I do a decent amount of integrative pain management. My school of thought is that you normally have to identify the pain generator and treat it, but the nature of the pain generator is often such that it lies outside a conventional model and hence cannot be treated within that paradigm (e.g. I think Neural Therapy is amazing but most docs won't touch it).
The two holistic therapies I've found are often quite effective in treating pain that appear relatively safe and do not require knowing the specific pain generator are using DMSO or Wild Lettuce (an herb that is an adenosine agonist--which is what opioid receptors end up doing as well).
DMSO is a staple at the race track. The desire to win a race spurs folks to sort out the best Rx for their horses.
As for Wild Lettuce, Native Americans used it for everything. Not sure about the adenosine agonist MoA though; the methylxantines are antagonists at the purine receptors, and they do stop pain too. The adenosine type pain comes from lack of oxygen, like claudication, often with lactic acid type pain. Massage therapy tops my go to list.
I do a decent amount of integrative pain management. My school of thought is that you normally have to identify the pain generator and treat it, but the nature of the pain generator is often such that it lies outside a conventional model and hence cannot be treated within that paradigm (e.g. I think Neural Therapy is amazing but most docs won't touch it).
The two holistic therapies I've found are often quite effective in treating pain that appear relatively safe and do not require knowing the specific pain generator are using DMSO or Wild Lettuce (an herb that is an adenosine agonist--which is what opioid receptors end up doing as well).
DMSO is a staple at the race track. The desire to win a race spurs folks to sort out the best Rx for their horses.
As for Wild Lettuce, Native Americans used it for everything. Not sure about the adenosine agonist MoA though; the methylxantines are antagonists at the purine receptors, and they do stop pain too. The adenosine type pain comes from lack of oxygen, like claudication, often with lactic acid type pain. Massage therapy tops my go to list.