Backpain

One of the most common chronic pain conditions is back pain, which affects an estimated 36 million Americans. It is the price we pay for being an upright species. Fortunately, it is also very treatable.

Common Causes

Muscle and ligament strain

Muscle and ligament strain or weakness is the most common cause. This is so even if your back X-ray or MRI is abnormal (as an upright species, most everyone shows normal wear and tear on X-ray). This may be associated with the spine getting pulled out of position (e.g., scoliosis and subluxations).

Spine arthritis

This is common and ignored by most physicians and even some chiropractors. See Arthritis.

Disc disease

This is the only cause that most physicians are taught to treat (by surgery) and is all most think of. If you have weakness/decreased function in a foot (or rarely hand) from disc disease or spine narrowing, surgery is reasonable. Otherwise, in most cases, conservative measures are preferred.

Ergonomics

This includes your body and your environment — uneven hip heights or shoulder heights, no wrist or arm rests on your work area chair, carrying a wallet in your back pocket, etc.

TREATMENTS:

In most cases of back pain, there is a mix of causes occurring. Because of this, it is reasonable to do the below in combination.

Lifestyle Advice

• If it hurts, don't do it
• Lift from the waist
• Stretch and do Yoga
• Use hot compresses, hot baths, massage
• Sleep on a medium firm mattress instead of a firm mattress (as feels best to you)

Manipulation & Physical Therapy

Chiropractors & osteopaths

Get chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation — these are much more effective than you'd receive from most M.D.s.

Massage and body work

There are many excellent types.

Physical therapists

Find one familiar with Dr. Travell's "trigger point" and "Spray and Stretch" techniques (most are not).

Prolotherapy

These benign injections into muscles/ligament areas around the spine can strengthen them and be very helpful for chronic pain (see reference link below).

Recommended Supplements

Use the following together for 6 weeks to see the full effect (though benefits are often seen in 1 week or earlier). They can then be used as needed (continue the multi-nutrient powderlong term). They can be added to back pain medications.

Multi-nutrient powder

Take a good multi-nutrient powdereach day.

Glucosamine sulfate

Glucosamine sulfate 750 mg twice a day.

MSM

MSM 2,500-3,000 mg a day.

Anti-inflammatory herbal mix

2 tablets 3x day of willow bark, boswellia and cherry.

Medications

The foloowing 3 can be used together.

Lidoderm patches

Lidoderm patches (basically novocaine in a skin patch) is very safe and helpful.

Skelaxin

Skelaxin is a good, non-sedating muscle relaxant.

Ultracet

Ultracet for pain (may be addictive, but uncommon).

Mind-Body

Mind-body approaches developed by Dr. John Sarno can also be helpful. For more info, see Dr. Sarno's current book The Divided Mind and his classicHealing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection (see reference links below).

Also see the book Pain Free 1-2-3.

Many other treatments can help and surgery is usually NOT needed for back pain relief.

More Information Online

Articles at EndFatigue.com

Prolotherapy

Other online resources

The Divided Mind (book at Amazon.com)

Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection (book at Amazon.com)

Depression

Depression is NOT a “prozac deficiency,” but often goes away with natural therapies.

It is also important to go after the underlying causes. When you do this, most depression can be effectively treated naturally — without the side effects of prescription antidepressants.

Common Causes

Hormonal deficiencies
Nutritional deficiencies
Doing what you think you should do instead of what you really feel like doing (causing “anger turned inward on oneself”)
Sick vs. Depressed

Don’t confuse being sick with being depressed (though your physician might). Ask yourself “Do I have many interests?”

If the answer is "no," consider depression. If the answer is "yes," but you are frustrated that you have no energy to do your interests, you’re NOT depressed, but have an illness your physician is missing.

TREATMENTS:
Give these treatments 6 weeks to work.

Lifestyle

Take walks

Going for a walk (especially outside in the sunshine) 30-60 minutes a day can be more effective than Prozac.

Get more sunshine

Inadequate sunlight is a common cause of depression (called "Seasonal Affective Disorder" or SAD), which should be considered if your depression is worse in the winter.

Mind Body Treatments

Allow yourself to be angry

From a psychological perspective, depression usually represents repressed anger that has been turned inward. This is why choosing to allow yourself to be angry or even to sometimes go into a rage can be healthy when you're depressed — even if the people around you don't like it. You can tell when the anger is healthy because it will feel good. Remember though, that you are choosing to be angry, and what you are angry about is nobody else's fault (so don't beat up others with your anger). When you don't allow guilt to get in the way, notice how your depression decreases and you feel better after a good fit of anger!

Make life a "no-fault" system

This means no blame, no fault, no guilt, no judgment, and no expectations on yourself or anyone else. This means you'll be changing habits of thinking. For example, if you find yourself judging somebody, simply drop the judgment in mid-thought when you notice it. And no judging yourself for judging others!

Pay attention to what feels good

We sometimes are given the misconception that keeping attention on problems is more “realistic.” That is nonsense! Life is like a massive buffet with thousands of options. You can choose to keep your attention on those things that feel good. You'll notice that if a problem truly requires your attention at any given time, it will feel good to focus on it. Otherwise, you're living your life as if you have 200 TV channels to choose from, and you only choose to watch the ones you find really annoying!

Recommended Supplements

Many nutritional deficiencies (especially fish oil deficiency) can worsen depression.

Multi-nutrient powders

Overall nutritional support is essential, and a good multi-nutrient powder is a simple way to provide it.

Fish oil

Eat more oily fish (salmon and tuna) — at least 3-4 portions a week. Alternatively, take a teaspoon of fish oil a day. Fast food fried fish does NOT help, but tuna fish salad does.

5-HTP

5-HTP and tyrosine — special proteins that makes the “Happiness molecules” called serotonin and dopamine

St. John’s Wort

Magnolia

B vitamins and magnesium

"Happiness" herbal mix

An excellent "happiness" herbal mix can provide the 5 HTP, Tyrosine, St. John’s Wort, Magnolia, B vitamins and Magnesium in a single capsule.

Other Therapies & Advice

For more guidance on regaining happiness, read the book 3 Steps To Happiness: Healing Through Joy.

Optimize thyroid function

Natural Armour thyroid (or compounded T3) thyroid hormone (by prescription) has been shown to be very helpful in treating depression in repeated studies — even when thyroid blood tests were normal! The T4 thyroid hormone found in Synthroid (and most thyroid prescriptions used by non-holistic physicians) was NOT effective.

Treat other hormonal disorders

Be sure to treat other hormonal disorders as well. Suboptimal testosterone and estrogen levels can frequently cause depression and are easily treated by holistic Physicians. These hormonal deficiencies often need treatment even if the tests are normal.

Excellent holistic experts can be found at the Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers (see reference link below). These centers are recommended if you have CFS, fibromyalgia or fatigue, or if you need bioidentical natural hormone support. For general health issues, over 1,000 Board Certified holistic physicians can be found at HolisticBoard.org.

More Information Online

Articles at EndFatigue.com

Eliminate Depression — Naturally!

Happiness 1-2-3! Safe and Highly Effective Treatment for Depression

Postpartum Depression — Treat and Prevent with Fish Oil

Tuna vs. Prozac for Depression

Antidepressants No More Effective Than Placebo

Low Testosterone and Depression

Many Depressed Older Adults Lack Vitamin D

Antidepressant Medication Associated with 30% Higher Diabetes Risk

Other online resources

Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Centers (find a CFS/FMS physician at www.FibroAndFatigue.com)

HolisticBoard.org (find a holistic physician at www.holisticboard.org)

Angina

BACKGROUND:

Angina, which is chest pain caused by decreased blood flow to the heart muscle, was rare until about 60 years ago. Changes in our diet and lifestyle started to catch up with us and cause the arteries (pipes carrying blood) that feed the heart muscle itself to start blocking up. These blockages cause heart attacks and angina. When they block the arteries going to the brain they can cause a stroke. These problems are now the most common cause of death in the U.S. and Europe.

Many benign (not dangerous) things can also cause chest pain, and these are more common causes of chest pain in those under 45 years of age. These include chest wall (muscle and cartilage) pain. If the pain is reproduced or affected by pushing over the ribs and muscle in the area of the pain, it is likely chest wall pain and not dangerous (ribs are thick, and pushing on them won't cause pain in the heart or lungs below). This pain will sometimes be worse with a deep breath, but if this is occurring (especially with a lung infection or cough) see your doctor to check for pneumonia or pleurisy. If the chest pain is relieved by drinking an ounce or 2 of antacid (e.g., Maalox or Mylanta), it is likely stomach or acid reflux related (see Heartburn and Indigestion for treatment information).

If the pain is worse with exertion, and/or associated with shortness of breath or chest tightness, the risk of it being angina is increased. If this is new and occurring now, call 911, chew up an aspirin and sit back and rest. If it is a chronic and ongoing problem, see your physician.

If you have chest pain, see your doctor (or go to the emergency room if new or sudden onset). Most often it will be nothing and you'll be reassured, but if it is a heart attack or blood clot to the lungs and you miss it, you may be dead. With chest pain, better safe than sorry.

If symptoms are caused by acid stomach/reflux, see Heartburn and Indigestion.

If you suspect you have angina, you should be followed by a physician who can diagnose and treat it. If angina is proven, use the chest pain medications and even the cholesterol lowering medications (which are NOT needed or helpful in most cases where they are prescribed when no heart disease is present). Some doctors are quick to recommend heart bypass surgery in cases where the research suggests it is not helpful. In such cases, using heart stints is preferable (minor surgery and pretty safe). If bypass surgery is recommended, get a second opinion. If they feel it is OK to wait on surgery, try these options:

Diet and Exercise

Diet

Eat a high fiber, high vegetable, low red meat diet.
Eat at least 3-4 portions a week of added salmon and tuna.
Avoid sugars (Stevia is OK).
Consume grains that are only whole grains.
Exercise

Exercise as OK’d by your physician. This helps your heart and body to heal

Recommended Supplements

FOR HEART DISEASE:

Many nutrients are important for heart health. See the discussion on natural treatments for heart disease. In 6 weeks, these treatments may increase your heart efficiency and often improve heart function, lessening the angina.

For Chest Wall/Muscle Pain — Willow bark and Boswellia

Willow bark and Boswellia may be very helpful for most kinds of inflammatory pain. They increase in effectiveness over the first week of use and then even more over 6 weeks. Though often helpful with the first dose, they are more effective over time to help eliminate the problem.

Coenzyme Q10

Read how to lower an elevated cholesterol. If on cholesterol-lowering medications, be sure to take Coenzyme Q10 (at least 200 mg a day). These medications deplete this nutrient, and the Coenzyme Q10 deficiency can cause fatigue and muscle pain followed by heart failure — which the doctor will blame on your heart disease. Your doctor means well, but no one is paying to be sure they learn about this.

FOR CHEST WALL/MUSCLE PAIN:

Medications

Tylenol

Tylenol is OK to use for the pain, but aspirin related medications like Ibuprofen can cause stomach irritation or ulcers and actually worsen the chest pain over time.

Lidoderm patches

Lidoderm patches (like Novocaine in a patch) by prescription are excellent. Put the patch(es) over the painful area for 16 hours a day (though the box says 12 hours). They may start to work in 1/2 hour, but give them 2 weeks to become optimally effective.

Other Therapies & Advice

Hot compress

If the pain is chest wall tenderness, a hot compress for up to 20 minutes 4x times a day can help the muscle relax.

Relax your chest muscles

Learning to relax your chest muscles (we may keep them tight during stress) can be very helpful.

Hot baths

A hot bath also helps.

FOR ANGINA PAIN:

Follow your physician’s advice for this important problem. Other natural options to consider which may help heal the problem include:

External counterpulsation

This safe and simple technique helps your heart to grow new blood vessels to bypass the old blocked ones naturally (visit the American Heart Association website for more on external counterpulsation). The economics didn’t work (invasive cardiology like surgery is one of the biggest revenue centers in most hospitals) and it has been slow to catch on. Fortunately, many health insurers will pay for the treatment.

Intravenous chelation

This series of intravenous treatments was found to markedly decrease angina in studies in the 1950’s, and was used without going through the usual placebo controlled studies. Because of this, it became very controversial, with many natural physicians using it and standard practitioners attacking them for this. It is very safe (safer than aspirin) but costs over $5,000 for the series of injections (not covered by insurance). A placebo controlled trial is underway to test its effectiveness. However, many people have had wonderful results with it, so it should be considered before having non-emergency heart bypass surgery performed.