Ten natural pain remedies you won’t hear about from your doctor
18th December 2012 · 0 Comments
By Jesse Cannone
Contributing Writer
(Special to the NNPA from the Milwaukee Community Journal) — Early on in his career as a professional fitness trainer, before exploring natural pain remedies, Jesse Cannone realized that it was not the lack of will or desire that kept a large percentage of his clientele from reaching their fitness goals; it was the presence of chronic, debilitating pain.
“The most common types of pain limiting the client’s motion were neck and back pain, often related to injuries,” said Cannone. “To help these clients regain mobility I decided to make it my mission to research available scientific literature and become familiar with every clinically effective pain relief cream, pain medication and natural pain remedy available in the marketplace.”
He soon discovered that prescription pain medications, while often able to effectively block aches and discomforts, came with a variety of dangerous side effects which, in his opinion, made their long term use inadvisable.
“Studies showed that even garden variety over-the-counter Salicylates (Aspirin), when taken for prolonged periods, doubled the likelihood of perforated ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding,” said Cannone.
Further research eventually brought him to a six-year observational study of 6,500 outpatients entitled “Homeopathic Treatment for Chronic Disease” published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. The study, which measured the results of using homeopathic intervention for a wide range of diseases, found nearly 71 percent of the patients treated with natural pain remedies got better.
“Because homeopathic remedies produced overwhelmingly positive results and no harmful side effects, we then narrowed our focus to find the most effective natural remedies for treating the specific types of pain that our clients were suffering from, which included back pain, neck pain, muscle pain and joint pain,” said Cannone.
Below are 10 natural pain remedies, found in clinical studies to produce the fastest and most effective pain relief, which can be rubbed directly into the skin over painful areas.
1. CMO
“The story behind the discovery of CMO is that a scientist working for the National Institute of Health noticed that lab mice never contracted arthritis,” said Cannone. “After investigation, he determined that mice produced a rare fatty acid known as Cetyl Myristoleate (CMO) which gave them immunity from arthritis. When the scientist applied CMO to his own arthritic joints he found it completely alleviated his pain symptoms.”
Cannone said researchers at the University of Connecticut were able to use CMO to produce pain relief for 100 percent of patients with joint and muscle pain in one or both knees. A double-blind study at the Joint European Studies Program revealed everyone who took CMO experienced up to 87 percent improvement in pain relief. Additionally, The Journal of Rheumatology reported on a double-blind study of patients with chronic knee osteoarthritis where the CMO group saw significant improvement while the placebo group saw none.
“CMO acts as a moisturizer on dry and brittle joints, cushioning the joints and repairing cell membranes,” said Cannone. “Some researchers have been so impressed with CMO they say it may be an alternative to the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for treatment of osteoarthritis.”
2. MSM
While CMO is one of the rarest substances to occur in nature, MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane) is one of the body’s most common. This naturally occurring nutritional sulfur makes the body’s cells more permeable, allowing nutrients to more easily flow in and out through the cell membranes.
“MSM works in two ways to naturally relieve pain,” said Cannone. “First, it blocks the ‘C’ pain nerve fibers from delivering their chronic pain message to your brain. Secondly, MSM decreases swelling and inflammation.”
A double-blind clinical trial published in the medical journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage studied the effect of MSM on patients over 40 with arthritis in their knees. One group received MSM and the other group a placebo. The MSM group experienced a significant decrease in pain. The Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine published a recent study showing that MSM resulted in an 80 percent reduction in pain.
3. Menthol
“Menthol is an ancient herbal pain relief medicine used by the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians to rapidly cool painful flare-ups in muscles and tendons,” says Cannone. “It’s why whenever you use a cream containing menthol as an ingredient, you instantly feel cool relief to aching muscles.”
Menthol tricks the body by sending a cooling, pleasing sensation to your brain that thwarts the stinging heat of inflammation. Menthol then acts fast to increase the blood flow by widening the blood vessels to reduce inflammation and pain, said Cannone.
4. Ignatia
Ignatia, a plant used by ancient Chinese doctors, was discovered by a Jesuit missionary serving in the Philippines in the late 1600s. This natural pain remedy calms nerves and reduces the stress which can lead to tight shoulders, a tight neck and painful tension headaches. It also relieves emotional distress, allowing muscles to relax.
5. Magnesium Sulfate
“We’d probably all agree there’s nothing more agonizing than sudden painful muscle spasms,” said Cannone. “Fortunately, when they occur, there’s nothing faster at stopping muscle spasms and twitching than magnesium sulfate.”
This vital mineral compound has also been shown to reduce aching joint pain by 80 percent.
6. Lachesis Mutus
“A rare homeopathic remedy from Central and South America, Lachesis Mutus, has been prescribed for centuries as a blood thinner,” said Cannone. “This thinning quickly improves blood flow which speeds healing by removing toxins from the blood.”
7. Phosphorous
“Phosphorous, the second most abundant mineral in your body, relieves the burning sensation of tight, painful muscles by stopping the nerves from sending pain messages to the brain,” said Cannone. “It’s especially good at helping muscles rebound after a workout.”
8. Belladonna
For centuries healers have used the Belladonna plant as a powerful anesthetic for surgeries. It reduces swelling, eliminates muscle twitches, acts as an herbal pain relief for nerves, ends muscle aches and stops shooting pains.
9. Rhus Tox
“Another ancient natural pain remedy, Rhus Tox, helps to eliminate stiffness and aches caused by inflammation in both muscles and joints,” said Cannone. “It’s good for sprains and back aches too.”
10. Naja
“Naja is a rare but amazingly potent homeopathic remedy from India that quickly calms nerve-based pain and brings fast relief from inflammation,” said Cannone. “It’s also very effective at curing migraine headaches.”
Cannone combined all 10 of these powerful natural pain remedies into a single, convenient pain cream called Rub On Relief. (www.losethebackpain.com/rubonrelief.html).
This article was originally published in the December 17, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper
