Arthritis, Aches & Pains

There are many natural therapies that can be a real boon for people with mild, moderate or severe aches and pains. Acupuncture, bowen therapy, hypnotherapy, remedial massage, medical nutrition, aromatherapy and homeopathy are just a few of your choices.

If you are suffering backache or neck pain after injury, tension or gardening etc, try these:

Massage using anti-inflammatory products like Weleda's Arnica Balm or Heels Traumeel cream can help to soften muscles and stop them pulling on joints and discs. It can also help relieve tight muscles putting pressure on nerves as in neck pain or sciatica. Interestingly, we have found Reflexology works particularly well with sciatica, especially if you don't want the area touched.

Remedial massage techniques such as stretching, acupressure, muscle release etc can be really helpful and effective in any muscle problem and you can find a good local therapist on this register.

Acupuncture (with needles or electric stimuli) can also help block pain receptors.

If your pain is chronic, though and you are suffering from arthritis, spondylitis, bursitis etc, I would recommend a consultation. Sometimes, all the massage and physiotherapy in the world will help to lessen the problem to an extent, but won't be able to go far enough because the problem is coming from the inside out.

Arthritis and spondylitis, for example, to a naturopathic nutritionist, is caused mainly by calcium dumping in the soft tissues and joints, poor nutrition to the connective tissues and excess toxicity in the body. If your muscles are really hard and no amount of massage eases them to any great extent, or your joints are developing spurs, this is likely to be the problem. You can see this yourself sometimes from the Calcium and Magnesium balance on a hair test. Treatment can be very effective.

Bowen is a very effective technique for stubborn problems such as frozen shoulder and general aches and pains as it rebalances the whole body. No one is really sure how it works, but there is no doubt that it does in our experience.

We find homeopathic Traumeel is an excellent anti-inflammatory for any ache or pain caused by whatever problem. It comes in cream, tincture and tablet and we have excellent results with it. It even works on sore gums, abscesses, bunions etc. Wonderful stuff, inexpensive and can be taken with other painkillers. Or consider Zeel if yours is chronic rather than acute pain.

If you are achy all over with lots of pains for no obvious reason. And if you don't suffer from one of the conditions mentioned above, simply removing a suspect food from your diet for a while can dramatically improve things.

Finally, hypnotherapy can be wonderful for pain relief. You can have a couple of treatments in-clinic to learn techniques you can use at home to block pain. This works brilliantly for cancer patients, arthritis, labour pain and any form of constant pain.

Important

Remember - always check out with your health practitioner or GP before starting anything new especially if you are taking any other medicines, are pregnant or trying to conceive or have high blood pressure. See here for more advice on interactions with meds and general cautions.