4 Ways Integrative Medicine Can Help You Manage Chronic Pain

Most people know and accept that your health depends on a variety of factors. It includes how and what you eat, how often you exercise, your genetics, how much stress you are under if you are lacking sleep or not. Don’t you wonder why your doctor never asks you these things?

Your conventional healthcare systems as it is known today can be something of a miracle when you have an acute condition or a severe injury, but it seems to fail patients who are suffering from chronic diseases or chronic pain. Here in the Emergency Room in Houston 77007 we can offer you the integrative approach.

If you do happen to suffer from a chronic illness, there are several branches of medicine today that might be able to help you. One of them being integrative medicine found in an Emergency Room near you. Integrative care combines the science of conventional medicine as we know it with all forms of research-backed therapies that include things that were at one time called alternative therapy. It has been seen to work repeatedly.

Here is how integrative medicine can benefit your health.

• Your care will not be focused on the disease process but your health.Realize that conventional medicine works toward focusing on relieving your symptoms immediately while integrative medicine works to find what is causing the pain and get rid of the issues that are causing your health problems overall. It can do this with a personalized approach aiming at predictive care and preventive care while considering your physical health, social health, and psychological health.When it gets down to chronic pain specifically, you are looking at factors like nutritional status, social support, stress levels, ergonomics, coping skills, and exercise all considered in integrative medicine.After your appointment, plans will be made to support your body’s ability to heal and help you get empowered to take over control of your health.
• You will have fewer side effects.Conventional medicine usually prescribes pain meds for pain. Don’t misunderstand; painkilling meds do have their place. They are very effective for short-term cases, due to some of the side effects and some of the risk factors that include digestive issues that come with the using of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. There will be rebound pain coming from many of the analgesics. Over time they will decrease in their effectiveness and addiction might form or there may be unintentional overdoses encountered specifically from those containing opioids.The integrative medicine model gives a wide variety of options for your care such as acupuncture, chiropractic care, or massage therapy along with some conventional treatment, so outcomes can be improved and to diminish the risks.
• Next to be addressed will be your nutritional status.Believe it or not, every time you eat, your body chemistry changes, and due to this, it can make a difference in how it affects your pain, whether it is good or bad.If eating the Standard American Diet which is mostly full of sugars and those refined carbohydrates, it leaves everyone undernourished and overfed. Eating this way is inflammatory to the human system as it increases your pain level and creates free radical damage.The anti-inflammatory diet has been found to be a healthy whole-food style way of eating that will decrease the levels of inflammation in your body to give you natural pain relief. Ginger and turmeric are a couple of the best analgesic and anti-inflammatory foods.

  Tumeric alone has more than two dozen anti-inflammatory properties. You can use it in so many ways when you are cooking. Use it in soups, curries, and it seems to be best absorbed with black pepper and some kinds of fat.

  Ginger stops the enzyme COX2 that increases inflammation in your body. Cooking with ginger, eating the dried ginger or candied ginger, using the ginger in stir-fry dishes or making a fresh tea with it is also great for your digestion.

• You will find out about the link between your brain and your pain.Integrative medicine looks at the body as a more well-rounded holistic approach.By talking about your work and home environment, your relationships in your life can uncover sources of stress that all contribute to higher levels of inflammation.Mindfulness type practices like gratitude practice, meditation, yoga, can support emotional regulation, cognition and behavior to reduce the effects of pain and chronic stress.