Science-Based Alternative Pain Relief

When Painkillers Aren’t Helping, These Things Might

Maybe you want to avoid painkillers, or maybe you’ve already maxed out what you can have, and want more options as an extra help against the pain.

Today we’ll look at some science-backed alternative pain relief methods:

First: when should we try to relieve pain?

There is no such thing as “this pain is not too much”. The correct amount of pain is zero. Maybe your body won’t let you reach zero, but more than that is “too much” already.

You don’t have to be suffering off the scale to deserve relief from pain!

So: if it hurts, then if you can safely get relief from the pain, it’s already wise to do so.

A couple of things we covered previously

CBD and THC are technically drugs, but are generally considered “alternative” pain relief, so we’ll give a quick mention here:

• CBD Oil’s Many Benefits
• Cannabis Myths vs Reality

Short version:

• CBD can treat some kinds of treatment-resistant pain well (others, not so much—try it and find out if it works for you)
• THC can offer some people respite not found from other methods—but beware, because there are many health risks to consider.

Acupuncture

Pain relief appears to be its strongest suit:

Pinpointing The Usefulness Of Acupuncture

Cloves

Yes, just like you can get from the supermarket.

In its medicinal uses, it’s most well-known as a toothache remedy, but it has a local analgesic effect wherever you put it (i.e., apply it topically to where the pain is), thanks to its eugenol content:

Syzygium aromaticum L. (Myrtaceae): Traditional Uses, Bioactive Chemical Constituents, Pharmacological and Toxicological Activities

Boswellia (frankincense)

The resin of the Boswellia serrata tree, this substance has an assortment of medicinal properties, including pain relief, anti-inflammatory effect, and psychoactive (anxiolytic and antidepressant) effects:

Frankincense is psychoactive: new class of antidepressants might be right under our noses

And as for physical pain? Here’s how it faired against the pain of osteoarthritis (and other OA symptoms, but we’re focusing on pain today), for example:

Effectiveness of Boswellia and Boswellia extract for osteoarthritis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Here’s an example product on Amazon, but feel free to shop around as there are many options, including for example this handy roll-on

Further reading

Intended for chronic pain, but in large part applicable to acute pain also:

Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)

Take care!