If you have ever experienced chronic pain you know firsthand how difficult it can be to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep and pain appear to have a bidirectional relationship. For instance, many people say that their painful symptoms tend to be alleviated after a better night’s sleep. Therefore, if you are living with chronic pain, prioritizing sleep may significantly help in recovery.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that affects one of the primary nerves in the wrist area. The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway surrounded by bones and ligaments on the palm side of the hand. The leading cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is extra pressure on the median nerve at the wrist inside the tunnel. The extra pressure can come from swelling or inflammation of the contents inside the tunnel. Carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms include wrist pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness.
When you hear the word inflammation, what comes to your mind? Most people probably think inflammation is all about redness and swelling that follows an infection, wound, or injury. But this is only “acute inflammation” – a beneficial response by the immune system that encourages healing, and usually goes off once the injury improves. Chronic inflammation is another form of inflammation that is less obvious. While your immune system becomes activated, the inflammatory response stays on all the time at a low level. This is unlike the acute inflammatory response that is intermittent during an acute injury or infection. In other words, chronic inflammation may begin even when you have no injury. Worst still, it does not end when it should. Several factors could trigger chronic inflammation, from lifestyle factors such as poor sleep, obesity, or exposure to environmental toxins.
The negative side effects of opioids have caused many people to seek out alternatives for pain and other conditions. One safe alternative that has been found to be effective for pain is natural supplements. These products do not come with the risk of side effects, addiction, or drug interaction. Without much ado, here are some natural supplements that are an alternative to opioids:
Opioids have been around for years after pharmaceutical companies pushed them out to doctors as effective painkillers. This term “opioids” includes compounds extracted naturally from the poppy seed as well as synthetic compounds with similar properties that interact with the opioid receptors in the brain. Some popular medications classified as opioids include: • Oxycodone • Hydrocodone (Vicodin) • Codeine • Morphine (Kadian, Avinza) Hydrocodone products are the most commonly prescribed opioids as they are often used to treat pains from injuries and dental work. Codeine is often used to treat milder pain. But generally, opioids are used to treat everything from post-surgical pain to osteoarthritis. However, prolonged use, non-medical use, use without supervision, and misuse, can lead to several health problems and opioid dependence. Research has shown that about 0.5 million deaths all over the world are attributed to drug use. Shockingly, over 70% of these deaths are related to opioids, with over 30% of those deaths caused by overdose. The truth is that what makes opioid medications effective for pain management can also make them dangerous.
