Many people suffer from chronic pain due to health conditions such as arthritis and menstrual cramps. while others experience acute pain as a result of injury or surgery. If you're a pain sufferer, you have plenty of options to ease those pains. While most pain relief medications come in the form of a pill, there are a number of alternative pain relief treatments such as snake oil which is now sold various shapes and sizes. However, before trying any of these pain relief approaches, always make it a point to consult with your doctor. Some alternative pain relief therapies may not be appropriate for you or may have serious side effects, even if they are of the non-pharmaceutical type. There are factors to be considered including medical condition as well as patient history before undergoing any treatment. Bear in mind that not all available options are perfect alternative pain relief treatments. While a certain pain relief may work to some people, the same remedy may not work with others. There are some pain relievers that do not provide complete pain relief. You may have to try a number of different strategies and combine some of them before finding an acceptable level of pain relief. As with any treatment, there may also be risks and side effects. Many people would do anything to find a relief for their pains. One of the advantages of trying out a number of alternative pain relief remedies is that you may find a pain relief treatment that works for you. Penney Cowan, executive director and founder of the American Chronic Pain Association advises pain sufferers to take an active part in their own rehabilitation. People should learn pain management and to know their role in how to regain control of their life in order to live with the pain which seems to have taken over. While there is no specific cure to pain, physical therapy is very effective alternative pain relief and highly recommended. Hayes Wilson, MD, chief rheumatologist at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta and national medical adviser to the Arthritis Foundation, recommends physical therapy to almost all his patients because it teaches people how to take care of themselves. He believes in the clich?, ?give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and feed him for life.? Physical therapists are like fishing instructors who teach patients the self-management skills of pain management. Therapists encourage arthritis patients how to deal with pain in a day-to-day basis by showing them how to build up strength and improve range of motion, and how to make sensible decisions about activities to prevent arthritic flare-ups. However, keep in mind that physical therapy is not intended to act as an elixir for pain, but rather, as an alternative pain relief treatment. In the case of patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis, which can take 10 to 15 years off a patient's life, physical therapy serves only as a supplement to immune-modulating drugs. While physical therapy can help decrease inflammation in osteoarthritis, the condition could worsen if swelling isn't fully addressed with the appropriate medicines.
Some physiotherapy clinics insist asthma can be controlled through physiotherapy programs. Syptoms like breathlessness and wheezing can apparently be alleviated by physiotherapy. Massages are also said to relieve the same symptoms in both young and old patients.
Acupuncture has also been used as an alternative treatment method to alleviate asthma symptoms. Interestingly, this technique has actually been beneficial for asthmatics.
It has been proven that acupuncture boosts the immune system to fight diseases better. This is an important criteria for asthma management. Common colds or influenza only worsen an asthmatic's condition. Acupuncture, if it reduces the chances of catching a cold, is definitely advantageous in such situations. However, acupuncture has yet not been accepted as a stand-alone treatment and is used only in conjunction with other established methods of asthma management.
There are other methods used by acupuncturists in asthma management such as burning herbs over the acupuncture points, giving the patient specific massages, or using breathing exercises. These treatments, again, have not been proven useful.
Asthma treatments are also carried out by chiropractors who rely on spine manipulative methods. This treatment method has received mixed responses. A study was carried out with two groups of asthma patients. One group was given fake manipulations, while the other group was given actual spinal manipulations. The results showed hardly any difference between both groups. According to these results, chiropractors cannot really help asthma patients with their treatments.
Another study on chiropractic treatments was also carried out. The progress of 81 asthmatic children at a chiropractic clinic was followed. The study showed that children undergoing the treatment had 45% fewer attacks and 30% of the children could reduce the amount of medication they had to take to control their asthma. Because of these two conflicting studies, it is undetermined if chiropractic treatments are actually useful.
For physiotherapists who want to continue in asthma management, there is a specialty certification. They can be trained to become Certified Asthma Educators and deal with patients. There services are paid for by Medicare and Medicaid.
It has been propounded that asthma patients who have been hospitalized should undergo physiotherapy. Asthma patients who were made to do motion exercises during their hospital stay, on average remained hospitalized three days fewer than patients who were not given exercises.
Traditional physiotherapy however faces a problem of dehydrating asthma patients. Asthmatics can be seriously affected by dehydration, which occurs faster for them. Sometimes it may even induce an attack. As a result, physiotherapists must keep this in mind when giving exercises.
There are several methods available to treat asthma, and they may be valuable, but physiotherapy also has a toe-hold in the field of asthma management. However, as long as they can't be proved useful, it is better to use alternative methods in conjunction with traditional management methods.
Both Monch Bravante & Dr Alex B. Miguel are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Monch Bravante has sinced written about articles on various topics from Abortion, Other Conditions and Health. Monch Bravante is a writer and advertising practitioner with special interest in public health issues. Choose Variety of High Quality Medicines at