Chronic Pain Health Articles

Really. Not a great big skull-splitting headache. Just one of those little low-pressure guys. And I know why. It’s because I’ve been thinking too much. I really need to try to cut back on that.

Actually, my headache is not the result of just thinking – it’s due more to what I’ve been thinking about. I can normally go for months and months and months without any perceptible twinge of intracranial discomfort. No problems at all. Well unless I decide to chance it and watch more than one reality show in a week. Then I’ll notice a bit of distress. But apart from that, life is good and the old gray matter just keeps cruising along in the smiley mode.

But today is different. Here’s what happened. I decided to do a bit of research on healthy living to include diets (not necessarily to lose weight) and supplements. In the course of doing this, I naturally came across a pile of information related to what foods to avoid and what other foods or supplements could potentially prevent physiological malfunctions. A big pile of information. A gigantic pile of information! A super-mega-humungo pile of information! (Are you beginning to get a clue as to why I have a headache?)

In an attempt to turn all of this into a positive, beneficial experience, I need to pass along what I’ve learned. So here it is.

I’ve learned that:

Everybody – that’s EVERYBODY – has an opinion about what works and what doesn’t. About what’s good and what’s bad for you.

There are as many folks who disagree with other folks opinions as those who agree.

The phrase “studies have shown” can be translated to “the studies that I agree with have shown”. Let’s try this… studies have shown that there are probably way too many studies.

We are thinking entirely too much about the possible effects of weird stuff like d-chromo-anti-lycoperene beta 4 and how it binds to the interceptural neural hair follicles to create left ear moles. Or something like that.

There are more dietary supplements which are guaranteed to be “ultimate solutions” to all of our health problems than there are galaxies.

For only $79.95 we can all receive the “secret” to a long, happy, healthy life.

They eat guinea pigs in Peru. (I don’t recall how I stumbled onto that one…)

Passing gas in the bathtub is not bad for your health. (Actually, I didn’t find that one. I just instinctively knew it.)

There is something either in tropical ocean waters or equatorial jungles that will solve your problem.

Veggies and fruits are good for you. Whole-grained foods, too. Duh…
As I did my research, I thought about growing up in the Midwest. I thought about all the old folks I knew that lived long (like up into the 80’s and 90’s) healthy lives. Shucks, they didn’t know about all of these wonderful dietary discoveries we’ve made in the last 50 or so years. They obviously didn’t have a clue that their health could have been improved dramatically by taking one of the thousands of supplements that we have available to us today.

Instead, these old farm folks just ate what they had – including lots of red meat, greasy fried potatoes and eggs, butter, lard, and a gob of other “unhealthy stuff” – and worked their buns off to make a living.

The conclusion seems to be pretty simple, doesn’t it? Farm food (“natural food”?) – no matter what it is – is probably very good for you. So is hard, physically demanding work. Instead of worrying so much about what causes or cures what, maybe we should just focus mainly on eating a good, balanced diet of wholesome “farm-type” foods and get a whole bunch of exercise. A good vitamin supplement probably wouldn’t hurt either. Who knows – it might even help prevent headaches…

Ever given a piece of thought to how actually one feels that a part of his/her body is paining? Majority of the response to this question will be in the negative. And ironically it is one piece of information that a person should be aware of.

Whenever a part of our body is hurt, the pain makes that part ache but the actual sensation is felt in the brain. There are various kinds of receptors in our brain and each is attributed with a different type of sensation. The process can be explained as follows. Every time part of our body is damaged, the damaged tissue releases chemicals – called prostaglandins – making the pain more acute. These chemicals on coming in contact with the cells in the damaged tissue, with the help of enzyme called cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), further release chemicals. Also, these prostaglandins react with the nerve endings to send signals to the brain where the sensation of the pain is felt.

One importance of pain that can be highlighted here is that they keep reminding a person of the hurt, so that till the time injury is healed they are more careful about it. Pain can also result without a direct injury being caused, for example arthritis. Thankfully because of the advancements of the medicine, various types of medications are available to deal with different types of pains felt. A wide range of medicines start right from one as mild as Aspirin to something as strong as Narcotics, which should be only taken through a proper prescription of a medical practitioner and thus, it becomes necessary to take such medicines with highest degree of caution as every medicine has its own kind of side effects.

One of the most common pain relievers is Acetaminophen (popularly also known as paracetamol , and has established its 30 years of usage. It can also be used for curing fevers in children and adults apart from relieving pain.

As against acetaminophen, Narcotics are also used to cure pain but is adopted if no other medicine is able to effectively affect a patient, even though it is the greatest pain reliever than any medication prescribed. This is due to the numerous side effects that are associated with it, which includes chemical dependence. There are various types of Narcotics (OxyContin, Demerol, Hydrocodone) and have their own set of side effects. One of the most peculiar features of Hydrocodone is that it can even cause death.

There are various cautions that one should adopt while undergoing a pain relief medication, as many risks are associated with it. Primarily one should make the doctor aware of the medicines that are normally taken by the patient in the normal course for ordinary pains or any other thing as they can react with the pain relievers to cause side effects. Also, it should be told to the doctor if the patient is already associated with any disease apart from the on for which the doctor is consulted. Another thing to be kept in mind is that the pain relievers taken by the patient should not be stopped without consulting his doctor.

So now knowing this every one has a reason to take utmost precautions. God bless us all.