Tag Archive for Chronic Pain

Should we make time for meditation?

There is always a point where science collides with belief systems and sparks fly. Looking around the US right now, the continuing confrontation over the teaching of evolution is a classic example. At a slightly lower level of intensity is the continuing conflict between the “hard science” doctors and those who are persuaded that there are alternative approaches to treatment with equally good outcomes. Take acupuncture as an example. This comes out of nearly two thousand years of medical experience in China. Even though some of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) methods have been displaced in favor of Western methods, the healthcare service in many Asian and ASEAN countries continues to rely on acupuncture as an effective treatment for a range of different problems. Putting TCM to one side, there are also major claims made for different forms of meditation. Some are explicitly rooted in religions. Others are directly adapted to the management of pain. Unfortunately, the Enlightenment and the adoption of the scientific method by Western doctors leads them to a quick dismissal of everything not backed up by their science. Even when shown perfectly respectable research proving some of the claims for “unscientific” methods, they still refuse to even consider them. Their prejudices are deep-seated.

In the case of meditation, there is a growing body of Western-based research using the scientific method which shows excellent outcomes when people suffering from chronic pain are taught how to meditate. In essence, the point is to change the attitude of people towards their pain. Put another way: the level of intensity of the pain stays the same but the people change their emotional reaction to it. At some level, this represents a form of intellectual distraction. People are trained how to disconnect themselves from the pain and to search for ways to live their lives without worrying about it. Too often, people allow the pain to dominate their every waking moments. They fear the pain will always be there and this becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy that blights their lives. Avoiding this fear and focussing instead on positive ways to cope with the reality of the pain allows people to rebuild their daily lives and to function more effectively.

There is an old saying: give a starving man a fish and he eats well that night, but teach him how to fish and he can eat well every night. Teaching people how to meditate is the latter. It gives them a path to follow for the rest of their lives. For some there is a problem. It’s not a quick fix. rather it relies on them to invest time and effort into solving their own problems. At first, there may be a place for painkillers and tramadol is probably the best for relieving moderate to severe pain. But as people begin to feel the benefit flowing from this new discipline for the mind, the need for drugs will diminish. The ideal is to live without the help of any drug. If your private health insurance includes meditation for pain management, get an early appointment. If you have some savings, it is a good investment. Otherwise, buy tramadol. It will give you relief while the healthcare service catches up with the best research.

Wave chronic pain goodbye

Humans want to live a carefree life. But we don’t order it. We can control certain things in life but certainly not everything. Pain can be controlled but usually after it appears. At times we know what we do wrong and why we experience unpleasant moments with out health. But there are also plenty of moments when it comes out of blue and covers us from head to our feet. What are we to do then? We go to a doctor and buy pills.

Pain is difficult to get used to especially when you knew yourself healthy and cheerful. It is even harder to get used to the idea of not being able to cope with the pain. It is like letting yourself know your best days are gone. That is really tragic. But listen up; it is all not that bad. At the end of the day, just think of the fact that you are a person from the 21st century and that means all the problems have solutions.

When you trust yourself to the doctor you don’t know what he wants to prescribe you. Sometimes the price matters, sometimes it doesn’t matter at all. In some cases patients don’t even consider counting the money an important element – but that is when you have plenty of it and when you are really ill.

Most effective drugs are hard to describe. They are a mixture of chemical elements that work in a strong combination but no one can really tell what makes this mixture so effective.

There is a very strong drug on the US market that people that have severe pains know about. This drug is called Tramadol. It helps patients to overcome the impossibly insupportable feeling of pain and leaves it hardly noticeable. Tramadol is not a life-long drug though. You should not finish the course and think your pain isn’t going to return if your injury or bone is broken. While the bone is broken, the pains will be around. It will take time and dedication from the patient to stop these pains. The drug itself won’t be enough.

The treatment the doctor will prescribe for you should be followed as a must. Don’t let yourself think not even for a moment that you don’t need a doctor around where is instruction on the box. You will need your doctor as long as you feel the pain. The tablet is to be swallowed, desirably with a glass of water. Do not transform this pill into powder. Don’t chew it or let kids play with it. One should never consume more than 300 mg of the drug per day. If you feel like you have taken an overdose please call your doctor immediately. If you missed a dose- do not try to catch up, leave it as it is but be on time with your medication next time. Tramadol can make you dependent on it especially if you are easily dependent on drugs. This is another point to discuss with your medical assistant upon consultation. Being a strong medication, this pill will not save you from side-effects, in the case of specific body reactions that are typical to you. If you came to experience drowsiness or you have slowed down a bit – know that the side-effects have come to get you. The golden rule here is to remember that no matter what you do – you have to have a specialist by your side that will take care of you and your pains. Well, Tramadol will take care of the latter. It really will.