Pain relief is a challenging field of medicine. Pain, while an important impulse in the human body, is horrible, and of course, a lot of time, money and research have been put into ways to manage it, understandably. In the past, this is largely been done pharmaceutically, with painkillers, NSAID analgesics, etc. as the in-all solutions for extreme enough pain.
Let me state that such painkillers and analgesics are not inherently bad, and when used properly, can be very good things to have. As somebody that was once in a particularly nasty accident that left me in excruciating pain, I was grateful for prescription painkillers at the time. I am very fortunate, though, and the fact that I am not susceptible to the level of addiction that some people are when using these. That’s the problem, pain relief methods involving narcotic compounds can be highly-addictive.
Even with people who are prone to those kinds of addictions, if they are on a long-term regime of these painkillers, over a considerable amount of time, dependencies can still happen even if they don’t manifest in a drug-like way. The withdrawal from such long periods on these painkillers can be almost as bad as the pain that they originally treated.
What are some good alternative pain relief methods, if you want to avoid pharmaceuticals where possible? I would say the acupuncture has a lot of promise, but before I get into it, let me point out a couple that absolutely are not real.
No miracle tonics, oils, etc.!
When pursuing “holistic” alternatives, money for state that any of the miracle drinks, supplements and oils that people claim will eliminate paying, none of these are real, and none of them have any kind of foundation in science. Flat-out, these things are all snake oil, and you shouldn’t waste your time, money or risk your health on any of them. They don’t work. Essential oils are nonsense, and any miracle tonic being pushed on TV is bunk.
I hate to say it, and I am not going to bash anyone for integrating their faith or prayer, but any “miracle” remedy is just a load of garbage.
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is an ancient East Asian practice based around the concept of Chi, or life energy that flows through the body and certain circuits and pathways. They practice of acupuncture is the use of tiny, skin-deep needles that puncture the body, theoretically redirecting this life energy, rebalancing, adjusting, and even blocking signals.
There are analogies in actual medical science to the concept of Chi, that being the flow of electrical pulses through the nervous system, something that, among many other things, is what handles sensory signals reaching the brain. While it is in the scientific as it could be, and still bears a lot more clinical study, there has been documented proof that acupuncture can help to relieve certain forms of pain, and methodologies can actually impact the transfer and reception of signals to the brain.
If you are interested in acupuncture in Dublin, there is a distinct possibility that it could indeed help with certain forms of pain. Consult your physician first, though, because certain skin conditions, nerve conditions and phobias are incompatible with the practice. If you don’t like needles, you won’t like acupuncture for obvious reasons.