It may be more beneficial to let the body naturally heal from acute pain
Doctors have recommended nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen to relieve acute inflammation for decades
But does short-term relief—and interfering with the body’s natural healing process—come at the cost of chronic pain?
But for some, acute pain lingers, becoming chronic. The “standard medical care for this type of pain is probably making matters worse, is what the research suggests,” Jeffrey Mogil, a neuroscientist at McGill University, told The Epoch Times.
Early-Stage Inflammation Prevents Chronic Pain
Injuries trigger inflammation for a reason, and researchers are working to understand it better.
One study, published in Science Translational Medicine, focused on 98 lower-back pain patients over a three-month period. During that time, half of the volunteers fully recovered, while the other half developed chronic low-back pain.
Using RNA sequencing, the researchers compared the activity levels of immune cells between both groups.
According to the researchers, the chronic pain group started with less inflammatory neutrophil activity and later had little to no activity in the cells that create inflammation. Contrastingly, the genes of the recovered patients were very active with inflammation-related cells.
“Neutrophils rush in pretty early after some sort of injury, causing a process that ends up preventing chronic pain,” said Mr. Mogil, a senior author of the paper, “and you probably shouldn’t block it.”
“NSAIDs definitely interfere with the process,” Eugene Aiello, a chiropractic physician and neurologic researcher, told The Epoch Times. “But not everybody in the chronic [pain] group was taking NSAIDs. More studies are needed to identify what else is preventing the neutrophils from completing the repair process.”
Recognizing Whether Inflammation Is Good or Bad
There are generally two types of inflammation: acute and chronic. To determine whether inflammation is helpful or not, we must understand how these differ.
Chronic inflammation is long-lasting and spreads throughout the body. It becomes the problem rather than the solution to infection or injury. It can lead to more serious conditions such as heart disease or even cancer.
“Swelling is the body’s innate wisdom to increase the surface area so that healing mediators can then come into that area,” Brandon LaGreca, a licensed acupuncturist nationally certified in Oriental medicine, told The Epoch Times.
Pain and swelling are a clear message that the “paramedics” are at work. Decreasing pain without shutting down the “highway” is critical for supporting the healing process.
“If you’re injured, one Advil for discomfort or to get sleep is different than taking 800 milligrams of Advil three times a day for three weeks,” said Mr. Aiello. “That’s when you’re likely to have a problem.”
Reconsidering the Standard Treatment for Acute Pain
Based on their initial study, Mr. Mogil and the other researchers hypothesized that inhibiting the body’s initial inflammatory response leads to chronic pain. They expanded on the research with a study in which mice with an injured paw were given either an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drug or saline.
Although the mice in the drug group initially showed fewer pain symptoms because their inflammation response was dulled, the pain eventually returned and became chronic. For mice that received saline, the pain subsided in half that time, and they remained pain-free.
To see if their hypothesis might apply to humans, the researchers did a separate analysis of patients in the United Kingdom. Those with acute back pain who reported taking anti-inflammatories were around 70 percent more likely to have pain two to six years later, an effect not seen in people taking acetaminophen or antidepressants.
While the researchers linked blocking early-stage inflammation to the development of chronic pain, decades of medical orthodoxy will not be overturned by a single study. Clinical trials are needed for that, but funding has proven difficult for the researchers to get.
Working With the Body’s Natural Inflammatory Response
How can you enhance the body’s natural healing process, ensuring a full recovery? Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has used multiple methods to treat acute injuries for thousands of years.
Mr. LaGreca explained that TCM focuses on stimulating circulation to the area of injury, restoring movement and function, and enhancing the body’s natural healing process. “We encourage the healing process so that inflammation resolves on its own, as opposed to suppressing it,” he added.
Here is a combination of approaches that use TCM principles to work with—not against—acute inflammation.
Practice Gentle Movement
Following an injury, pain, heat, redness, and swelling can last one to three days. While rest is important, too much weakens the body, delaying healing. Rest should be balanced with gentle movement within pain tolerance.
“It’s injury dependent, but you can cautiously explore range of motion, stretching, and movement immediately,” advised Mr. Aiello.
Gentle range-of-motion movements, including walking and slowly rotating the joints, help maintain the health of ligaments and tendons by preventing stiffness and promoting circulation. This also helps to move fluid through the lymphatic system.
“For example, with an ankle injury, you may not want to walk on it with a lot of pressure,” added Mr. LaGreca, “but you can start with gentle ankle rotations.”
As pain and swelling decrease, careful movement can increase until there is a regular exercise routine. “Putting a small amount of load on the ligament helps new tissue grow back in the right way,” Mr. Aiello added. Ideally, this is done with a physical therapist or sports trainer.
Studies have shown that exercise and other physical therapies are effective for people with musculoskeletal pain, such as low back pain.
Try Drug-Free Remedies
Nutrition can help provide relief from acute pain. “Your immune response needs fuel from nutrients and lots of antioxidants because the key to overcoming the pain is for neutrophils to help clear the damaged tissues,” explained Mr. Aiello. “That debris is what’s eliciting the pain.”
Ginger, turmeric, capsaicin, and valerian root have all been shown to be effective natural pain relievers.
Multiple studies have shown that acupuncture effectively treats sports injuries like strains, sprains, and swollen muscles. One randomized controlled trial published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine demonstrated that acupuncture is more effective, faster in relieving pain, and has fewer adverse effects than intravenous morphine.
Studies on acupressure have shown that applying pressure to stimulate specific points can also reduce acute pain. Acupressure is easily self-administered.
Opt for Heat Over Ice
From the TCM perspective, heat increases circulation. Mr. LaGreca recommended a warm bath with Epsom salts “to stimulate circulation and help the process along.”
Cold does the opposite, slowing down movement and impairing the circulation of blood and fluids. “Ice might make you feel better by reducing swelling, but that swelling is there for a reason,” cautioned Mr. LaGreca. Ice may even delay healing.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin, who introduced R.I.C.E.—rest, ice, compression, elevation—to the sports medicine world in 1978, revised his recommendation in 2015. He wrote, “Both ice and complete rest may delay healing, instead of helping.”
Get Deep Sleep
While resting for hours on end isn’t recommended, deep sleep is crucial for injury recovery.
When the body enters its deep sleep stage, the pituitary gland releases growth hormones that stimulate muscle repair and growth. Growth hormones must be released in greater amounts when the body is healing from an injury.
Healing takes time and requires trust in the body’s natural process. “We need to do things that encourage that healing process,” said Mr. LaGreca.
“Inflammation isn’t always bad,” added Mr. Aiello. “Knowing how to use it to fully heal can prevent longer-term problems.”
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Tom
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Does anyone realize that the body is designed to heal itself and never need any drugs whatsoever? There are instances when body parts get out of whack and that may require some medical help. We have replaced drugs for health and more often than not, there are consequences that subtract from living healthier.
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Barbara Anne Dearden
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I would also like to know how the body can naturally heal osteoarthritis to put me out of the 24/7 daily pain, just asking?
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Seriously
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A better question might be: how did you get osteoarthritis? Child Vax, yearly flu shots, otc medications, prescription medications? Eating foods that the body was not designed to eat (wheat, grains! – allergic reactions that the body fended off when young but unable to as the body ages – nightshades like potatoes, tomatoes, peppers)? Environmental chemicals you inadvertently ingested? Any supplements, especially Calcium supplements that were highly touted but NEED magnesium, vitamin D to operate properly in the body? Keeping yourself out of the sun, using sunscreen? Toxic! Certain diets recommended for decades that can leach your bones? Possible genetic mutation but could have avoided outcome by real knowledge of what to avoid from my list above?
ALL bodies are different. And until DOCTORS exist who see that – when medications are NOT the 1st and ONLY thing they know, will there be any hope.
I’m sorry for your pain, what’s been done to you. But if you want ANY measure of ‘better’ you need to know that ALL medications are toxic – and detox is the 1st thing you need to do. Look into food elimination diets, find what makes pain worse & STOP EATING IT ( it takes at least 30 days). Look into Egoscue, see if anything in your posture can be improved. Look in meditation, look into Anything other that may help. Because those meds are killing you, slowly but surely
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Seriously
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Look especially at vitamin k..
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Howdy
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Collapse of disk spaces leading to spinal bone contact with the pain and debilitating outcome it causes has nothing to do with meds.
Arthritis can be caused simply by working conditions, such as excess cold, heavy manual labour, or there are those predisposed.
Seriously
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Look especially at vitamin k..
really Howdy??? After the last 4 years and all the crap, you think that meds can’t cause breakdown of the body?? This is why they got away with the whole scam…people only want to believe what they want to believe. They want an easy way, a pill, a shot. Meds
have been corrupting peoples bodies for decades…oh but no empirical proof is possible because we are all different from each other….and the scam goes 9n and on…wake up!
Howdy
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“After the last 4 years and all the crap, you think that meds can’t cause breakdown of the body?”
Clutching at straws. You refer to a completely different ball game there.
I’m more awake than you think, and my words are based on experience.
Excessive pressure on disk spaces will displace them. They become more damaged every time this happens, until they are permanently out of place, thus the disk spaces narrow. The result is pressure on the spinal cord and the bones may fuse. Have a look at old schuerman’s disease. Also in children.
Herb Rose
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Hi Tom,
There are problems that are in the design (DNA) of the body that run in families for generations and pre-date modern medicine.
My sister’s spine is now completely fused due to arthritis. An Xray shows that the spine looks like someone poured molten wax all over it converting it into one bone. In order to turn her head she must pivot her whole body. Our great aunt (born in the 1800 s) had it also. and was a hunch back with hands that looked like claws with curled fingers frozen in place. When the blueprint is flawed there is no making corrections after it is built.
Herb
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VOWG
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I would like to know just you can cure rheumatoid arthritis. The pain at time is intense and lying about just doesn’t quite fix things.
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Seriously
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There are studies that show fecal transplants can work for RA. These studies are about your gut causing a lot of different conditions- your immune system in overwhelmingly located in your gut. READ Protein Power Lifeplan by husband/wife team of doctors…it is eye-opening and can start you down a different path of the rest of your future. See my comment above…
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VOWG
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As an octogenarian I do not have the time or the physical ability to change much of anything. Anti-inflammatories it is.
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Howdy
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“Protein Power Lifeplan”
A weight loss regime, not healthy living. Tread carefully.
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Seriously
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There’s a ‘diet’ at the end of the book, that is true – 3 different methods for implementing it in fact. We all forget as well that the word ‘diet’ simply means what we allow into our bodies, period. Some people live on a fast food diet after all…I guess there’s a book in that scenario as well.
What comes before that in the book is an easy to read and fascinating look into what actually happens to our cells as we consume. It’s talks about ‘leaky gut’ 20 years before it came into current fashion, what sugar actually does to your body ( and what constitutes sugar for that mattter), what is a good and a bad fat ( called out transfats 20 years before they were taken off market – they’re still here). And so much more.
We all make choices….or does all the propaganda we are exposed to make those choices for us until we are hopelessly hooked/addicted? I will always be a carb addict. But I want to live whatever time remains w/o pain and I, for one, am willing to make changes that make that happen. I occasionally indulge in something but learned that occasionally really does mean once or twice a year
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Howdy
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Welcome To Protein Power
“Welcome to the official website of Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, your one-stop shop for low carb living and learning. We’ve spent the last three decades helping our readers, patients, and viewers lose weight and solve their weight related health problems. This space is dedicated to continuing that mission. If you’d like to share an idea, recommend topics for discussion, or make a constructive criticism, please click the Contact link and let us know.”
https://proteinpower.com/
There are concerns expressed elsewhere about who should engage in this practice, so I simply advise caution. As allways, do research.
Seriously
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Our lives come down to our choices. I didn’t want to live mine in pain so I went down other paths. I’m now pain free in most ways – found egoscue recently to try and fix where body out of alignment. But i wasn’t and felt too young to be in this much pain everytime i used my body for something labor wise. Dairy (for ME), causes sleep depriving pain in wrists & feet – ( who knows what else that I couldn’t see?) 4 to 6 weeks w/o, pain GONE, 5 years ago or more now. I indulge in cheese, 8 Oz is all it takes, it’s back- for a month. And I LOVE dairy!! But it’s not worth my life, which is what pain takes away from you.
They said it was arthritis. ‘Arthritis’ means inflammation, nothing else!
Mildly depressed since about 7 years old. My diet changed radically at that time. I had an f’ed up life so chalked it up to that…but it wasn’t true. It was wheat. I knew it was bad after reading protein power ( for sooooo many reasons) but took me YEARS to give up completely – was down to 1 piece of Ukrainian bread a day…figured that couldn’t hurt. But it DID… took me awhile to notice but that low level depression was GONE and some other pain issues as well. I frickin LOVE bread….but it’s not worth my life, which I wanted to endless COUNTLESS times before I stopped eating wheat. And not once, since.
Someone once said that it’s ‘easier to get a man to change his politics than to change his diet’…churchhill?…maybe. no truer statement though as someone who has tried to help others after their own experience….and failed again and again.
The choice is yours….
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Moffin
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Good comments and information thank you Seriously. I was just reviewing what I thought I knew about lectins a few days ago.
Okay then.
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