Alternatives To Pain Pills

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These days some western medical practitioners sometimes refer patients to hypnotists and acupuncturists for treatment, even though scientists have little idea how the relief is achieved, or whether acupuncture actually blocks the pain pathway or is just a placebo effect.

The underlying theory proposed in traditional Chinese medicine has little experimental evidence to back it up.  Chinese practitioners claim that acupuncture is based on the concept of "chi" or vital energy, something they say that flows through the body along specific pathways or channels they call "meridians."  They claim twelve principle meridians, each connected with a major organ system. Disease results whenever the flow of chi is blocked.  By stimulating points that lie on the meridian pathways the flow of chi is normalised and health restored.

Western scientists think that the needles may stimulate trigger points on the body, prompting the body to release pain reducing substances which help calm the nervous system by acting in a way similar to narcotic drugs on the pain inhibiting part of the brain.

Interestingly a drug known to counteract the effect of narcotics like morphine, rendering them ineffective, did not reverse the pain killing effect of hypnotic suggestion, but did interfere with the effectiveness of acupuncture.

So next time you run out of your favourite pain killing tablets, take heart! There may be alternatives.