Back pain, neck pain, and sciatica are an epidemic in the civilized world, affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
In this article, I have put together a few unusual methods to reduce your back pain.
Before we get into specifics, it is important to understand how we sense pain.
We have a class of sensors throughout our bodies known as nociceptors.
Nociceptors are responsible for sensing noxious (and painful) stimuli and sending these signals to the brain.
However, did you know that approximately 1/3 of all of these pain receptors are of a class called "quiet" nociceptors? In most cases, these receptors exist throughout our lifetime without ever firing! Recent research has shown that these receptors have a specific "taste" for chemical stimuli.
In particular, these receptors fire in response to chemicals associated with inflammation.
In other words, these receptors often do not fire in response to an injury, but rather come to life when exposed to certain chemicals associated with inflammation.
As a result, anything that can reduce inflammation can reduce back pain.
This is why ibuprofen, and cortisone shots and other similar anti-inflammatories can lead to pain relief even though these drugs do not reverse herniated discs or arthritic conditions.
The problem with these drugs is that they are not sustainable.
Ibuprofen wrecks havoc on the liver and digestive tract when taken for long periods of time.
Cortisone shots cause tissue wasting and can only be performed a limited number of times (most doctors will only give 3 shots per year).
Any healthy, sustainable way to reduce inflammation can significantly reduce back pain.
Here are three unusual ways to reduce inflammation: 1.
Avoid foods that are commonly allergenic.
Many people do not realize that allergies are not an all-or-none phenomenon but rather occur on a continuum.
You can be mildly allergic to a food but not experience hives or swelling.
If you eat a food that you are mildly allergic to, you might instead experience a body-wide increase in inflammation.
These mediators of inflammation migrate throughout the blood and can increase lower back pain! As a result, by avoiding allergenic foods, you can reduce pain.
Gluten (found in grain, oatmeal, barley), fats rich in omega-6 fatty acids (soybean and corn oil), tree nuts (almonds, cashews, and others), and lactose (milk, yogurt) are four of the most common foods that can induce inflammation.
You can try eliminating one of these from your diet for 2 weeks to see if you experience reduced pain.
If your pain levels go down, it would be a good idea to avoid that food.
2.
Eat foods that are commonly anti-inflammatory.
Just as some foods cause inflammation, there are many which can reduce inflammation as well.
Omega-3 fatty acids are a great, natural anti-inflammatory that has a variety of health benefits such as an improved cardiovascular health and brain function.
Supplementing with fish oil is a great way to increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
Fruits and vegetables also tend to be anti-inflammatory.
In particular, Bromelain, an enzyme in pineapples, is a powerful anti-inflammatory.
Try supplementing with an omega-3 fatty acid and eating more fruits and vegetables for 2 weeks and odds are you will experience significant levels in pain reduction.
3.
Lose body fat.
While this can be a challenge, reducing body fat can significantly reduce pain levels by reducing inflammation.
Carrying extra body fat increases levels of inflammation; the benefits mentioned below are not even considering the extra stress weight places on joints.
As you may have heard, production of new fat cells is rare.
As body fat is gained, fat cells (lipocytes) grow in size rather than in number.
At a certain cell size, it becomes difficult for nutrients diffusing in from the blood to reach the edges of the fat cell furthest from the blood supply.
As a result, the edges of the swollen fat cell begin to literally begin to die as they "suffocate" from a lack of oxygen.
This causes immune cells to migrate to the decaying area, and these immune cells begin to secret inflammatory hormones.
The more excess body fat you carry, the higher the inflammation.
Obese people are in a constant low-grade inflammatory state, which can significantly increase chronic pain levels body wide.
The end result is that simple injuries can be magnified by excess inflammation.
By reducing body fat, avoiding allergenic foods, and eating more anti-inflammatory foods, you can significantly reduce your back pain without a single drug.
In this article, I have put together a few unusual methods to reduce your back pain.
Before we get into specifics, it is important to understand how we sense pain.
We have a class of sensors throughout our bodies known as nociceptors.
Nociceptors are responsible for sensing noxious (and painful) stimuli and sending these signals to the brain.
However, did you know that approximately 1/3 of all of these pain receptors are of a class called "quiet" nociceptors? In most cases, these receptors exist throughout our lifetime without ever firing! Recent research has shown that these receptors have a specific "taste" for chemical stimuli.
In particular, these receptors fire in response to chemicals associated with inflammation.
In other words, these receptors often do not fire in response to an injury, but rather come to life when exposed to certain chemicals associated with inflammation.
As a result, anything that can reduce inflammation can reduce back pain.
This is why ibuprofen, and cortisone shots and other similar anti-inflammatories can lead to pain relief even though these drugs do not reverse herniated discs or arthritic conditions.
The problem with these drugs is that they are not sustainable.
Ibuprofen wrecks havoc on the liver and digestive tract when taken for long periods of time.
Cortisone shots cause tissue wasting and can only be performed a limited number of times (most doctors will only give 3 shots per year).
Any healthy, sustainable way to reduce inflammation can significantly reduce back pain.
Here are three unusual ways to reduce inflammation: 1.
Avoid foods that are commonly allergenic.
Many people do not realize that allergies are not an all-or-none phenomenon but rather occur on a continuum.
You can be mildly allergic to a food but not experience hives or swelling.
If you eat a food that you are mildly allergic to, you might instead experience a body-wide increase in inflammation.
These mediators of inflammation migrate throughout the blood and can increase lower back pain! As a result, by avoiding allergenic foods, you can reduce pain.
Gluten (found in grain, oatmeal, barley), fats rich in omega-6 fatty acids (soybean and corn oil), tree nuts (almonds, cashews, and others), and lactose (milk, yogurt) are four of the most common foods that can induce inflammation.
You can try eliminating one of these from your diet for 2 weeks to see if you experience reduced pain.
If your pain levels go down, it would be a good idea to avoid that food.
2.
Eat foods that are commonly anti-inflammatory.
Just as some foods cause inflammation, there are many which can reduce inflammation as well.
Omega-3 fatty acids are a great, natural anti-inflammatory that has a variety of health benefits such as an improved cardiovascular health and brain function.
Supplementing with fish oil is a great way to increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
Fruits and vegetables also tend to be anti-inflammatory.
In particular, Bromelain, an enzyme in pineapples, is a powerful anti-inflammatory.
Try supplementing with an omega-3 fatty acid and eating more fruits and vegetables for 2 weeks and odds are you will experience significant levels in pain reduction.
3.
Lose body fat.
While this can be a challenge, reducing body fat can significantly reduce pain levels by reducing inflammation.
Carrying extra body fat increases levels of inflammation; the benefits mentioned below are not even considering the extra stress weight places on joints.
As you may have heard, production of new fat cells is rare.
As body fat is gained, fat cells (lipocytes) grow in size rather than in number.
At a certain cell size, it becomes difficult for nutrients diffusing in from the blood to reach the edges of the fat cell furthest from the blood supply.
As a result, the edges of the swollen fat cell begin to literally begin to die as they "suffocate" from a lack of oxygen.
This causes immune cells to migrate to the decaying area, and these immune cells begin to secret inflammatory hormones.
The more excess body fat you carry, the higher the inflammation.
Obese people are in a constant low-grade inflammatory state, which can significantly increase chronic pain levels body wide.
The end result is that simple injuries can be magnified by excess inflammation.
By reducing body fat, avoiding allergenic foods, and eating more anti-inflammatory foods, you can significantly reduce your back pain without a single drug.
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