Nearly 50 million people across the states live with chronic pain. Whether dull or extreme, it can prevent you from performing daily tasks and drastically reduce your quality of life. Many doctors often prescribe various types of painkillers, and while they do provide some form of temporary relief to their patients, most come with risks like side effects and dependency. The good news is that there are natural remedies that can help reduce the number of medications needed or end your need for taking medications entirely.

According to a study by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, deaths rose from approximately 3,500 people in 1999 to over 17,000 in 2017, that’s more than five times the rate of a drug overdose in a span of 18 years. For this reason, many people want an alternative to living life dependent on prescription drugs.

Traditional Healing Methods

Holistic healing methods  — click here for more info  — such as chiropractors and acupuncturists use techniques and learned skills to alleviate pain from many areas of the body. Chiropractor’s use their hands on the part of the body where you experience pain. By applying pressure and moving joints they can often temporarily alleviate pain. The same goes for an acupuncturist instead of using their hands and pressure, they insert small needles into targeted areas of the body to also reduce the presence of pain, improve flexibility in joints and help with energy and balance. Many people with chronic pain have regular visits with either one.

Results of a Poor Diet

A poor diet that lacks essential vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids can create a malfunction in the system and prevent receptors from turning off once an injury to the body heals. As a result, your body continues to stay in a sort of high alert status and thus the formation of chronic pain. Inflammation is the root cause of pain in the body.

Foods for Pain Management

Luckily, there are a variety of natural foods that provide a good source of essential nutrients to the body to reduce deficient amounts of iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamins A, B, and C. Scientific studies conclude evidence that supports foods that contain a large amount of antioxidants many found in assuming a Mediterranean diet which consists mainly of fresh fruits including all types of berries, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and unsalted nuts. Making other small changes to your diet like replacing vegetable oil with either olive or flaxseed oil can give your body the added benefit of omega-3 fatty acids.

Stress Breeds Pain

For a person that lives with chronic pain, strong emotions presented in the body such as stress, anxiousness and a depressed state of mind can all intensify the pain. Thankfully, there are several ways to reduce negative and harmful emotions. Music, like classic symphonies, can instantly soothe and calm, and meditation allows the body and the mind to connect as one.

Physical Activities

You already know the benefits of maintaining an active lifestyle. However, what you may not know is that any form of physical activity, like bike riding or swimming, releases endorphins to the body that make you feel good while also helping to stop pain signals.

Therapy 

Living with chronic pain can cause fatigue, anxiety, depression, and anger. All you want is one day where you wake up feeling like you used too. Sometimes, in severe cases of chronic pain, in addition to prescribed medications and natural healing methods, seeing a therapist can prove to be the missing link to your sustaining a hopeful outlook on life.

If you are among the many people who live with chronic pain and it affects your ability to do the things you love, there are alternatives to using prescription painkillers alone. Making changes in your diet, vamping up your physical fitness and reducing the amount of stress in your life can help you reduce the presence of pain and afford you a better quality of life.