Let's look inside: natural pain relief

What is natural pain relief?

Underpinning natural medicine is the belief that muscles, bones and nerves are all interconnected, therefore when structures of the body are aligned; the body is able to function optimally and support self-healing. Unlike many pharmacological drugs, natural pain relief medicine avoids the suppression of symptoms as the aim is for the body to restore its inner balance and heal itself.

Why does this matter?

There are many powerful and effective natural products now available that should have a place on pharmacy shelves. Traumeel®, for example, is supported by gold standard randomised clinical trials, for soft tissue injury and pain. Pharmacy teams need to be aware of these products and include them in their offering, particularly as the consumer trend for a more natural and sustainable lifestyle grows. 

What are the benefits?

Many genes governing the activation of acute inflammatory cells (Neutrophils) are blocked by cortisone like drugs and by anti-inflammatories. This is despite initial clinical improvement from taking these anti-inflammatory drugs at the early stage of injury.

A recent paper published in Science Translational Medicine showed that injured patients who were then treated with anti-inflammatory medications (e.g. Ibuprofen) were far more likely to develop chronic pain rather than experiencing physiological healing. The findings from the study indicate that blocking inflammation with drugs could lead to harder-to-treat pain.1 

Paracetamol was often suggested as a safer alternative to NSAIDS, which are known to increase blood pressure and risk of heart disease. But in February 2022, the PATH-BP Trial from Edinburgh University showed that long-term paracetamol use could increase the risk of heart disease and stroke in people with high blood pressure.2 

How does it work?

Inflammation is a natural physiological response to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells or irritants, and is a protective attempt to remove the injurious stimuli and initiate the healing process. It is therefore an essential part of the natural recovery process, and without a certain level of inflammation healing is compromised – in most cases it is closely regulated by the body and usually self-limiting. However, excessive inflammation can prove detrimental to healing and cause pain. Plus it is now understood that chronic inflammation underlies most, if not all, disease pathologies.

Synergistically acting medication of natural origin such as Traumeel has been proven to enhance the initial physiological inflammatory response and then rapidly down-regulate it with significant lowering of the standard clinical measures of inflammation:

• Heat
• Redness
• Pain
• Loss of function.

This leads to more rapid safe and physiological healing without the increased risk of pain chronicity.

Where does it come from?

When discussing ‘natural’ pain relief, it can be forgotten that today’s pharmaceuticals were developed from established natural plant-based remedies. It is easy to ignore the potentially important and effective natural products when planning pain fixtures in the pharmacy, particularly those clinically proven to be safe and effective.  

How can we find out more?

Traumeel is distributed worldwide. Find out more via the Traumeel website.

References

1. Marc Parisien et al. Acute inflammatory response via neutrophil activation protects against the development of chronic pain. Science Translational Medicine: doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abj9954
2. Iain M Macintyre et al. Regular Acetaminophen Use and Blood Pressure in People With Hypertension: The PATH-BP Trial. Circulation. 2022 145:416-423.