A cure for pain

Not a particularly pleasant experience. But one side-effect that was remarkable, to me: The decades of accumulated aches and pains "went away" while I was on it. A chance to observe, through the sort of light haze the drug left me in, just how much and varied the discomfort was that had accumulated.

My primary response to the question of how to control pain, remains: Pro-active health care and preventative medicine and practice. No, it won't stop all cases, but those we can prevent, we should. And currently, too often don't.

Too much is focused on "the future." The child that will be. The society we will create. The career we will -- hope to -- have.

Until a primary focus is on the present, and taking care of what is at hand, my support for some "future promise" is limited.

Among other reasons, because if you aren't healthy and able, you'll have less chance of building it. Or hanging onto it. Or enjoying it.

I'm all for taking care of ourselves -- individually and as a society -- for the future. But that action takes place in the present.

Until I see a party exercising this -- demonstrating it through actions -- my buy-in is limited.

P.S. I guess I went kind of OT, here. I just see so much needless, preventable pain, these days. I really hope for better pain management for those who have pain. And I don't see having it as some "fault" that invariably could have been "avoided."

But I see a lot that could be avoided. Steps that could be taken, by communities and society -- but aren't.

Have a checklist of warning signs that should terminate treatment or require a checkup.

Here's a video explaining the procedure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDaNhPNwT8

Be kind. Don't force people with not-yet-cured causes of pain to suffer.

I agree it is best to consider the underlying cause, but sometimes that isn't feasible. Take psychosomatic pain, which is a massive issue, but very misunderstood by doctors and patients alike. It is arguably the largest cause of chronic pain, and yet there is virtually no information or research on it, and patients are mostly left up to themselves. A few figure it out themselves, or discover John Sarno's books, but the majority are just given painkillers.

This is incorrect, and this belief causes great harm. Pain is only sometimes a signal that something is wrong.

I deal with sciatica that is at times debilitating. I also have fusing disks in my lumbar that cause massive, constant back pain. I often can't sleep for more than 6 hours because the pain becomes too great to remain horizontal.

I know what is wrong with my body. Sciatic surgery is a big financial gamble, not even on my fiscal radar, and don't get me started on lumbar surgery.

So I exercise. I try to stay on top of research in those areas and maybe one day, I may even be wealthy enough to afford adequate healthcare and see specialists. But what on Earth makes you think you have the right to tell me I shouldn't seek healthy ways to manage my pain? What kind of privileged family healthcare plan are you on to have such little empathy towards those in extreme pain who can do little about it?

Be careful about the path that YOU are headed on, my friend. I watched someone become completely caught up in the Paul Chek health cult and they now think every single pain and disease (they like to call it "dis-ease") anyone experiences is their own fault for not taking cold showers and eating expensive designer health food. It was horrifying to watch such an empathetic "people person" become so close-minded and arrogant towards others to the point of losing their friends, thinking they are "helping" these friends by showing them the true path.

You have to accept some people are predisposed to, and more sensitive to, pain and disease and they deserve to enjoy some level of comfort.

Allopathy historically has been composed mostly of palliatives that exacerbate the underlying condition. (Medicines that actually exacerbate the condition they seem to treat are incredibly profitable over long periods, of course.) France finally had to forcibly close bloodletting schools of medicine, going into shock due to bloodletting was such an effective palliative, medical practioners (and their patients) just weren't going to give it up.

That said, anything that can eliminate extreme pain (or help the people who don't feel pain at all, causing them to severely jack themselves up without even knowing it) would be a friggin' blessing, even if it is a "pill that you had to take every day".

I did resist pills as the answer to my chronic pain for years. And I still refuse to use opioids as the answer. But we did find a non-opioid med that reduces my pain, so while I wish there was a better answer... pills give me my life back. I'm able to exercise again. To play with my kids. To do my job. It isn't my preferred solution, but I'm not going to get idealistic about it and go back to sitting around all day in pain while waiting for the perfect answer.