by Harry Chrissakis, Herbalist, Natural Medicine
Definitely a broad subject that I will break down into subcategories so that we can gain some specificity. There is a long history of herbs being used for various types of pain ranging from acute physical trauma to dull aching muscular pain. Added into the mix will be neuropathy pain from Type 2 Diabetes and postherpetic (not therapeutic) nerve pain from shingles.
In some schools of martial arts, part of the training was (and still is) in treating physical blows from punches/ kicks and blunt force trauma from being hit with some style of weapon. Using that same type of knowledge for a bad fall or accident would apply. If we can reduce shock on as many levels as possible as quickly as possible, then a more complete resolution will occur with a good possibility of shortened down time. Using a couple of immediate first aid tools would be homeopathic Arnica and Bach Flower Rescue Remedy. Sounds wimpy but it is not and it definitely helps on the mental, emotional level (for lack of better description). Could use this for almost any kind of pain. This would be something to start with. It is also a good combination to use to avoid jet lag (which is a form of shock).
Pain from physical trauma is always accompanied by stagnation of fluids. Both blood and lymph pool up in an injured area adding to pain by putting more pressure on nerve tissue. Bruising, redness and swelling are visual results. Chinese say never use cold, only heat, westerners say use ice. Both are the way to go. So you twisted your ankle or slammed your hand with a hammer. Ice for the first hour, after that it is heat. If the tissue is not cut or badly abraded, than the use of a liniment that is warming. There are some good products in the Chinese pharmacopeia that are reasonable in price. After the first hour or so of icing, heat should be used for the remainder of the healing process. Soaking the area in warm to hot Epsom salt solution is inexpensive and effective. Generally the amounts that are used in an Epsom bath or soak are too small. Full body soak would be at least 3 cups in the bath. Internally, herbs that move blood and lymph are used to facilitate healing from the inside out. Breaking up congestion (swelling and bruise) in the area and moving damaged tissue out. These herbs also have analgesic properties as well, so they will help to reduce pain. Combination of herbs like Corydalis or Notoginseng to move blood and lymphatics like Colonsonia or Safflower Stamen to move lymph. These herbs can be used topically on the area as a liniment if they are tinctures or as a compress if using raw herb tea. Mistakes people make in home treatments are 1. Reacting too slow 2. Dosage too low and infrequent. 3. Not treating (soaking, compressing) frequently enough.
Now let’s look at a more chronic situation as would be the pain from Osteoarthritis. There are groups of herbs that have more of a direct effect on joint pain. Willow is one of those herbs. It is commonly thought that because aspirin was derived from 1 of the constituents of Willow (salicin) that it is the same in Willow Bark herb that’s doing the job. Aspirin as an over the counter is in the form of Acetylsalicylic acid. It is not the same. Willow, like many other herbs, has dozens of active components in it. It’s the orchestration of these constituents that is doing the job. This is borne out by the fact that if you took an ounce of Willow Bark and extracted the amount of salicin from it, the final amount would be the equivalent of ¼ of a baby aspirin. Willow will not induce the potential upper G.I bleeding that the overuse of aspirin will. With continuous use of aspirin, stomach ulceration and the worsening of Asthmatic symptoms are potential problems. Aspirin is safe in small doses over short periods. Yucca root is also one from this group of herbs and has a long history of use in the Southwest herbal schools. Good herbal Doctoring has been going on since the 1600 in the Southwest. Devils Claw is another good plant medicine for joint pain.
When dealing with chronic pain an important leg of the approach is to modulate the hyperactive inflammatory cascades. There are numerous ones but the most common and broad acting are as follows; NFkB, Cox,Lox, TNFa, and the Prostaglandins. These 5 inflammatory pathways are upregulated in a good number of disorders; Cancer, Arthritis, Crohn’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Asthma, IBS and COPD, is the short list. In approaching any of these disorders, some of the first things to work on is inflammation. Modulating these pathways can be accomplished with herbs like Turmeric, Frankincense, and Bromelain as well as an array of Phenolic compounds such as Green Tea Extract and Ginger. Moving blood, oxygenating and re-building tissue are also necessary wings of the program. Topical applications of warm peanut oil to the joint can be helpful.
MSM is probably the premier sulfur donor. One of the final 6 detox pathways in the liver is Sulfation. The sulfur in MSM feeds this pathway. This pathway detoxes a lot of stuff; i.e. estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, Melatonin as well as thyroid hormones T4 and T3. This pathway is also responsible for the dexox of a number of Xenobiotics. Xenobiotics are toxic chemicals in our environment or in our food that we ingest. They act like hormones by binding to our hormone receptor sites and give the wrong messages to the cells. If we are short on sulfur in the liver, sulfation does not occur or worse yet the process is incomplete. In this case, instead of detoxing, the Liver is producing highly reactive, highly carcinogenic intermediates that are kicked back into our blood streams. Foods high in sulfur are a great addition to our diet and would definitely be helpful to aid the Liver. These would be plants in the onion family (Allium) or Cruciferous vegetables like Broccoli, Kale, Collards ect. Part of the program when dealing with arthritis is diet.
Diabetic Neuropathies are relatively common due to the fact that there are 40 million Diabetics in the U.S. alone. Type 2 diabetes is an avoidable and in many cases a reversible problem. If you just follow standard treatment for Diabetes, than the combination of the disease and the treatment will shorten life span by 10-15 years. Nerve tissue is very slow to regenerate. It can take 6 months to a year of consistent treatment to see good results. Diet and exercise are huge and cannot be overstated. Acetyl L Carnitine and Citrulline/Arginine are players in bringing back proper nerve function. St John’s Wort is a superb nerve tonic and so is Wild Oat. As with the protocols for the other problems I have described, I would also be using some forms of supplementation. In this case B6, B12, and NADH (co enzyme of B3)
Lifetime risk for shingles is 1 in 3 with about 3 million cases a year diagnosed. Postherpetic neuropathic pain from shingles is common. Thirty to fifty percent of shingles cases develop a nerve problem after the shingles are gone. Ten to fifteen percent of them develop long term problems. The 2 cytokines that are upregulated in shingles neuropathies are Interleukin 6 and 8. Interleukins act as communication molecules between white blood cells. Interleukin 6 and 8 are proinflammatory cytokines that are often up regulated in many disorders such as Cancer. Lots of plant medicines work on modulating these 2 interleukin. Curcumin and Chinese Scutellaria are 2 of them. The Cox 2 pathway is also up regulated and also needs to be addressed. Essential Fatty acids work well on the Cox pathways helping to modulate inflammation. Vit C, digestive enzymes as well as proteolytic enzymes specifically are useful. Papaya and ginger can be used as foods in diet. There are some nice topicals out there as well that use herbs and homeopathic combinations. Two Chinese formulas for internal use are Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan or Long Dan Xie Gan Wan. The first formula wraps itself around the herb Rehmennia. This is one of the great yin tonics from Chinese Herbalism. Its drawback is that it tends to be cloying on the digestive tract, therefore it is contraindicated with people that have gastrointestinal problems. The second formula wraps itself around the herb Bupleurum. Contraindication for use is someone who suffers from headaches, jaw tension and in general a lot of upper body tension. The use of adaptogenic and tonic herbs are an always. This stuff does not happen in the first place unless someone is really run down and stressed out. Shingles are not contagious. However if a person has never had chickenpox and comes in skin contact with a person who has shingles (before the shingles have scabbed over) they may get chickenpox. These stated approaches are general in nature. A lot more could be added into these protocols to fit the needs of these problems and that is because in chronic situations it is necessary to treat differentially.
Harry Chrissakis Herbalist, Natural medicine
HerbalistandHerbs.com
530-933-8244 Oregon House Ca