Pain…we all hate it and we all suffer from it at one time or another! One has only to walk through a pharmacy and examine the plethora of pain killing drugs to realize that there is a lot of suffering in the world.

Pain has an important function…it serves to warn us when damage could occur to our physical bodies. It also tells us when we need to take care of an injury. However, many people have chronic, debilitating pain that interferes with their enjoyment of life and at times may keep them from being productive members of society.

What do you do when pain strikes? Do you quickly reach for the nearest analgesics so you can keep on with whatever activities you were engaged in? Do you take a hot bath and relax till the body has a chance to heal? Do you get massages for muscle pain and use topical lotions to sooth and relax sore muscles? Do you take supplements like glucosamine to prevent or heal arthritis symptoms?

I am personally plagued by chronic neck and shoulder problems, which range from mild discomfort to periodic excruciating headaches. I’ve seen multiple chiropractors and been told I have "kyphosis" which is a fancy name for rounded shoulders or hunchback, a postural misalignment that my mother tried in vain to get me to correct as a teenager. Now that I am "middle-aged" the chiropractors tell me there is no real cure anymore…I am permanently malformed…and my only hope is to continue going for chiropractic adjustments for the rest of my life.

Well folks, I’m just too stubborn to go for adjustments every week for the rest of my life, especially since it never completely eliminates the discomfort. Of course the hours I spend at the computer aren’t exactly beneficial, but I do get regular exercise in the form of long walks and a couple of surfing hours every week. I’ve tried yoga, lying on my back on an exercise ball, massage, hot baths, glucosamine, topical pain relieving creams and when a migraine strikes, I reach for the white willow bark (a natural painkiller from which aspirin was originally synthesized). Each of these methods has given me some relief, but the underlying problem remains and returns to plague me on another day.

A client recently told me about Pete Egoscue, author of the books Pain Free and Pain Free at your PC, who runs the Egoscue Method Clinic in San Diego. If you live in the San Diego area, tune your AM radio dial to 1170 on Saturday mornings at 9 and listen to Pete give advice to callers suffering from pain of all kinds. I called into the show a few weeks ago and told Pete about my chronic neck pain and kyphosis. He asked me to stand up, take my shoes off and stand in a pigeon toed position, stick my stomach out and pull my shoulders back and down. Then he instructed me to turn my head from side to side. Miraculously, the pain was less!

I started doing the exercises recommended in the book Pain Free and slowly, my posture is starting to improve. As a result, I can stand and sit for longer periods of time without discomfort. This amazes me, because standing for any length of time has been painful for years, and I could never sit straight very long either…I always slouched back in chairs to help support my weight. Unfortunately, slouching actually made the problem worse.

Of course not all pain is caused by postural misalignment like mine was. Sometimes the body has been deprived of the proper nutrients for so long that systems cannot repair themselves and eventually start to break down, causing pain. Sometimes we simply "overdo" it when exercising or working and the unaccustomed activity causes the muscles to ache the next day. This is partly due to the buildup of lactic acid, which occurs when oxygen supplies in the muscles run low and fuel is no longer burned efficiently. Optimal nutrition from a proper diet and the right supplements can ensure that our energy systems work as efficiently as possible. If the right building blocks are available, I believe the body can heal itself from almost any malady.

~ Tys Dammeyer

For more information on diet and supplements, please visit my website...