Pain relief
Pain is experienced when the free nerve endings which constitute the pain receptors in the skin as well as in certain internal tissues are subjected to mechanical, thermal, chemical or other noxious stimuli. The pain receptors can transmit signals along afferent neurons into the central nervous system and thence to the brain. Acute pain is a physiological response to an adverse chemical, thermal or mechanical stimulus that may be associated with surgery, trauma or acute illness. These conditions include, but are not limited to, post-operative pain, sports medicine injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, burns, musculoskeletal sprains and strains, musculotendinous strain, cervicobrachial pain syndromes, dyspepsia, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, kidney stone pain, gallbladder pain, gallstone pain, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, obstetric pain, rheumatological pain or dental pain. Chronic pain is a pain condition beyond the normal cause of an injury or illness and may be a consequence of inflammation or serious, progressive, painful disease stages. Various types of chronic pain include headache, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, temporomandibular joint syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bone pain due to osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, bone metastases or unknown reasons, gout, fibrositis, myofascial pain, thoracic outlet syndromes, upper back pain or lower back pain (wherein the back pain results from systematic, regional, or primary spine disease, pelvic pain, cardiac chest pain, non-cardiac chest pain, spinal cord injury-associated pain, central post-stroke pain, cancer pain, AIDS pain, sickle cell pain or geriatric pain. The causes of pain can include inflammation, injury, disease, muscle spasm and the onset of a neuropathic event or syndrome. Neuropathic pain is caused by both trauma and disease. For example, trauma nerve compression or crush and traumatic injury to the spinal cord or brain are common causes. During nerve healing and regeneration, neuromas can result in pain due to abnormal nerve regeneration. Nerve crush and compression can be caused by the growth of tumors or other abnormalities, resulting in pain. Neuropathies may be also caused by a number of diseases and disease conditions including diabetes mellitus, chemotherapy treated cancer, post herpetic neuralgia, lumbar radiculopathy, ischemia, vasculitis, alcoholism, HIV and some vitamin deficiencies. Ineffectively treated pain can be devastating to the person experiencing it by limiting function, reducing mobility, complicating sleep, and dramatically interfering with the quality of life. Traumatic or nociceptive pain differs from neuropathic pain in that an external stimulus causes a normal sensory response to an insult or illness in the case of traumatic pain, whereas neuropathic pain results from injury to a portion of the nervous system and is typically not responsive to narcotic analgesics. The anesthetics do not attack the root cause of the pain, but rather block pain transmission so that the patient does not sense pain. Because they merely block pain sensation, anesthetics must be continually administered as long as the underlying condition causing the pain persists, or at least until the condition has improved to the point where the pain generated by the condition has decreased to a level that the patient can tolerate and resume daily functional activities and participate in kinematic functional activities. Neuropathic pain often involves neural hypersensitivity and can persist without any overt external stimulus. Pain relief is a major focus of current medical attention. Neuropathic pain results from injury to a nerve rather than injury to a tissue. Pain from tissue injury is typically short lived and is usually limited to the period of tissue repair. This pain can be readily treated by any of a number of over the counter and prescription analgesic. In contrast, neuropathic pain can develop days or even months after traumatic nerve injury and the pain is typically long-lasting or chronic. Moreover, neuropathic pain can occur spontaneously or as a result of stimulation that is normally not painful. The therapeutic objective of most pain therapy is to alleviate the symptoms of pain regardless of the cause. Current pain-control therapies include the use of opioid narcotic analgesics such as morphine and fentanyl, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as aspirin, ibuprofen and cyclooxygenase inhibitors, or ion channel blockers such as lidocaine and novocaine. These therapies all have limitations, however. Opioids can cause tolerance, dependence, constipation, respiratory depression and sedation. Opioid analgesics are a well-established class of analgesic agents. These compounds are generally accepted to include, in a generic sense, all drugs, natural or synthetic, with morphine-like actions. The synthetic and semi-synthetic opioid analgesics are derivatives of five chemical classes of compound: phenanthrenes; phenylheptylamines; phenylpiperidines; morphinans; and benzomorphans. Anti-inflammatory compounds directed at blocking or reducing synovial inflammation, and thereby improving function, and analgesics directed to reducing pain, are presently the primary method of treating the rheumatoid diseases and arthritis. Aspirin and other salicylate compounds are frequently used in treatment to interrupt amplification of the inflammatory process and temporarily relieve the pain. Muscle and joint pain may be caused by any one or more of numerous conditions. One prescription for the relief of such pain is the application of heat. Dry heat application is sometimes used, but often heat is applied by immersing the affected joint in warm water in which salts are dissolved. Alternatively, warm cloths moistened by a salt solution have been applied to affected areas in an effort to alleviate pain. The use of capsaicin is known for the treatment of a number of pain disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, diabetic neuropathy, psoriasis, pruritus (itching), cluster, headache, post-surgical pain, oral pain, and pain caused by injury, amongst others. Capsaicin works by depleting a compound called Substance P, a neuropeptide that functions as a neurotransmitter and promotes pain perception, from the nerve terminal fibers.
Pain relief categories
Alternative pain relief
Related products