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The Less Painful Times – Health Tidbits

Pain Files:
Neuropathic pain, caused by injury or disease of the central nervous system, is associated with severe pain that in many cases does not respond effectively to pain killers. There is recent research implicating cells called microglia—which are part of the immune system associated with the central nervous system.  This kind of research may eventually lead to novel blocking treatments for neuropathic pain, instead of just increasing doses of pain killers.

Ginger as Anti-Inflammatory
Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties that have been known for centuries, and seems to have some significant advantages over NSAID’s (non steroidal anti inflammatories).  Ginger suppresses the production of prostaglandins (which promote inflammation) through the inhibition of certain enzymes: cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 and it also suppresses leukotriene (inflammation promoter) formation. Because of this dual action ginger may end up being more effective than drugs and have fewer side effects than NSAIDs. (J Med Food. 2005)

The RSI Clinic theory of RSI

Muscles were made to work efficiently and effectively, when they do what they are meant to do - maintain your body in motion and support posture. They were not meant to be overworked, overstrained or made to work without appropriate rest.

One of the major factors in RSI is that some muscles may be fatiguing while other (less appropriate) muscles are compensating or overworking. The muscles that were meant to do the work have not been functioning properly, either as a result of acute injury, or from fatigue due to long-term overuse. The neighbouring muscles (or another muscle group) may have been recruited to "help out" or take over completely. They quickly fatigue because they are not designed to do the job. In fact, we have seen a large number of patients where this fatigue pattern is the cause of their symptoms. As you can imagine it is important to fully assess the muscles to understand where the problem exists, because what you feel is not necessarily where the problem originates! For example, many patients come with problems of pain down their arms, with tingling, "pins and needles" or pain sensations and weakness of the hands. These symptoms, often labeled as "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome", can be caused by smaller muscles in the shoulder area trying to "help out" the main shoulder muscles (which are often fatigued), then developing trigger points.

When muscles do an unexpected task very suddenly, or when they fatigue from doing repetitive work in awkward positions without rest breaks, they can develop tight "knots" or "bands" called Trigger Points. These trigger points are the spots which tell us that the muscle is not working properly. If you press on a trigger point it is tender, and you can sometimes feel the muscle "twitch" if you roll the trigger point around under your finger. Trigger points can refer symptoms to certain parts of the body in very consistent ways. It is possible that most of the symptoms you are experiencing are the result (directly or indirectly) from trigger points.

Once assessed, the treatment of these types of injuries requires that individuals take responsibility for making changes in their approach to using their muscles. Life Beyond the Carpal Tunnel provides those suffering with RSI the information and skills they need to complete tasks safely and effectively by learning how to use their muscles efficiently.