There has been an historical a lack of information and a great deal of misinformation regarding the role of proper nutrition for effective chronic pain management.  Research studies by the National Fibromyalgia Association (NFA) have confirmed that diet and nutrition play a significant role in the management of pain. The NFA reports that success relies upon utilizing a multidisciplinary and multidimensional approach, incorporating lifestyle and dietary changes to achieve optimum health and well being.

The NFA also states that nutritional therapy practitioners are successfully using diet to treat and prevent illness, and restore the body to a natural healthy equilibrium. Some healthcare practitioners believe that deficiencies of minerals and vitamins could be responsible for much of the disease and weakness in the body. Examples of conditions resulting from deficiencies include fatigue, lethargy and susceptibility to colds and viruses.

There is also substantial pain management literature emphasizing the importance of nutrition and exercise in the healing process and effective chronic pain management. In fact, Dr. Margaret Caudill (2001) devotes an entire chapter of her book, Managing Your Pain before it Manages You, to nutrition in an effective chronic pain management program.

Harris H. McIlwain, M.D., and Debra Fulghum Bruce, M.S.authors of Pain-Free Arthritis: A 7-Step Program for Feeling Better Again, outline some of the foods and nutritional supplements that are helpful for chronic pain management.  I’m including a brief synopsis of their work below.  Their book is published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC; September 2003; ISBN# 0-8050-7325-6.

Until recently it’s been unclear whether changing your diet may influence the symptoms of a chronic illness like arthritis. Nevertheless, new research continues to pour in touting the healing benefits of certain foods. Perhaps these foods aren’t the miracle cure many hoped for, but through scientific studies we do know that certain nutrients can boost immune function and decrease inflammation in those with arthritis. Be sure to include the following suggestions in your pain-free diet to further reduce inflammation and pain.

Sip Tea: You can now add tea to your list of healing foods. In fact, some experts claim that we should add tea to the list of disease-fighting fruits and vegetables that we should eat daily. Some intriguing information was presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine in January 2002 on how green tea may help decrease inflammation.

Serve Vegetables: There is a lot of evidence that a diet high in vegetables can help to decrease inflammation in susceptible people. I’ve had many patients, particularly those with inflammatory types of arthritis, say a modified vegetarian diet (including fish) helps to reduce symptoms. Journal studies over the past five years have shown that a vegetarian diet causes an extensive change in the profile of the fatty acids of the serum phospholipids. These changes may favor production of Prostaglandins and leukotrienes with less inflammatory activity, which is a bonus for those with inflammatory illnesses.

Feast on Fish: Studies continue to come in touting the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, contained in fish, as helping to decrease inflammation.  Some research indicates that when fish oils are added to the diet, scientists measure a very significant drop in one of the most inflammatory immune substances - -leukotriene B4, which is an important part of the process of inflammation in many types of arthritis. Researchers suspect that omega-3s may block the production of inflammatory substances linked to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In some trials, taking fish-oil supplements for at least twelve weeks resulted in positive improvements in symptoms with less morning stiffness and tender joints.

Poor diet and nutrition is only one road block to effective chronic pain management.  To learn about other obstacles please check out my article Overcoming Obstacles for Effective Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free on our Article page.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this 3 day 20 hour training and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.

You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you or a loved one is undergoing chronic pain management, especially if you’re in recovery or believe you may have a medication or other mental health problem and you want to learn more effective chronic pain management tools, please go to our Publications page and check out my books; especially the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.

To read the latest issue of Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.

Chronic pain is often misunderstood and untreated. In addition to the biopsychosocial impact of chronic pain frequently, a spiritual crisis accompanies the condition.  This is a body mind spirit problem that needs a multifaceted solution including addressing the spiritual component of pain. Spiritual healing can be an effective complementary and alternative approach. 

Many people have found spiritual interventions like the traditions of prayer and meditation to contribute to the easing of their suffering. Unfortunately, in our fast paced world and our secular treatment modality the spiritual component of chronic pain management does not get enough attention. 

Spirituality versus Religion

Another problem is that many people confuse religion with spirituality.  Although the terms religion and spirituality are sometimes seen as the same, they are actually separate concepts.  Religion is an organized faith system grounded in institutional standards, practices, and core beliefs. On the other hand spirituality is grounded in personal beliefs and practices that can be experienced with or without a formal religion.

Over the years I have found it very important to have a discussion with my patients regarding spirituality and effective pain management, as a common understanding of terminology is essential. One concept that rings true for a number of my patients is a simple saying: “Religion prepares people for the next life while spirituality helps them live this life to their full potential.” Many of my colleagues also recommend clarifying the difference between the terms “spirituality” and “religion.” They advocate developing a broad-based definition of spirituality that encompasses religious and nonreligious perspectives.

The concept of spiritual pain requires healthcare providers to go beyond the bounds of traditional clinical treatments and be prepared to devote the time required to give supportive and understanding care. 

I believe that for many people spiritual healing is an important component of a multifaceted treatment plan.  One goal of spiritual healing is to help patients improve well-being and quality of life, rather than to cure specific diseases or in this case eliminate pain. The spiritual healing component may include encouraging patients to use visualization, prayer and positive thinking.

As chronic pain impacts a person’s body mind and spirit the solution must address those domains.  This takes a multidisciplinary approach that would greatly benefit from including a spiritual healing practitioner to the team. The ultimate goal of effective chronic pain management is to increase the individual’s quality of life in all the domains.

To learn about using a best-practice and research-based chronic pain management treatment protocol please check out my article The Need for Multidisciplinary Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free on our Article page.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.

Below are the titles and brief intros for our July Addiction-Free Pain Management® Website News and Research Page.  Each month we post three new topics and archive the existing ones by the year it was posted.  If you want to read the entire three posts please go to our News and Research Page.

Chronic Pain Management Using Mindfulness Meditation

What does meditation have to do with chronic pain management? I often get this question when my patients see this on a list I give them of potential non-medication based intervention suggestions. I begin answering by first sharing a definition of meditation with them.

Laser Therapy for Chronic Pain Management

One common request we get is about what can be done for Fibromyalgia. Many people have been taking opiates for this condition and they either don’t like the side effects or are afraid of becoming dependent or even addicted. A fairly new option for Fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions may be of interest—Infrared Laser Therapy.

Neuropathic Chronic Pain Management

If you are living with neuropathic pain like I am you know that the treatment can be frustrating and often ineffective. While acute short-term pain is usually easy to manage and many chronic pain conditions can be treated effectively, neuropathic pain is often a major treatment challenge for both patients and their health care providers.

If you’d like to receive training for helping people with chronic pain and coexisting disorders, including addiction, I’m very excited to announce we are presenting my Addiction-Free Pain Management® Certification Training in Sacramento on August 5-7, 2010. To learn more about this 3 day 20 hour training and my other upcoming trainings you can check out our Calendar page.

You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website www.addiction-free.com. If you or a loved one is undergoing chronic pain management, especially if you’re in recovery or believe you may have a medication or other mental health problem and you want to learn more effective chronic pain management tools, please go to our Publications page and check out my books; especially the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.