Western medicine strives to maintain the stranglehold it has built around the topic of health. But the cracks in the foundation are becoming more and more apparent. While there are many great aspects of Western medicine, there are also some very dark corners as well.
One area it shines in is with dealing with pain. For example, while we aimed for a natural, physiologic birth, my wife’s pregnancy involved back labor and after fighting through that for a while, she opted for taking pain medication. She made the right call for herself at the time.
But there is a dark side to pain meds also.
In fact, its been in the news lately and is called the Opioid Epidemic. This is largely because of the addictive nature of these drugs, and how these drugs are destroyed lives. (Far more than some of the illegal drugs.)
I recently read a story of an otherwise successful man who ended up screwing over friends and family, and eventually committed suicide because of an opioid addiction.
Opioids have been the go-to pain medication doctors prescribe because they work best…
Except a new study says they don’t.
In a recent test study, with 240 patients over 12 months, all the opioids, including morphine, oxycodone and hydrocodone/acetaminophen combo, did not outperform acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. [1]
Their conclusion:
“Treatment with opioids was not superior to treatment with nonopioid medications for improving pain-related function over 12 months. Results do not support initiation of opioid therapy for moderate to severe chronic back pain or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain.” [1]
It makes me wonder. What if pain relieving herbs were tested as well?
Might the whole drug paradigm be chipped away even further?
Because let us not forget, there are some over-the-counter pain medicines like acetaminophen, which is what Tylenol® and many other name brands are, that also cause serious side effects.
“Acetaminophen overdose sends as many as 78,000 Americans to the emergency room annually and results in 33,000 hospitalizations a year, federal data shows. Acetaminophen is also the nation’s leading cause of acute liver failure, according to data from an ongoing study funded by the National Institutes for Health.” [2]
There is a false assumption that just because a drug is over-the-counter, it means its safe. But this is not always true. Painkillers such as NSAIDs, like ibuprofen commonly found in Advil® and Motrin®, are known for causing intestinal permeability, aka leaky gut. [3]
Don’t get me wrong. There is a time and a place for pain meds and the benefits can outweigh the risks. However, there is also a time and a place for pain herbs.
Do you know about any of these?
Unless you’ve studied herbalism, probably not, because there still has not been any serious conversation about herbalism in our culture today.
Kava, Wild Lettuce, Pedicularis, Willow Bark, Turmeric…even Opium, from which the opioids were all originally derived. Of course, Cannabis fits in here as well. Sometimes these natural herbs have side effects and are ripe for abuse as well.
There are many herbs that help with inflammation. Legally, no herb can be anti-inflammatory, because only drugs can function like that. But many herbs can help support a healthy response to inflammation in the body.
Currently, at Lost Empire Herbs we don’t sell any of these. But I wrote this article because it’s important for you to know that there are herbal alternatives available.
Sources:
Use Only as Directed. (2013, September 20). ProPublica. Retrieved from: https://www.propublica.org/article/tylenol-mcneil-fda-use-only-as-directed
Graham DY, Opekun AR, Willingham FF, Qureshi WA. (2005, January 3). Visible Small-Intestinal Mucosal Injury in Chronic NSAID Users. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15645405
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Lost Empire Herbs
you guys should sell kratom! would definitely buy from you
Unfortunately, we’ve made the decision to not get into any of the “gray area” herbs as we don’t want to have the added regulatory attention they bring.
Logan you are so the man.
Thanks!
Okay so I have a question.
I have chronic back pain and I take opioids for pain ( I hate relying on pills) and I have been taking them for two years. I do use cannibus to help with relaxing (4 kids at home).
I have started using P P and the phynix formula, beet powder, and the Spartan blend for work.
I am wondering what eles I could be taking to help with inflammation and pain.
I do stretching, and try to workout as much as I can. Any info would be helpful.
Thank you
Not a doctor so this is not medical advice. But this is what I would do if I was in your situation.
I would recommend reading the work of Dr. John Sarno. More often than not back pain has a psychological component to it, which must be “handled” or it can never be fixed. This includes when something is physically wrong.
Stretching and working out can be good. It’s important to find that movements that lessen the pain for you. I believe that virtually everything can be fixed (short of a part not being there anymore like amputation). It just may take some time and work to do so.
Turmeric tends to be very helpful for inflammation. We don’t sell that but Gaia herbs has a good one. Some other specific pain relief herbs like california poppy, wild lettuce, kava kava can also be experimented with.
Logan,
I want to thank you and your team, for their costumer service, knowledge, and their sincerity.
It is clear that these traits don’t just happen, they happen because of how you select the employees that represent, Lost Empire’s, a strong mission statement, and ongoing training and mentoring program.
I would like to congratulate you on solid business model.
Louis Dyson
Thank you. We’re just getting started. While there will be growing pains we plan to be even bigger and better at everything we do in the future.