a body-mind approach to chronic illness
6 steps to beat pain naturally
Every patient with fibromyalgia has their own story, their own constellation of symptoms, their own trigger factors, their own way of coping with the illness.
one. grounding
Grounding, also called earthing, is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth. When you absorb the negatively charged free electrons from the Earth’s surface, they neutralize the positively charged free radicals that cause pain and inflammation.
what the science says
Grounding is a relatively new field of research so there is a small but growing body of scientific research on the topic. One study examined the role of grounding on post-exercise muscle damage. Researchers used both grounding patches and mats and measured creatine kinase, white blood cell count, and pain levels before and after grounding. Blood work indicated that grounding reduced muscle damage and pain in participants. This suggests that grounding may influence healing abilities.
ways to ground yourself
Getting grounded is easy. Just walk barefoot on a natural surface—grass, sand, clay, or stone—for at least 20 minutes every day. Read more
two. nutrition
Over the years I've experimented with many types of diets on myself and on my patients. I've tried everything from vegetarian to carnivore, and in the end I found that joyful eating is the best. In a nutshell, your body already instinctively knows which foods are best for it. All you have to do is start listening to your body again, and it will tell you what it really needs. Instead of giving you a bunch of dietary rules, which I know you'll end up not following, I simply teach you how to listen to your body. We do this by paying attention to the taste and the qualities of food. The most surprising thing you'll discover is that the foods that are the healthiest for you are also the ones you naturally enjoy the most. Read more.
three. sleep
Sleep is important because it enhances alertness, memory and problem-solving skills while reducing brain fog and feelings of depression and anxiety. During deep sleep your body repairs damaged cells and tissues, and strengthens the immune system. There is a complex relationship between sleep and pain: lack of sleep may aggravate pain, but the more pain a person has the harder it is to sleep. Read more.
four. exercise
When you feel pain, moving is the last thing you want to do—yet it’s actually one of the best things for you. Regular, moderate exercise (15–20 minutes a day) gets your energy flowing, increasing breathing, blood flow, and body temperature. In Fibromyalgia: Simple Relief Through Movement, Stacy Bigelow explains that the key to managing the pain of fibromyalgia is regular and gentle movement. Most exercise programs are very strenuous and result in rebound pain. Bigelow developed a five step sequence that starts light and gradually intensifies. I’ve added breathing as an additional step.
One. Get restorative sleep so that your body can repair damaged tissues. Two. Move regularly to condition your body for exercise. Three. Breath work helps maximize the benefits of exercise. Four. Stretching to losen those stiff muscles and painful muscles. Five. Aerobic exercise to get the blood flowing. Six. Muscle training is the fastest way to become fit and fit bodies have less pain. Read more.
five. journaling
Journaling can have have an enormously beneficial effect on pain. Simply writing your thoughts down in a diary will do nothing though. There is however, a specific way of journaling that has been proven to work.
In the early 1970s Dr. John Sarno worked at NYU Medical Center where he specialized in treating chronic pain. He noticed that many of his patients were not improving, and began to doubt the effectiveness of conventional treatments for these conditions. After doing extensive research he realized that in many cases it was actually the subconscious mind that was causing physical symptoms of pain. Many people encounter unpleasant situations that make them angry, but instead of facing these situations and releasing the anger they bottle it up.
This anger then builds and builds and over time turns into suppressed rage. When this rage reaches a critical level it threatens to become conscious, so the brain creates a hernia, back pain, or some other symptom as a distraction to prevent a violent emotional explosion. Dr. Sarno found that all his patients had to do to stop their symptoms was to become aware of their origin through journaling. Read more.
six homeopathy
In this kind of situation, the homeopathic approach comes into its own, allowing for the individualisation of treatment to match the features displayed by the patient. There are three advantages to using homeopathic medicines for pain. Firstly, they are very effective when combined with a healthy lifestyle. Secondly, they are non addictive and won't make you feel drowsy during the day, so they are very safe to use. Thirdly, there are a wide range of homeopathic medicines for very specific types of pain so you can select one that specifically matches your exact condition.
Chronic pain can often be alleviated with a combination of homeopathy and healthy living in the form of gentle exercise, nutrition, and sleep.
Below are brief descriptions of a few homeopathic medicines. This post contains Amazon affiliate links; I will make a commission at no extra cost to you, should you click through and make a purchase. Read my disclosure for more information.
Bryonia is for pain that is much worse for the slightest movement. Heat aggravates the pain while pressure on the relevant part alleviates.
Causticum helps for soreness, weakness and stiffness, worse with exertion and cold, better for warm applications and being warm in bed. With Causticum the symptoms are worse in dry weather and better when it rains.
Cimicifuga is for pain, soreness and stiffness mostly in the neck and upper back muscles. These may have been preceded by an injury and are generally worse for cold or drafts. There are headaches, especially on the top of the head or radiating up from the neck.
Kalmia latifolia is especially helpful for severe shooting pains in muscles, and there is often an accompanying numbness or cold sensation. Always make sure that there is no suggestion of nerve pressure or damage, if these symptoms are present.
Rhus tox is for pain and stiffness which is worse when having been still and gets better for getting moving, particularly bad after overdoing things or in cold damp weather, eased by warmth and moderate exercise.
Rhododendron is very similar to Rhus tox except that the pains are very much worse for changes in the weather, especially if there is an impending storm or thunderstorm
Ruta grav is similar to Rhus tox except that the stiffness is more marked and less susceptible to improvement with gentle movement. Pain in the tendons or the places where tendons meet bone (heels, elbows etc). There is often a bruised feeling. Pains are worse for cold damp weather.