Author: Helen Pak-Harvey

In my previous blogs on pain, I covered some natural interventions for managing arthritis and back pain. With the current opioid crisis and prescribing guidelines tightened for pain medications, consumers are increasingly seeking alternative options for pain relief. This Journal of the American Medical Association editorial outlined the CDC guidelines recommending nonpharmacological interventions before any pharmacologic ones. So in this blog, I’ll cover some non-traditional evidence-based modalities for managing pain. Mindfulness Meditation Did you know that the mind can provide a pain-relief effect without engaging the opioid receptors in the brain? This study showed that similar brain areas are activated during both mindfulness meditation and use of pain-modulators like opioids. These findings also demonstrated that mindfulness meditation reduces pain independently of opioid neurotransmitter mechanisms. Although more rigorous research is recommended, this systematic review of 38 ran...

According to the CDC, lower back pain is the most common type of disability globally. In the US, one in four adults reported having back pain in the last three months. Lower back pain is classified based on the type and duration of clinical symptoms: acute (lasting less than 4 weeks), subacute (lasting 4-12 weeks) and chronic (lasting more than 12 weeks). What is alarming is that even with the lack of evidence to support its efficacy, almost 14% of insured patients who sought care for lower back pain were prescribed pharmacological drugs like opioids and/or benzodiazepines. These addictive narcotics and sedatives have severe consequences which can lead to overdose, mis-use and death (nearly 50,000 people died in the US from opioid mis-use in 2019). So in this blog, I’ll share some evidence-based complementary approaches for back pain that are non-invasive and non-pharmacological treatments. In this review of 45 clinical trials, participants exhibited significantly lower chronic back pa...

According to the CDC, an estimated 78.4 million adults will have some form of physician-diagnosed arthritis (one in four of the population) by the year 2040 with about 35 million adults reporting arthritis-attributed activity limitations. In osteoarthritis, the cartilage that caps the bones in your joints is degraded whereas in rheumatoid arthritis, the membrane that protects and lubricates the joints is inflamed which leads to joint erosion. I’ll share some movement tips and herbs for managing the discomfort and pain associated with arthritis in the first blog of this series. Also, check out my earlier blog on natural options to manage pain. Movement Strength Training Regular exercise and movement can alleviate arthritis pain, decrease stiffness of joints, improve flexibility and may help you reduce your prescription or over-the-counter medication. Although the thought of exercising when in pain may not be appealing, it is a necessity for maintaining healthy weight and lubricating our...