Relieve pain: It works without chemistry
Pain is the alarm bell of our body
It shrills with every tissue damage, from the tiny cut with the potato knife to the heart attack. But it also comes in contact when the finely balanced equilibrium of our organism is disturbed. Pain is then a meaningful warning signal. A call for help that should not be ignored.
Above all, sudden pain must be clarified: It could be something serious behind it. In most cases, pain is not an acutely threatening cause.
Example back pain: Only in four to seven percent are herniated discs. The majority of sufferers have "nonspecific" symptoms, that is: the spine is not changed, but the complex interaction of muscles, joints and ligaments is disturbed. And almost always lack of exercise, poor posture, overweight and stress are responsible.
The situation is similar with headaches. Most common are complaints of excessive tension: About one third of Germans have tension headaches at least once a month, and three percent are already chronic.
Pain is often the result of our unhealthy lifestyle
Even among the 20 million people who are constantly or repeatedly in pain, the doctors at every fourth find no medical cause for this chronic pain syndrome.
These examples show that pain is often the result of our unhealthy lifestyle. A first sign that something basically goes wrong in our everyday lives. Something most of us do not like to admit. The grip on the tablet to relieve pain and recover quickly is therefore often the drug of choice. The alarm bell is deliberately overheard, switched off. How risky that is, we often do not realize.
Painkillers additionally burden
"Painkillers are in many cases a superfluous burden on the body," says Professor Kay Brune from the University of Erlangen. Above all, the renowned pharmacologist warns against taking over-the-counter medicines with the classic active ingredients acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and paracetamol.
"A tablet containing 500 milligrams of ASA relieves the pain for two or three hours, but dilutes the blood for five days," says the expert. This could lead to stomach bleeding. And during menstruation, ASA, because it increases the tendency to bleeding, not at all suitable, adds Professor Ingrid Gerhard, Specialist in gynecology, natural medicine and environmental medicine in Heidelberg.
In the case of paracetamol, the maximum permissible maximum dose of four grams a day is often unconsciously exceeded, says Brune, because the substance is also an ingredient of flu remedies and cold hot drinks, for example.
Dangerous side effects
Since side effects are not immediately unpleasant and provoke countermeasures, severe liver damage could result. According to Ingrid Gerhard women suffer more from kidney damage. The risk of heart attack and stroke may also increase with frequent use.
And finally, there is a risk of getting used to it: "Many people have positive experiences with painkillers and are therefore already taking preventive measures, which can easily lead to abuse," says Kay Brune.
His conclusion: If in the acute case, painkillers should be necessary, then as low doses and as short as possible and always together with plenty of fluid. Everyone feels pain differently and should try out which dose is needed for relief. Often it is enough to take medication for a day to get better. Even a week self-medication is still not a problem.
But beyond that, painkillers should only be used under medical supervision. Brune himself also prefers newer ingredients: "In a light lumbago, I take 400 milligrams of ibuprofen or 25 milligrams of diclofenac, after an hour I'm often so good that I can go hiking." Movement is the best, not immobilization, like one believed earlier. "
Even herbal remedies can be harmful in the long run
Also herbal supplements should not be taken permanently, although they have been proven to have less dangerous side effects than "synthetic" painkillers. And at a correspondingly high dosage according to studies alleviate complaints at least as well. "The most potent herbal painkiller is willow bark extract," says Professor Sigrun Chrubasik, expert in "herbal drugs" at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau and expert in complementary medicine in Bad Ragaz. "The higher the dose, the stronger the effect - in the appropriate dose, the extract also works in acute disorders such as headaches."
In addition, there are other herbal remedies, phytopharmaceuticals, for example, devil's claw and rosehip, which relieve especially back and arthritis pain (see boxes). Here, however, it usually takes two to three months to develop their full effect in the body. They are therefore more suitable for the prevention of recurring pain and for the treatment of chronic complaints. "If there is no improvement after six to eight, no more than twelve weeks, it makes little sense to continue the therapy, then something else should be tried," says Sigrun Chrubasik.
Important in any case: Even with over-the-counter medicines, a higher dose than that recommended on the pack should only be taken in consultation with the doctor. And that should always be informed when using synthetic and herbal supplements at the same time; only in this way can unwanted interactions be avoided. For external treatment is alternatively an extract of Spanish pepper.
Basically, however, the combination with phytopharmaceuticals, especially in chronic conditions less synthetic painkillers needed, the risk of side effects decreases. "I am a chronic pain patient myself," says Sigrun Chrubasik. "That's how I developed my scientific interest in phytotherapy, I always try to get by with herbal remedies, which is usually enough." "Only with very severe ailments do I use chemistry." If you're constantly using synthetic remedies, you're going to pay for them sometime. "
What alternatives are there to medicines?
One thing is certain: Painkillers can be quite useful. They make therapeutic measures such as physiotherapy in some cases even possible. And they prevent lasting pain stimuli in the brain leave traces, that the pain is memorized. But medications alone can not beat pain. For example, according to a recent American study neck pain better exercises relieve than taking medicines.
After all, painkillers only cover the problem. They temporarily relieve the symptoms, a real solution, they do not bring healing. "Ignoring the pain as a warning signal is dangerous, it helps to make the symptoms chronic - and then chronic medications are needed," says dr. Hans-Joerg Ohlert. The chief physician at the Sebastianeum and Kneippianum in Bad Wörishofen knows from experience: "Many patients are under great time pressure, they want a tablet or syringe to remedy the incident as quickly as possible, they no longer even perceive themselves today with his body still mindful. "
In many cases this would be the first step to healing. "With the help of meditation exercises", says Ingrid Gerhard," patients can 'split off' their pain from the body. Although they still feel it, they no longer feel that they are dominant. And can rather deal with it. "Pain could be seen as a chance - a chance not to displace the causes of the complaints, but to face them and to change an unhealthy," painful "lifestyle.
Help can be provided by tried and tested classic natural remedies, as known from Traditional European Medicine (TEM). And as she has put together, for example, the Wörishofener pastor Sebastian Kneipp in his holistic health education: Water applications (hydrotherapy), exercise, nutrition, order therapy and therapy with medicinal plants.
"Even if pain can only be felt at one point of the body, the whole person should be examined and treated," says Hans-Jörg Ohlert. "Everything that balances, strengthens the body and activates the body's self-healing powers reduces the pain, and the five pillars of Knee Therapy are an ingenious concept."
Actively take action against the pain
Ohlert therefore recommends pain patients to become active themselves: eat more fruits, vegetables, fresh herbs, sea fish (salmon, mackerel, herring) and a little, at most twice a week, lean meat and sausage; regularly move more; ensure a regular daily routine and, if possible, observe your own biorhythm; Incorporate relaxation phases into everyday life; Use breathing exercises, meditation or relaxation techniques to calm the autonomic nervous system; with heat and cold stimuli that are slowly increased (ablution, foot bath, fountains, full bath), exercise the adaptability of the body.
"Just as children learn to brush their teeth regularly, pain patients should make their water applications daily," says Ohlert. "Those who integrate these recommendations into their daily lives and change their lifestyle accordingly are less physically and mentally vulnerable and healthier." Then the pains become weaker and rarer. When the organism is balanced again, the alarm bell is silent. Or shrill at least quieter.
