Alternatives To Drugs

By Author: Steven Johnson
Total Articles: 490
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You ask, how can there be alternatives to drugs?All anyone ever needs is a tablet and, like magic, they are cured. Well, as if. . . Go back in time and none of these wonderful medications were around. Yes, life expectancy was not quite as good but people got on with their lives without miracle medications. So what happened? The answer lies with the marketers who managed a rather neat trick. Last century, the doctor was the superstar. If you had a problem, the guy in the white coat would emerge from the operating theater with a Dr Kildare smile plastered all over his face. "It's all good news," he would say in his chipper fashion and we would all sigh with relief. The Doc is on the job and all is well with world. Now, doctors are still essential cogs in the machine but the real heroes are the drugs. We no longer need to see the doctors unless there's some emergency we can't deal with on our own. In the quiet of our own homes, all we need is a small cabinet full of all the drugs we predict we will need to get through the week.

So let's say you're in pain. The world you used to enjoy has lost its sparkle. Even the slightest ...
... movement brings a wince and worse. What should you consider before committing yourself to the long-term use of a painkiller? The answer comes in one of these annoying lists:

1. Exercise This is the alternate that no one wants to even think about. When you are feeling paralyzed by the fear of the pain that comes when you move, the idea you get better if you force yourself to move is not popular. Yet it's the top of every doctor's lists. You genuinely fight pain off if you increase your activity level. Walking is a good all-round exercise. If a swimming pool is nearby, the water gives you support for your muscles and joints. Put the other way round: if you stop moving, you lose your muscle tone and your joints stiffen. When you finally do try moving, it hurts.

Examples of exercises you should think about include yoga and tai chi. The mixture of stretching and flowing movements gets your muscles used to moving again. But you should take advice. Depending on the nature of your injury or disease, some movements may be more beneficial than others.

2. Physical therapy and massage. This also helps restore mobility and gives you better directed exercise programs, tailored to your specific problems.

3. Acupuncture and other alternates. For those of us in the West, these depend on the placebo effect but all that means is that they work for those that believe in them.

If you find exercise a frightening prospect, take Ultram before you start. This will take the edge of the pain while you begin to get your body moving again. However, be careful. Just because Ultram makes the pain go away, does not mean you are cured. Do not aggravate the injury by exercising too vigorously too soon.