When a new
patient calls me, one of the first questions I ask is, “Are you on pain
medications or muscle relaxants?” If someone is taking these drugs, my initial
evaluation will be inaccurate. Therefore, I tell the patient to consult with
his or her doctor to find a safe way to get off the medication for three days
so I can evaluate the patient properly.
If you
want to pinpoint the nature of your own pain, you can’t be taking painkillers.
They mask your symptoms, which means you’ll never discover your true pain
level. So if you’ve been taking prescription painkillers or muscle relaxants—or
using ibuprofen, aspirin, or another over-the counter pain remedy—you must stop
taking it for three days before doing your assessment. Be prepared for your
pain level to go up. This will not be pleasant, but put up with it for three
days—both to get an accurate assessment and to help you realize just how much
the drugs have been masking your true pain level.
To my
mind, powerful muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory drugs are the doctors’
easy button, which they push to hide everything that’s wrong. But over time,
the effects can be devastating. The drugs deactivate the pain detectors in an
injured joint, but since the fascial restrictions are still present, even normal
movement creates damage without your being aware of it. Due to this unperceived
tissue damage, the pain level you experience when you stop the drugs may
actually be higher than your original pain level. The drugs seem to put out the
fire of inflammation, but often after you get off them, you find yourself left
with the charred remains of your unhappy tissues. My advice is never play any
sport or do any training under the influence of painkillers or muscle
relaxants—and that includes the overthe- counter drugs. It’s the fastest
way to disintegrate a joint. If you use painkillers to keep playing golf, for
example, you’ll tear your back to shreds.
Unfortunately,
drugs are the standard treatment for pain in this country. But in the Ming
world, you can try a whole universe of therapies before you start to think
about pain medication. As described in older posts, they include fish oil,
water, and enzymes. This combination often has the same pain-reducing effect as
the drugs—except, of course, it’s much safer. If you discover that hydration,
fish oil, and enzymes reduce your pain to an acceptable level, consider
stopping your pain medications entirely—with your doctor’s permission, if
you’re taking prescription drugs. If your doctor isn’t aware of the uses of
these supplements, consult a complementary-integrative medical doctor who
understands drugs as well as alternative care.
If your
pain is so bad that it prevents you from sleeping, you have to keep using your
medications just to survive, but you won’t get an accurate pain assessment. In
such a situation, you simply have to work with what’s possible. Once you start
the fish oil, hydration, and enzymes, your pain will begin decreasing, and with
the guidance of a complementary-integrative medical doctor, you can carefully
and seamlessly make the transition, gradually decreasing the medications and
increasing the supplements.
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