Natural Treatment Regiment for Chronic Pain
After a recent post about battling chronic pain and overcoming the daily physical pains, I was asked the specifics about my daily treatment plans. I then realized that I do not have a post outlining what steps I take to naturally ease my pains. So, here is a post dedicated solely to my natural treatment regiment for chronic pain. There are many treatments for fibromyalgia and chronic pain including natural, physical, alternative and medicinal. My personal choice to ease my symptoms is natural and physical treatments.
#Natural treatment regiment for #ChronicPain & #Fibromyalgia Click To Tweet
My Natural Treatment Regiment for Chronic Pain
An excerpt taken from my article Seeking Light in the Dark: How to Overcome Depression Associated with Chronic Pain includes my natural treatment regiment:
My daily natural regiment includes:
• Avoiding sweets, dairy, high starches, tomatoes, beans, and greasy foods.
• Avoiding caffeine (other than my four ounces of coffee each morning.)
• Two ounces of tart cherry juice twice a day to help with the pain.
• I regularly eat pineapple and also make my smoothies with pineapple juice instead of yogurt
or milk to help with inflammation.
• 250 mg of magnesium each morning
• 1000 mg of Vitamin C each evening
• Two gummy multi-vitamins each day with my kids (helps with the sweet cravings)
• Full 8 ounces of water throughout each day
• Going to bed around the same time each night and waking around the same time
each morning (no matter the pain levels)
• Not allowing any electronics, arguments, or negative energy in my
bedroom ~ (under any circumstance)
• Daily devotionals with a concentration on Jesus’ words
• Breathing exercises
**Update 9/1/2016: I have added 400 mg of Vitamin D as well as 2,000 mg of fish oil to my daily regiment.
Avoiding certain foods
The reason I avoid sweets, high starches, tomatoes, and greasy foods is because they aggravate fibromyalgia and chronic pain. Dairy, beans, and caffeine aggravates IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) which many living with fibromyalgia suffer from.
Two ounces of tart cherry juice per day
Further explanation on the cherry juice: I drink two ounces in the morning with breakfast and two ounces in the evening thirty minutes before bed. Cherries have high levels of anthocyanins which have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. They also aid in sleeping more comfortably.
Even after one week of consistently drinking tart cherry juice twice daily, my pain levels noticeably decreased and my sleep quality increased. No further convincing me of it’s healing properties!
Pineapple and pineapple juice intake
Pineapple has higher levels of Vitamin C and contain the enzyme bromelain. These properties have been linked to decreased pain levels and swelling.
Magnesium
Getting the recommended daily allowance of magnesium has drastically decreased the occurrences of leg cramps as well as the frequency of restless leg syndrome episodes. A deficiency in magnesium has been linked to fibromyalgia and other medical disorders. Magnesium is a mineral and linked to a few hundred metabolic processes taking place in the body. The recommended daily allowance is 420 milligrams for men over 30 and 320 milligrams for women over 30.*
Vitamin C
Lack of Vitamin C can cause many symptoms including painful, swollen joints. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and is needed for the growth and repair of tissue in the body. The body neither produces Vitamin C nor does it store it, so it is important to get the recommended daily amount. Many sites recommended daily allowance is 90 milligrams for men over 19 and 75 milligrams for women over 19.†
After further researching this topic and examining my natural treatment regiment for chronic pain, I discovered that my daily intake of 1000 mg of Vitamin C was too much. I have eliminated taking the pill form and have increased my daily intake by eating foods rich with Vitamin C.
Multi-vitamin gummies
I take a gummy multi-vitamin daily. It sets a good example for kids and just overall good for my health.
Plenty of water
Dehydration occurs when more water moves out of cells and the body than the body takes in. When cells have this imbalance of fluids, electrolytes shrivel and result in muscle fatigue. One of the symptoms of fibromyalgia is muscle soreness and fatigue. Drinking water will ease muscle fatigue.
Drinking plenty of water aids the digestive system in moving food and waste through the colon. Constant moving of stool prevents constipation. It also helps with the symptoms and treatment of leaky gut.
Learn the link between #LeakyGut and #fibromyalgia Click To Tweet
Sleep hygiene
It is important for everyone, especially those with poor sleeping habits, to establish healthy sleep hygiene. When someone suffers from chronic pain it is difficult to sleep at night. Inadequate sleep means pain levels will increase the following day. And the cycle begins again.
To break the cycle, establish a bed time and wake time for every day of the week including the weekends or days off. Getting adequate sleep will also help repair adrenal fatigue. Read my article Fibromyalgia Sleep-Wake Cycle for more information.
The #fibromyalgia sleep-wake cycle #chronicpain Click To Tweet
Only the bed in the bedroom
Yep. Other than a night stand and a dresser, there is only a bed in our bedrooms. No televisions or even alarm clocks. There have been studies linking televisions and other electronic devices to losing shut eye at night.§
Daily devotionals
Increased stress levels causes fibromyalgia flare ups and increased levels of body pain. One of the ways I de-stress is by reading scriptures and the bible daily. I believe prayers and scripture reading will alleviate all problems as well as improve physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Read my article Solution for Problems.
Breathing exercises
Relaxation and breathing techniques is another way I de-stress. I believe in helping the body heal itself through all natural resources and yoga is a tremendous help with chronic pain.
Using #Yoga to ease the #ChronicPain #fibromyalgia Click To Tweet
Exercise and Vitamin D
Since writing the original article months ago, I have added a couple of additions to my natural treatment regiment for chronic pain. These are:
- daily walks when weather is permitting
- Vitamin D
Moderate exercise in moderate doses can help ease body pains and increase energy. Vitamin D helps with muscle and bone pain as well as lowering blood pressure.
Sources
*Read further information about magnesium intake from the National Institutes of Health.
†For more information on Vitamin C, please read this article from Medline Plus.
§ How Electronics and Technology Affect Sleep Quality by The Sleep Judge
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Thank you so much for the information. I have family members with chronic pain and I love having natural remedies to share with them. (If only I could get them to use them!)
I know what you mean. I share my natural remedies with my mom who has lived with fibromyalgia for twenty and she only does the cherry juice. Research shows that someone has to be exposed to something new three to ten times before trying it. So don’t give up! Thanks for reading!
Thanks so much for all the wonderful information. I suffer from arthritis and suffer pain also. It has gotten so bad at times that I couldn’t function. I really appreciate the tips on sleeping. I’ve found that if I can get a good nights sleep I can face the world much better. Blessings !!
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you found it helpful. Yes, a good night’s sleep does make a difference the next day, but getting the good night of sleep is the hard part. Thanks for reading!
This is a really great post, and everything you say is so important. What we put in our bodies is so important and it truly impacts how we live. Thanks for sharing. Coming from from Sunday Victories Today
Thank you for reading and for supporting my natural treatment article!
Great tips, I do not have fibromyalgia but APS, pain and lack of sleep seem to come with the territory. There are a few things here that I perhaps need to look into. Now that it is getting warmer I am looking forward to a daily walk again. Thanks!
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These are wonderful tips! I love natural treatments. They are so underused sometimes. My mom and mother in law both suffer from this. I’ll have to send them your post. Thank you! You will help many with this!
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I love (and own most of) the Celestial Teas you mentioned. I’m curious – do you take 2 ounces twice a day or 1 ounce twice a day for the cherry juice? I need to look into that. Chronic (unidentified) inflammation has been suggested to be the source of my high cortisol.
I use to take one ounce twice a day, but recently I’ve been drinking two ounces thirty minutes before bed. My feet have been really hurting at night, so new shoes for the day and increased cherry juice at night. Let me know how it works for you.
I really need to work on keeping electronics out of the bedroom! I also need to get started with magnesium! I have heard so many positive things about how it helps with fibro, I just need to get myself in a routine so that I actually take it on a regular basis. This is such an awesome post, I am always looking for natural solutions! Thanks so much for joining the Link-It To Me Link Party, I hope you will party with us again next week!
I was slow to start magnesium, too. It was hard to remember to get it then even harder to remember to take it. Once I started, it became a habit. Thank you for commenting.
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My supplement routine is almost the same as yours!! For some reason, tart cherry makes my face break out fiercely so I had to drop that a while ago.
Maybe that’s why my face started breaking out. Hmmm…I’m going to stop it for a while and see if my face clears. Thanks for telling me!
Thank you for the post you have. I have tried just using natural treatment. I took everything that you have listed. Nothing was taking the burning from my legs and feet. My doctor put me on medication to help cut the edge . Will start to put natural foods back in my diet. .
What medication helped you?
What magnesium do you use? It’s hard to know what is real and what is full of additives. Thank you for this excellent info.
I take magnesium citrate (as a laxative for regularity) twice a week and use the brand ‘Solgar’. I also take magnesium malate daily and use a brand called ‘designs for health’. Please know I am not a physician or medical provider and am not offering medical advice on this supplement. This is simply the brand I personally use and have had great results with so far.