Holistic Chronic Pain Management: Natural Therapies and Supplements

I love this site. I stumbed upon this site about a week and a half ago and started the apple cider vinegar remedy last week. I love the taste, in water. I put 4 tablespoons of ACV in 20 fluid oz and sip it all morning at work. My appetite has decreased as has my taste for sweet things. I am terribly overweight and have had weight problems all my llife, had 4 knee surgeries and have arthritis and edema. My' pain has lessened as my edema has and I really feel healthier. This is something I would recommend to everyone! Thank you for this website. My only problem is when I get home I feel suddenly a big decrease in energy, which is not so bad since I have been feeling so sluggish the new energixed feeling I have had is very welcome. I was just wondering if I should drink a tablespoon more of ACV when I get home in order to keep the energy level up. I did not want to over do the ACV as I am new to this. Thanks for any help! Sincerely grateful, Carolyn

I was having pains in my legs to the point I couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't walk thru a mall without getting a kink in my knees. My doctor put me on 50,000 units of vitamin D a week. The pain is gone. The pain returns if I am late by a few days of taking the vitamin D. I have a prescription for 50,000 iu's levels of Vitamin D have been linked with several types of cancer.Many in the helath field consider VITAMIN D is more of a hormone rather than a vitamin. It is very difficult to get enough sun for vitamin D. In fact, in the winter it is almost impossible to get enough sun for vitamin D if you live north of Atlanta, georgia.

I'm having a hard time finding a beginning to describe what cold showers has done for me! first of all, this seems insane for me because i'm such a cold natured person. But since i've tried this i find that i'm not so cold anymore! I work out every day and play tennis twice a week, but first let me say i'm in my mid 40's, i have 4 children (two in their 20's and two are not yet school age) so keeping fit and appearance are very important to me! I've always been told i look half my age, but what i've noticed more than anything is my skin!! The improvement in tone is just amazing to me. The first few days (after showering in the cold) i just kept looking at my face in the mirror. Only after a few days of cold showers i noticed a difference in the way i felt, my energy, metabolism, skin, and my pain!!! i had a hip injury almost 8 months ago and i've been doing strengthening excersizes and therapy to help this slow healing process, but after taking the showers i've had almost NO pain!! that has been the most amazing part to me. I'm hooked. I'll never go back to warm showers (except when necessary) I only wish i had known about this years ago! But i can tell you, it's never too late!!!

Hi, is there a way to take Apple Cider Vinegar if you cannot tolerate vinegar due to candida, does the pill form affect candida? will a very small dose be ok? any ideas? Butterfly

Try taking ACV with aluminium free bi-carbonate of soda :-1 tps with 2 tbls ACV with the mother left in it two times a day once in the morning then again at night after the evening meal, buy some PH strips from your health store to monitor your ph levels , ph should be maintained @7.3 the bi-carbonate soda neutralises the Acid in the ACV as well as in your blood, good luck and keep looking for what is good for you ,

I tried the TURMERIC remedy for boils about 4 days ago, initially with little hope it would work, but in a state of desperation, since this was my THIRD boil in less than 6 weeks, and I had 2 more starting! I went out as soon as I finished reading all of the testimonials on your site, and bought a bottle of Turmeric capsules from my local GNC. That night I took three 500mg caps with dinner, and another 4 capsules before going to bed. (If a teaspoon is good, a tablespoon is better!) The next morning the boil on my stomach, which was a dark purple golf ball radiating excruciating pain the night before, was now a light purple golf ball that was starting to drain, and the pain had gone down by 80 to 90%!

In addition, one of the new boils that was just starting, (a tiny painful pimple,) started to heal, and the other one, slightly larger, while it didn't go away, it stopped growing, and with 72 hours it too drained (really like a normal pimple, only thicker discharge and more painful.)

It's now been about 4 days, and while the large boil is still draining (the core came out yesterday) and is still very tender, it is healing and no other boils are starting.

BUT!

The big BONUS is this: The arthritis in my shoulder that I've been suffering with for the last year, is gone, and even more exciting, I have been dealing with Heal Spurs (Plantar Fasciitis) for about 2 years, and have been suffering TREMENDOUS pain in my foot, every day, all day.

Within 24 hours of taking the Turmeric, my feet have COMPLETELY stopped hurting!!!I plan to continue taking at least one capsule a day indefinitely as a preventative for recurring boils, and as an apparent remedy for my Heal Spurs!!! The real miracle here is that I don't even believe in natural remedies! Thanks so much for the great advice!!

I am 28 and have been a vegetarian all my life. I have been taking cold showers for the last 12 years. I have a way of doing it. I start from my head and keep the water dripping on the head for a few seconds and I feel the rest of the body warming up. then i get into it. Talking about the advantages, Where can I start. Cold showers helped me get over the anxiety of the teen age, they have helped me concentrate in studies, feel confident when facing challenges and the list goes on. The recent example is when I had to undergo a knee reconstruction. It is a painful surgery and I was strongly advised by my surgeon to have pain killers for the next few months (I was told not to be brave and have a pill every time I was in pain). I had a better way out. It's been 6 months and not even 1 painkiller and no pain as well. I know there must be a number of factors but cold showers are the greatest. So keep the hot knob closed and keep the warmth coming out for good.

I had torn scar tissue on a ligament (old injury) in my right Buttock, which for weeks had caused severe pain when I walked. It was like an ice pick thrust into my hip. Having read about Lime juice buffered with Baking Soda I tried this Remedy two nights ago and awoke painfree and energectic the next morning. Unfortunately I had so much energy that I overdid it! Now, I have some tenderness at the site and in my back muscles but the sharp pain is still gone. The only negative effect is that I am dealing with frequent urination and diarrhea. I will continue the course of Lime juice and Baking Soda for 5 days and then rest for two. Thanks,

I have been oil pulling for about 5weeks now. First thing I noticed was my sweet tooth completely gone, needless to say with that came weight loss. Also it is true that your ailments first worsen before getting better. My biggest thing was leg pain from my varicose veins. When I first started OP it hurt for about a week since then I haven't had any pain. Thank you for all your great help.

What brand of soap? Thanks for your comment.

Had crazy making lower back pain from age 14(!) to 25 when finally my new therapist told me to go off dairy and give it a chance for only 3 weeks.i gave it a chance although my "diet" up to then was probably made out of up to 60% dairy products. after 3 weeks my back pain was COMPLETELY GONE! dairy sucks!!

Dear Sir, Drinking your own urine cures back pain.

I was reading about Turmeric for boils/MRSA and had been suffering back aches nightly, for a month or two. I went as far as buying a new Bed, still the backaches persisted.

Last night, I bought some spice islands turmeric, off the spice isle at the grocery store, and picked up a bottle of CVS brand 1500mg glucosamine tablets Woke up this morning feeling pretty Good, nowhere near the level of Back pain on previous nights I've been experiencing some lumps and pimple like boils under my arm pits lately and had one on my face too I hadn't given it much though, but the boil on my face got me going and I decided to read up using google last night.

Earlier yesterday, I put a Hot compress on my face, and drained that awful boil I knew from previous attempts that it could make it worse, But i went ahead and drained it, and used peroxide by noon I was swelled up pretty good, would you believe this morning the thing is Damn near cleared up, and my Back feels OK for the first time in months I'll follow up after a few days This morning I've made a Tea using the coffee maker I put two constant comment orange pekoe flavored green tea bags into a coffee filter along with a tablespoon of Turmeric powder, and a tablespoon of sugar The turmeric takes some getting used to but the Tea is simply wonderful hate to add sugar but i had too I'm having my second 12 oz cup of hot green Turmeric tea as I type.

Dear Suzanne: Thanks for tip. I'm going to the shopping center where the health food store is this afternoon....and I'll get some ginger root. My ankle is in bad shape. If it were a knee or a hip....I'd have a replacement.....but they can't do that very well at this point with ankles. When we return from Viet Nam I'm looking at ankle-fusion surgery. It's not quite as bad as it sounds. One still has some movement where the leg meets the foot......and the pain stops!

Starting a few weeks ago I went on a diet ..eliminating sugars, cookies, candies, pop, breads...i noticed than my pains got alot less....for the last few days i have went off the diet and have been eating sugars and breads...MY PAIN IS BACK!!! worse than ever.... Tomorrow I'm going to cut out the sugars and carbs and start on the cider and baking soda...will let you know the results.

I started taking high doses of Vitamin C to help ward off a cold virus. For the past several weeks I took 5-10 grams of Vitamin C. I noticed my knee pain disappeared. I am a runner/cross country skier who has virtually stopped these activities due to pain in my right knee. For 7 years I have tried glucosamine, calcium, MSM, and NSAIDs. I don't like taking NSAIDS. However, the other remedies did not relieve the pain and inflammation .Therefore, I have been tolerating the pain and have discontinued using NSAIDS. I was very surprised to find that the Vitamin C use correlated with complete pain relief and reduction of inflammation. So I stopped the C for a week and the pain returned. I have resumed the C and the pain is gone again.

I was handicapped and not able to walk much for 12 years until I found out that my hamstrings needed stretching. Doesn't matter how messed up the back is, it will not refer pain to back of knees or bottoms of feet or likely even to sciatica, if the hamstrings are super stretched. So now I dance! No more crutches and wheelchairs and pain meds! Yogis don't get strokes and high blood pressure and all this other nonsense, but then they also probably don't take in any partially hydrogenated oils (i.e. plastic sticking to arteries) or MSG (poison that makes you fat) or NutraSweet and sucralose (poisons) either..

One kind of hamstring stretch that should not harm the back is when you are on a curb outside and you hang off it from the front part of the foot, or when you lie on your back with a towel around your feet (these are lower back protective). I wake up and throw my leg on the back of the couch or a high bar stool or bathroom counter and begin stretching all kinds of ways from that position, but I have been doing it for a long time, and also stretch the inner thing that way. When I sit here at the desk, I throw one leg at a time up on the desk and reach for my feet, but people need to work up to what works for lower back support in each case. and YES yoga!!!

If we can merely stretch the back the six directions any way we can (rest always between the twist directions), then put some traction (I'm thinking of buying a swing to hang from the hips, but now I get traction from back of couch (breathing deeply) with palms on it after stretching, and if we go upside down regularly, even shoulder stand is enough, just think how many pains we will save ourselves! (One stretch is feet together, arms high and straight and hands touching like a steeple and a straight stretch to the side, hold for count of 10 (breathe). It's hard to do much stretching in the morning before movement has taken place or when it's very cold.

No artificial sweeteners (not even splenda) NO trans fats, and no MSG along with stretched hamstrings and lots of water, I doubt people would age badly or lose memory or get strokes, even doing the minimal amount of stretching. Yoga is enough even for osteoporosis, I heard. And it wouldn't hurt to question the calcium rule of thumb, as it appears Magnesium needs to be much higher. I can send the formula, if you like, though it's a matter of opinion. Stores now carry it both ways. I never did the huge calcium to half magnesium ration and my sisters got the arthritis by my age, not me, and I am not active enough, I admit. The extra calcium running around the body is a bad thing. This is something people can research for themselves.

Here's what I was told, 600 elemental magnesium, preferably, if possible, the citrate maleate, 450 elemental calcium citrate, and 400 units of D (not more D than this). Researching the occasional Vit. K once a week for bones might be good to do for oneself too. I take that, but one must research, as I think it thins the blood a little, but is supposed to help with osteoporosis.

One more..... memory is not lost if one does the shoulder stand to replenish the 180,000 miles or so of capillaries in the brain, nor does hair go grey. Some have had it grow back in brown or grow back period, and it's good for wrinkles, organ flushing (due to new positions of organs) and insomnia and constipation.