C O L U M N S

HealthHeadaches, leg and back pain, all have us reaching for the painkillers. But before you crack open that bottle, try a more natural way to tackle chronic pain.

If you’re plagued by a constant nagging pain or illness, it drains the spirit. Sympathy from others quickly wanes, but the problem is, the pain doesn’t. Your only option seems to be to grin, bear it and take a painkiller. One in seven people live with long-term, persistent pain hence we have turned into a nation of pill-poppers.
However, overuse can lead to serious health problems, like liver damage, intestinal bleeding and increased risk of heart disease, particularly as some physicians say one in five of us exceed the recommended dose. So why not look for some less damaging ways to relieve that pain?
Pain is a vital warning system to prevent further damage to the body. People born without the ability to feel pain often don’t survive past childhood because they’re oblivious to dangerous situations, so pain helps us protect ourselves. In the same way we pick out our name in a stream of otherwise incomprehensible babble, the brain prioritises pain signals over millions of other messages it receives.
It’s a very complex system located in many places in the brain, including the centres controlling attention, memory and fear, so when pain is triggered, these other negative emotions arise too. This is why you feel panicky if you hurt yourself. Even if someone else steps on a nail, your brain and nervous system make your own feet super-sensitised for a while to ensure you don’t do the same thing.
The problem with this is if the pain becomes persistent and the physical symptoms aren’t relieved, you’re still left with feelings of anxiety and fear. Chronic pain has a huge psychological effect. One becomes very depressed, isolated and irritable. Understand your pain and find ways to cope with it more easily so that it doesn’t dominate your life. Here’s how you can relieve pain without using any medication.

Try Meditation

1. Awareness
HealthWhen you’re in pain, the thoughts in your head can seem like a cramped room, but try to open them out by focusing on the world around you. What colours can you see? Enjoy the various shades and textures. Notice the sensations on your skin. What body parts move when you breathe?

2. Grasp The Nettle
Instead of trying to block out pain, turn your attention towards it. Seems scary? But imagine the pain as a crying child. Your natural impulse would be to hold the child in your arms tenderly. In the same way, adopting a kindly, non-judgmental attitude to your pain eases it and removes the excessive discomfort. This is better than trying to resist the pain, which only causes tension and anxiety.

3. Enjoy The Moment
Hardening yourself against the pain can end up hardening you to the world. But seeking something pleasant in a grim situation helps you become more receptive to the beautiful aspects of your experience. Focus on them - maybe there’s a shaft of sunlight streaming into your room, or your feet feel comfortable on the carpet. Through such sensitivity, the present moment becomes richer and more alive.

4. Respond, Don’t React
With your new perspective, you have the freedom to choose how you respond to life, especially difficult areas. Rather than feeling trapped in a battle with your pain, honestly recognise your emotions. If you feel irritable, say so, and let that emotion drift by naturally. Giving your emotions space will help you encourage more productive states of mind.

Eat Yourself Fitter

We all know that eating junk food can make you feel lethargic. Serious illnesses such as arthritis can be blamed on our unhealthy diets.
Inflammation, characterized by pain, redness and swelling, is how the body lets you know you’re doing the wrong thing. Certain foods, including meat, milk, coffee and sugar, increase inflammation, while other foods, such as oily fish, seeds and nuts, olives, ginger, turmeric and red onions reduce pain. Boosting your intake of these foodie power stations can work just as well as painkilling drugs, but without the harmful side effects.

Attract Healing

Magnetic energy isn’t limited to the trinkets you stick on the fridge - we’re actually surrounded by it, because of the force of the earth’s magnetic field. Magnet therapists believe that applying them to the body can speed up healing as the electromagnetic field penetrates inflamed cells, improving blood supply and providing pain relief.
It has been found that electromagnetic therapy is particularly helpful in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Stretch The Pain Away

Many people with acute pain tend to avoid exercise, but researchers have discovered that it can relieve severe lower back pain. The key is finding the right kind of exercise.
Our bodies are mechanical, so pain responds well to movement. Pilates helps manage pain. It rehabilitates the body.