Sure, pain may be a sign that something’s wrong. You jam your knee during sports, or bang your thumb while hammering. These are examples of acute pain, which, for the most part, results from disease, inflammation or injury. This type of pain generally comes on suddenly–after trauma or surgery–and may be accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress. The cause can usually be diagnosed and treated.

But long-term pain–also known as chronic pain–is far more serious than acute pain and can have a devastating effect on your work, family and friends. It can become difficult to concentrate, remember basic things or focus on anything except the pain.

Eighteen percent of Canadians suffer from severe chronic pain, which is caused primarily by back disorders, degenerative joint diseases, fibromyalgia, arthritis, visceral (organ) diseases, cancer, migraines and the effects of cancer treatment.

The estimated cost of chronic pain to Canada, in the form of lost productivity, lost income and medical expenses, is $10 billion a year. And that does not take into account the social costs. For example, Workers’ Compensation Boards across Canada do not generally recognize chronic pain as a disability.

The Body’s Response

For pain and inflammation, you can thank your body’s supply of chemicals called inflammatory mediators. These include prostaglandins, histamines, leukotrienes, cytokines, free radicals, serotonin, interleukin and insulin. When the body malfunctions or when tissues need protection while healing, these chemical triggers kick in. The brain interprets the resulting effects as pain–sometimes chronic, unrelenting or even disabling pain.

Let’s stress this point. You can treat occasional pain’s symptoms and, often, its cause. Or you can ignore it. But if casual pain becomes severe and chronic–and later develops into “pain amplification syndrome”–you cannot treat this super-exaggerated pain. Basically, the nervous system gets used to carrying pain signals and continues to do so long after the original chronic cause has gone. In a very real sense, the pain signals can become embedded in the spinal cord, like a painful memory.

If any pain keeps you from living a normal, active life, you deserve treatment. Allopathic medicine uses drug treatment to decrease inflammation and reduce pain by blocking inflammatory mediators. Drugs known as analgesics can be useful–but what about chronic pain? Long-term side-effects can include stomach bleeding, bone demineralization, kidney damage and even nutritional deficiencies.

Natural pain remedies are often as effective as drugs but without the side-effects. These painkillers include food choices, supplements, phytonutrients, herbs and homeopathic remedies. Let’s explore a non-drug approach to pain.

Dietary Support

Avoid foods and other materials to which you find you’re allergic. Common food allergens include corn, shellfish, citrus fruits, eggs and nuts. Allergens can result in seemingly unrelated pain and inflammation in various parts of the body.

Choose foods that can reduce the body’s inflammatory response. Cranberry juice can ease the pain of urinary tract infections. Peppermint oil helps soothe digestive tract pain. Do you suffer with inflammatory bowel diseases? High-fibre foods such as grains, vegetables and legumes often reduce the inflammation involved with these disorders. Fresh elderberries can relieve pain, fight infection and aid healing in skin conditions and injured body structures.

Choose a diet low in saturated fatty acids–dairy and meats–and high in the phytoestrogens found in soy, legumes and vegetables.

Check your intake of essential fatty acids. Omega-3 oil, from fish oils and flax seeds, is effective in reducing arthritic pain and inflammation. Omega-6 fatty acids–from nuts, seeds and oils from sunflower, safflower, borage and evening primrose–sometimes work to reduce inflammation in a way quite similar to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Aspirin. However, for omega-6 oils to be effective against pain, NSAIDs, food additives and high doses of vitamin E must be avoided, and essential nutrient co-factors, such as vitamins B₃, B₆ and C, and the minerals biotin, zinc and magnesium, must be in sufficient supply.

Increase carbohydrate intake–potatoes, rice, pasta and bread–to boost the amino acid tryptophan, which raises levels of serotonin, the feel-good brain chemical.

Curtis James is a Toronto-based nutritionist and health writer whose chronic knee pain provides an ideal opportunity for anecdotal experimentation with natural remedies.

Source: alive #248, June 2003