different over time. Our environment turns on and off different genes and these researchers were able to map out genes that had changed between the sets of twins. The idea is to now identify what environmental factors will reduce the gene expression of pain sensitivity.

Pain

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

~ Aristotle

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Two meals a day 'effective' to treat type 2 diabetes

Typical advice for type 2 diabetics is to eat 6 small meals a day to help regulate the diabetes. In this study it was discovered that eating only two larger meals a day not only did better at regulating the diabetes but actually helped them to lose weight and inches from their waists - both steps toward reversing the diabetes. I have been advocating this technique for decreasing toxins in the body as an intermittent fasting process which leaves you not eating for 16 hours a day.

Diabetes

"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do."

~ Walt Disney

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Pups Poop Along North-South Magnetic Lines

27 Non-Toxic Recipes for DIY Cleaning

Here is an excellent article for ways to clean everything without using all the toxic household cleansers found on your grocery store shelves.

Non-toxic cleansers

"The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively."

~ Bob Marley

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Our address is 9725 Fair Oaks Blvd.

Finding the new location is very easy. Coming from highway 50 up Sunrise Blvd, you turn left and go up a block. We are on the right hand side - the building just past the Subway Sandwich shop. If you are coming down Sunrise from the Mall area then just turn right on Fair Oaks Blvd and up a block on the right.

If you are coming from the Roseville area you could come down Sunrise Blvd, but that is a long trek. It is probably shorter time wise to come down Auburn Blvd - San Juan Ave like you have been for the Sunset office, but instead of turning left at Sunset, keep going straight 3 more lights to Fair Oaks Blvd and turn left. Go down 2 lights to New York Ave, go through the intersection, and immediately turn into the turn lane once the center divider ends. We are on the left.

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"This article appears courtesy of Fair Oaks Health News, offering natural and healthy solutions for body, mind and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.fairoakshealth.com"

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About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years. He began experimenting with medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis. In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education. Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic. He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice.
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health.
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities.
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth. The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework. Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

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