The March 2005 issue of Natural Health featured an article “The Pain Pharmacy” addressing natural alternatives to treat headaches, back pain, joint pain and muscles aches.

I’ve copied the small column about back pain here, even though it was all interesting and useful…Tell you what..if you are just dying to get the info on headaches email me and I’ll get it for you…or stop into your local library!

Of course this is not a substitute for medical advice, nor should one start on a herb plan without the guidance of a qualified practitioner.

Back Pain
Over 30 million Americans woke up with a sore back today. Many of them will poop an aspirin or Advil. But the risk of stomach backlash can make that strategy too much of a gamble says Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. author of Pain Free 1-2-3. “By the time you get an effective dose, you get a lot of side effects,” he notes.

Instead of aspirin, Teitelbaum prefers a closely linked natural alternative. Willow bark extract contains salicin, which is chemically related to the active ingredient in aspirin. Although willow bark, too, can cause stomach problems, they are relatively uncommon. In one report, published in Rheumatology, taking up to 240mg a day of willow bark extract for four weeks relieved back pain just as effectively as Vioxx.

Another botanical candidate is devil’s claw. “the research is strong for relief of low-back pain,” says Gagnier, who analyzed a number of studies done on devil’s claw for the journal Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Gagnier advises taking 2,000 to 2,500 mg daily of devil’s claw divided into three doses (or enough to get 50 to 100mg of harpagosides ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù check the product label to be sure).

This entry was posted on Monday, June 13th, 2005 at 9:10 pm and is filed under Self-Care/Massage Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.