A newer pain patch is available which advocates say is more effective than oral pain killers for anti inflammatory purposes and is specifically more effective for minor muscle twists and inflammations such as a sprained ankle because of their specific ability to reduce inflammation without becoming addictive or making a person feel “drugged”, which I feel many anti inflammatories on the market can tend to do today.

The cool thing about this new patch, which is actually made using a fairly common anti inflammatory drug called diclofenac, has another side benefit too though.  It is less likely to produce some of the less than desirable side effects that oral anti inflammitory pain remedies have been know to cause such as nausea, stomach bleeding and ulcers, and other similar problems because of the nature of the patch, which is not absorbed as much into the blood stream, and also doesn’t pass directly through the stomach as orals do.

However, as with most of the good in medicine comes a bad point, and that is that those with heart problems are absolutely advised not to use this new pain patch since it can cause clots in those with heart problems or who have any other pre-existing health problems that relate to poor circulation since clots are more likely to form in those with poor circulation.

The pain and anti inflammatory patch got approval for reapplication about once every 12 hours.  Any more than that would probably be overkill, and could probably even cause health issues or side effects, the same as any oral medication, since it is still being absorbed into the blood stream, just at a different rate.  For a natural alternative to an anti inflammtory and pain med, see our herbal pain killer remedy which uses natural botanicals as anti inflammation agents as well as calming herbs to calm the nervous system for less pain.

Let me correct myself a little on that heading, actually, drugmakers are trying to produce a version of the highly addictive and abuse-laden pain relieving drug called Oxycontin, or oxycodone as it’s generic name is, which is more resistant to abuse.  It’s more resistant to the widespread abuse that has given it the unfortunate nickname “hillbilly heroin”. 

Oxycontin came out as a blockbuster painkiller drug mere years ago, when it was hailed as an excellent pain relief medication that was potent and had a time release feature so that it could slowly release into the bloodstream and provide hours and hours of relief instead of the patient having to pop new pills.  This was performed by a special coating so that, when swallowed whole by the patient prescribed the drug, the coating allowed for the stomach acids to more slowly digest and release the potent drug, making it a  more long lasting form of strong pain relief. 

However, users soon found out that they could crush the pills and take them, or even inject them, and experience a heroin-like high because all the potency in the pill was released at once into the blood stream, making it a drug using experience that mirrored hard street drugs.  Oxycontin related deaths skyrocketed and consumers made an impassioned appeal to the FDA to crack down on what they felt was an over subscription of the powerful pain medication, at the expense of human casualties and addictions.

Now, drugmakers have been experimenting with ways to make the drug more resistant to abuse by creating a different formula and coating which makes the drug turn to mush when someone tries to liquify it, making it nearly impossible to inject that drug, and also by making it more unusable if it is altered from it’s original state as it is meant to be taken, so that abusers could not crush the pill.

It is awaiting review and approval, but let’s hope that this gets approved and actually works.  After all, prescription drug abuse has gotten out of hands, and pharmaceutical companies have become the unwilling (or maybe willing) suppliers of hard core drugs that induce addiction just as easily as any illegal street drug. 

Fibromyalgia is still a very mysterious disease to most health practitioners, and although they think they have it nailed down to what the problem is that causes the chronic pain in patients with the disease, they still don’t know exactly why it happens or if it is passed down genetically or a completely standalone disease. 

The disease has no known cure at this point, and one of the newest medications for the disease which causes severe nerve pain, muscle pain and joint pain called Lyrica is fairly expensive and no one really knows what the long term effects of this medication may be, so it’s not really safe to say that long term use is something that is possible, which is why health experts are excited that the activity of swimming has been shown to significantly reduce the nerve and soft tissue pain associated with the fibromyalgia condition.

Other treatments for fibromylagia, which is often accompanied by anxiety and depression and is most often suffered by women, include a combination of relaxation therapy and a low dose antidepressant, and may also include some sort of nerve inhibiting pain medication, depending on the severity. 

Since swimming regularly in warm water has been proven to help ease the pain of fibromyalgia, this may also be an additional mode of treatment for those that suffer that can be integrated into an overall personalized treatment approach to this baffling problem.

Omega 3 fatty acid’s benefits are just the bomb, that’s all there is to it.  Sorry for the junior-highesh comparison of the mega healthy fat, but that was the first word that came to mind that actually pretty much sums up omega 3’s and their many benefits to the human body and mind.  Not only can omega 3’s be of a tremendous benefit to your heart and circulatory health, as well as your joint health and other major organs, but it also is being researched right now as a natural pain reliever.

Omega 3 supplements are being sold primarily now as beneficial to the heart and the joints, and are especially popular among the aging population right now, however, they’ve also found their niche in the younger market - people in their thirties and forties, and even mid twenties by their other health benefits, such as appetite suppression, weight control and skin health.

The newest research on the uber-fat has shown that taking supplements (high quality ones only - see best omega 3 dietary supplements page) or by actually eating things that are high in the fat naturall such as salmon and other types of fish, almonds, flax seed and more, you can actually get the same benefit as downing a few anti inflammatories such as ibuprofen or aspirin, because of the naturally anti inflammatory properties of the omega 3 fatty acid. 

The newest research out on omega 3’s is that they may not just help to reduce pain related to arthritis and other joint pains, but they may also prevent it from happening in the first place and even help protect it from further damage.  Further, the two forms of omega 3 fatty acids that seemed to be the most potent and effective in warding off and helping to reduce pain were DHA and EPA. 

So, when you’re shopping for an omega 3 supplement, rest assured, no two are created equal and you must get one that is high quality and manufactured a certain way to help preserve all the micronutrients in the original oil.  Pharmaceutical grade is always good.  It costs a lot more than a low grade fish oil or omega 3 dietary supplement, but it sure is worth it in the additional benefits it can provide in the way of pain relief and continued join pain relief and function enhancement. 

When I first read this story about how a chemical found in many hot peppers called capsaicin, was being used in trial studies as a natural pain reliever topically applied I wondered how something that seemingly burns the living daylights out of your tongue if you put it directly on there could relieve pain. But then the light bulb went off, and I realized that not only does it “burn” your tongue, but after that initial burn, it is followed by a numbness to the area that got the “juice” with the capsaicin on it.