If you want to get someone suffering from pain angry in a hurry, just tell them their pain is all in their mind. “Baloney!” (or some stronger word) might be their response.
Saying pain is all in someone’s mind is tantamount to claiming their pain is imaginary. Clearly pain is real to any person suffering with it. However, the cause of pain very well may be from their mind.
Pain often has a musculoskeletal source. But one very common factor behind many types of pain does originate in your mind, namely stress. Even when stress isn’t the primary cause of pain, it can exacerbate existing pain from musculoskeletal causes leaving you feeling even worse.
Stress is directly related not only to pain but also numerous illnesses with no apparent biological cause. Fibromyalgia, chronic headaches, and insomnia are often tied to high levels of stress. Stress also causes our bodies to release adrenaline which is critical for responding to genuine “fight or flight” situations. Chronically high levels of adrenaline caused by repeated unresolved stress – even from situations as benign as sitting in traffic, missing a deadline, etc. – can lead to trigger pain from anxiety, muscle tension, digestive disorders, and even lead to long-term biological damage.
As a result, if you or someone you love suffers from pain, eliminating stress can play an important role in your search for lasting pain relief and better health. Here are several proven ways to reduce stress and stress-related pain:
Physical activity, especially rhythmic exercises like bicycling or swimming, helps burn off stress chemicals and has been proven more effective than Prozac for treating depression. Targeted exercise itself can even help relieve pain.
Real hypnosis (not the stage act kind!) can be very effective at eliminating stress, reducing anxiety, and improving your health.
Herbs such as ginseng, Rhodiola rosea, chamomile, Siberian ginseng, cordyceps, and ashwagandha are known for their ability to reduce stress and anxiety.
Heat therapy like a hot bath or sauna works wonders at helping your body relax. Localized heat treatments can help reduce specific areas of pain, stress and tension. Far infrared heat is a form proven safer and more effective than traditional heating pads.
Use mind/body approaches such as tai chi to take a multi-disciplinary approach to eliminating stress and pain.
Get actively involved in a community. Building a network of friends brings with it powerful allies in helping you cope with the day to day stressors of modern life.
Don’t look now but heavy metal is threatening your health. Not the head banging kind floating invisibly across the airwaves (though prolonged listening may lead to some serious neck cramps). Instead we’re talking about the more insidious kind of toxic heavy metals inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through your skin — or even purposely implanted in your body.
Once absorbed into the body, heavy metals become embedded in soft tissue or bones. What makes heavy metal poisoning particularly scary is it not only can cause severe disease but it can even lead to irreversible damage to your DNA.
While there are treatments to help remove heavy metals from the body, it can take several difficult months to recover completely. Clearly the best line of defense is to recognize the danger and prevent heavy metal poisoning in the first place. Here are a few of the most common heavy metals to watch out for.
Mercury
Topping the list of dangerous heavy metals is the neurotoxin mercury. It has been associated with autism and many neurological disorders. Mercury is so hazardous that a tiny drop the size of one grain of sand would contaminate an entire swimming pool.
While an excellent source of nutrition, sadly most fish — both wild and farm-raised — is heavily contaminated with mercury today. As a result, fish are now the most significant source of mercury toxicity. Larger and older fish typically have higher concentrations, so avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tile fish, and white albacore tuna. Haddock, tilapia, cod, pollock, salmon, and sole are better alternatives though intake should still be limited.
Another very significant source of mercury in the body are dental amalgams, or “silver fillings.” Don’t believe the lie the American Dental Association continues to publish that they are safe. A full 50% of these fillings consist of mercury. The materials themselves are shipped as hazardous waste to your dentist and treated like hazardous waste after removal. Good move, but should you use your mouth as a hazardous waste storage facility? Insist on your dentist using only non-mercury based fillings.
One more top source of mercury gets injected directly into your bloodstream with many vaccines. Thimerosal, a mercury based vaccine preservative, is used in many vaccines including a number of the H1N1 swine flu vaccines. Mercury is considered by many to be a factor in the skyrocketing incidents of childhood autism and neurological disorders. This is just one of many reasons to avoid vaccinations, or at least carefully weigh the risks before accepting them. Some vaccinations have thimerosal-free forms which should always be preferred.
Aluminum
Associated with osteoporosis, memory loss, and forgetfulness, aluminum is also found in levels as much as 4x higher than average in the brains of patients who have died from Alzheimer’s.
Aluminum is absorbed through the skin. One of the biggest culprits are underarm antiperspirants and deodorants containing aluminum. Switch to a baking soda based deodorant instead.
Many people ingest much more aluminum than they realize. Aluminum cookware, aluminum foil, soda cans and even some processed foods contain aluminum. It may also be present in your tap water. Minimize exposure by avoiding products with aluminum and have your water tested or drink purified water.
Lead
Once absorbed, lead often settles in the bones interfering with red blood cell production. Exposure can result in severe health problems including anemia, severe learning disabilities, behavioral problems and kidney disease.
Although lead-based paint has been outlawed for use in residences for over 30 years, millions of homes across the United States built before 1978 still have lead paint. Chips or dust from this paint can be ingested or inhaled causing lead poisoning.
Tap water is another common source of lead poisoning, particularly when the water travels through older pipes which have begun to break down. Again, test your tap water for the presence of lead or drink only purified water.
Maintain your built-in detoxification system
Your body was marvelously designed to cleanse itself of impurities. Just like any other system, you need to maintain your detoxification system in good working order for it to work properly. Here are some steps you can take to help your body naturally eliminate heavy metals and fight their harmful effects:
Eat more protein which helps supply essential amino acids used by the liver to create glutathione, a key antioxidant and detoxifying molecule
Eat your veggies, particularly dark colored ones like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and artichokes which also help build detoxifying molecules in the body; chlorella is a form of algae shown to have a very beneficial effect on removing toxins from the body, usually taken as a supplement
Drink plenty of pure water — preferably purified by a water filter or recently bottled from a pure source — and eat more fiber, together which will help ensure normal bowel movements which are particularly important for removing heavy metals such as mercury
Increase intake of antioxidants like Vitamin C and Vitamin E through diet or supplementation to counter some of the most harmful effects of heavy metal poisoning – the creation of numerous free radicals in your body which can damage your DNA and increase your chances of getting cancer
Use heat therapy to sweat out toxins — a sauna works great or you can try localized heat such as with a far infrared heating pad which increases blood circulation throughout the body
When people say back pain affects everyone, that really is the truth!
Not only did I struggle with middle back pain (and a bunch of other ailments like shoulder problems, knee pain, tendonitis) years ago before becoming an “expert” …
but my wife has also had several bouts of back pain over the years brought on initially due to a c-section birth. Well, a few days ago she had a flare up… no significant physical incident to bring it on like sneezing or picking up a heavy item, etc…
Instead, I feel that it was a combination of stress/worry about several current life situations that she/we are dealing with right now as well as some physical factors such as changes to her exercise program… she recently added running back into her program.
Anyway, not to bore you with her story, but I thought you might really benefit from the suggestions I gave her and the actions she has taken…
So, the first thing she did was rub in a few squirts of Rub on Relief … she has been applying it 2-3 times per day.
Then she jumped (not really, more like crawled) into our bed with both our large and medium size Far Infrared Heating Pads … and she has been lying on these just about every chance she gets (which isn’t much with 6 kids still at home, though I of course have stepped up to do as much as I can).
She has also been taking hot jacuzzi baths with sea salts (with magnesium) once a day… taking Heal-n-Soothe 1-2 times per day (3 capsules at a time though I’m trying to get her to up the dose – I take 6-8 at a time) to reduce the inflammation and pain.
In addition she is drinking a lot of water… increased her magnesium and vitamin D intakes (liquid supplements)… and also experimenting with various homeopathic and herbal muscle relaxants like kali carb, chamomile, valerian and others.
And last, since it seems that one of the biggest underlying causes is stress, worry, negative energy, etc, she is also spending as much time as possible relaxing… reading… laughing.
As you likely know, there are of course many other things that can be done, but this is where she’s starting and this is likely all she’ll need as she’s getting close to “back to normal”.
Anyway, I hope you found this informative and maybe it has given you a few things that you have not yet tried. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on how she’s feeling
Ice and heat are both well known for their ability to treat pain by breaking the pain-spasm cycle. So are many rub on treatments which provide a cooling or warming sensation.
The problem with most heating remedies is they only provide superficial relief. The heat only penetrates a few millimeters at best meaning it doesn’t provide full benefit to deeper muscle aches and pains.
One increasingly popular option in recent years is the use of far infrared heating pads. Originally found primarily in alternative healthcare practitioner offices, the technology has now matured. Individuals can now purchase affordable far infrared heating pads for home use.
What is far infrared heat?
Think of walking outside on a sunny day. The air temperature is constant, but you immediately feel cooler when you walk into the shade This is because the sun’s infrared rays directly penetrates and heats your body.
Don’t confuse far infrared heat (FIR) with the skin damaging ultraviolet light also provided by the sun. FIR is completely safe. Many hospitals now use infrared heating systems to keep babies warm in their neonatal units.
What does far infrared heat do?
Exposure to FIR allows heat to penetrate as far as 3 inches deep. This deep penetrating heat gently causes an artificial “fever” without the unpleasant side effect of actually being sick. As a result, blood circulation is improved to the treated area bringing more healing oxygen to joints and extremities and speeding healing of injuries.
FIR stimulates the blood vessels to expand which allows the improved blood circulation without increasing blood pressure.
Another impact of far infrared heat is the breakdown of toxin filled large water molecules. The increased circulation and warmth then causes the body to rid itself of toxins and wastes through perspiration.
Here are some other known benefits of far infrared heat:
I wanted to take a moment here in today’s email to share with you an email I received last week from a reader, along with my reply to it… I think you should find this very valuable. Ok, here’s his email:
“Congratulations!! Yet another ingenious way coined to make money from sick people. I am an engineer now aged 78, and have looked after my bad back for over 60 years since rupturing an L4 disc doing gymnastics in my youth.
“My treatment experience is likely better informed than yours. It has taught me above all that not only do bad back episodes vary in symptoms and remedial effectiveness from person to person, but these aspects are likely to differ in sequential episodes for the same individual.
“While not familiar with your proposition of “Muscle Imbalance” causality, to claim it a universal symptom precursor, and its resolution as a panacea, is just as patently absurd as to state, as you do elsewhere, that bad backs do not result from one time injury, and that commonly practised excercises such as toe touching, leg lifting and back arching do not help. On the contrary, they help me and thousands more.
“Presentation of individual patient testimonials following reams of waffle is quack salemanship typical of alternative therapy purveyors, whereas the discrimatimg consumer requires to see statistically based outcomes from double blind evaluation trials. Where are yours?
“It would be nice one day to see you and your likes enjoy the kind of disgrace currently assigned to the financial fraternity leaders, but your lot is unfortunately harder to catch out. Hope you enjoyed reading this.”
–Mr. Angry Cynic
AND HERE IS MY REPLY:
Thanks for writing in… First, it’s obvious that the negative cynic in you can’t accept the fact that we make money by helping people reduce or eliminate their pain so they can enjoy life again. In fact, if we were only “in it for the money” as you claim, we wouldn’t offer so much for free…
Like the hundreds of articles, dozens of videos and audios, discussion forum, phone consultations and product free trials, all of which we offer at no charge. So, I hope it’s obvious that we are NOT in this for the money.
Second, I, and the rest of the team here at the Healthy Back Institute agree with you about each person’s case being different, and also that what triggers a “flare up” can also be different from person to person as well as from flare up to flare up.
About muscle imbalances… we DO NOT claim they are the only cause. We not only claim, but have proven that, they are one of the biggest causes. And yes, ALL people have them… It’s impossible to not have them and for them not to be a major factor.
And nowhere do we say that toe touching and other related exercises are bad… What we say is that they are general exercises and they may help or they may make things worse… You MUST identify your imbalances first and then do the right combination of exercises and stretches for you… not some generic list from your doctor or some book.
Why no “double blind studies”? Because medical schools won’t fund it! For years we have been trying to get doctors and medical researchers involved to perform “clinical studies” but have met stiff resistance… It seems they don’t like the idea of people getting rid of back pain on their own with only a handful of simple exercises and stretches… I wonder why?
Quack salesmanship? Please! We present hundreds of successful client case studies because we know people want proof… they tell us “Prove to me this really works and that it can work for me.” So while we may not have any double blind clinical studies (yet), we do have tens of thousands of people who have used our treatment approach to reduce or eliminate their pain. And if that’s not enough to convince you, you will likely stay in pain a long time.
It seems that negative energy and a closed mind keep more people in pain than anything else. So I hope that all of you reading this will keep an open mind and remember that almost everyone who gets quick and lasting relief do so by using a combination of treatments and approaches.
Here’s what we have found is the recipe for success:
The Healthy Back Institute - 333 Main St. Suite #201 Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Phone: 800-216-4908 Fax: 866-843-4319
The Healthy Back Institute is a Get Healthy and Fit Company
If you want to get someone suffering from pain angry in a hurry, just tell them their pain is all in their mind. “Baloney!” (or some stronger word) might be their response.
Don’t look now but heavy metal is threatening your health. Not the head banging kind floating invisibly across the airwaves (though prolonged listening may lead to some serious neck cramps). Instead we’re talking about the more insidious kind of toxic heavy metals inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through your skin — or even purposely implanted in your body.
