Treating pain without medication

"In my medical training, we were taught five ways to treat pain: lifestyle modifications, physical therapy, medications, injections, and surgery. Lifestyle modifications are positive changes in diet, exercise, sleep, and stress levels. This is the first-line treatment for painful inflammation. Yet we tend to overlook this option in favor of tools that produce quicker results. Passive treatments (medications, injections, some surgeries) can relieve acute pain or nerve damage but do not always provide lasting relief for ongoing or recurring pain. And even these passive treatments work better when coupled with lifestyle changes. To decrease chronic pain, we must consider what we consume. Better fuel reduces inflammation, improves function, and restores balance."

Saloni Sharma is a pain management and rehabilitation medicine physician and author of The Pain Solution: 5 Steps to Relieve and Prevent Back Pain, Muscle Pain, and Joint Pain without Medication.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Current pain treatments and their deficiencies."

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