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Beat pain
without
Whatever’s causing your aches
and pains, there are ways to reduce
your reliance on medication.
Here’s what you need to know
By Charlotte Haigh
Most of us
need pain
medication
at some
point,
whether it’s for injury,
headaches, joint pain,
backache, cramps or
fibromyalgia. But taking any
medication long term can
come with risks (see table
right). Rather than reaching
for the pills, you may want
to investigate other options.
Doctors are also changing
the way they approach pain.
“If you’ve been on longterm
pain medication, it’s
worth seeing your GP to ask
whether they can help you
find other ways to manage,
or ask to be referred to a
pain clinic,” says Dr Rajesh
Munglani, a consultant in
pain medicine. You may
still need painkillers, but
it’s always better to take
a short course when you
really need it or to use a
topical painkiller to try to
reduce some of the risks.
Pain can be allconsuming
so letting
go of something that
helps can be hard
unless you know
of another solution.
There have been big
advances in natural
painkillers recently, with
some new options that
might work for you.
Turmeric
“This plant has been shown to be as effective in
some cases as ibuprofen, but without the side
effects,” says Rajesh. Taking a 500mg dose once
or twice a day helped the participants in one
study manage their osteoarthritis pain.
n Try Better You Turmeric Oral Spray (£17.95/25ml)
from health stores or www.betteryou.com
Fish oils
“These are antiinflammatory
and, while it’s
important to have oily fish in your
diet, you need to take the oils at high
doses to have an effect – between 2000
and 4000mg daily,” says Rajesh.
n Try Bioglan Red Krill Oil
(£39.99/30 capsules) from
health stores.
Acupuncture
“Like manipulative
therapies, acupuncture
does work but the
effects are usually
short term – so again,
if you have chronic
pain you’ll need repeat
appointments,” says
Rajesh. Find a registered
practitioner in your
area by calling 0208
735 0400 or visit www.
acupuncture.org.uk