Archive for September, 2009
Bees have obviously been around for a long time. My knowledge of bees was that they produced honey, which I like, and give stings, which I don’t. But it turns out that even the stings have beneficial properties.
There is a growing number of people that practice apitherapy, the use of beehive products, which includes honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee venom. Apitherapy has been around for a long time. In fact, Hippocrates, the Greek physician and philosopher, used bee venom to treat joint pain and swelling. But it is not just the holistic practitioners that use bee venom for treatment of pain and inflammation but those who practice conventional medicine have also been exploring the use of bee venom for treating a wide variety of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis, chronic back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis.
Honeybee venom contains 40 ingredients, at least 18 of which reduce pain and inflammation. These include mellitin, an anti-inflammatory agent which is one hundred times stronger than cortisone, adolapin, which is both anti-inflammatory and pain-blocking, dopamine and seratonin. It is believed that the combination of substances in bee venom causes the release of natural healing compounds in the body.
A study conducted by researchers in South Korea published in late 2004 delved into the contribution of mellitin. They found that mellitin inhibited the release of inflammatory genes that are involved in immune reactions. They concluded that “The potency of melittin in the inhibition of the inflammatory response may be of great benefit in degenerative and inflammatory diseases such as RA”.
Traditionally, bee venom was administered with live bees. For many people, the treatment, or the thought of getting stung, was a hindrance to trying this therapy. Manyapitherapy patients, however, find that the relief from their chronic pain far outweighs the discomfort from stings. Some of these patients endure up to 80 bee stings a day, although for most three to four stings, three times a week is effective. There are also injectable forms of venom, as well as creams and ointments.
Here are a couple of good resources: Bees Don’t Get Arthritis
Originally posted 2007-10-30 12:43:03. Republished by Old Post Promoter
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We’re all cutting corners these days and finding ways to make our dollar go further. That might mean eliminating lavish items and activities, and even paring down the basic necessities. While some of us are tightening our wallets when it comes to spending, many are expanding their waistlines by turning to inexpensive, low-quality food. According to Slate, fast food giant McDonald’s is making a killing off the nation’s recession, with sales in 2008 surpassing the previous 2 years. They opened nearly 600 additional stores in 2008.
Many people have the perception that eating healthy is expensive and in fact, a luxury. We maintain that buying wholesome food is possible, even if your family is sticking to a tight budget. The truth is, buying processed foods and eating poorly can lead to a variety of diseases, including diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. Choosing fresh, healthy foods can improve your diet, quality of life and also prevent food-related illnesses, saving you costly bills at the doctor’s office.
With just a little preparation and grocery list in-hand, you can make healthy shopping an affordable and achievable goal. Check out graduate Michelle Pfennighaus’ blog, where she shares some of her penny-pinching tips for eating healthy food on a budget.
1. Cut back on animal products
2. Eat more beans and whole grains
3. Learn to adore the bulk aisle, buy only what you need
4. Drink water, cut back on bottled beverages
5. Eliminate prepared/processed food
6. Use what you have already, even if it means changing a recipe a little.
7. Plan, plan, plan. Don’t put it in your cart without knowing what you’re going to do with it.
Finally, be creative with your shopping and meal planning and have fun!
You’re starving. Your stomach is screaming with hunger, demanding that you fill its emptiness with food. Unable to ignore the strengthening pangs, you examine the contents of your kitchen and to your horror, find that there’s not much. Your options are limited to pretzels, last night’s onion rings or some …
Three days ago I started having sharp pain in my lower right back when inhaling. The rest of my lower back hurts as well, but does not have the sharp pains when inhaling. A friend suggested I might have pulled a muscle. I am wondering why this would cause pain when breathing, and what I can do to relieve the pain.
OMG! I am in the bed right now in pain right now looking for advice on my pain also! I hurt my back riding my bike too long. It didn’t hurt the same day. I woke up the next morning and could barely get out of bed. The pain is on my right side, in the middle and when I am sitting up breathing, it hurts my chest. My research says that muscles on that side of the body is connected to muscles in the front of your body which can interupt your breathing. So I am taking it easy and resting, using icyhot and advil for the pain. It will take a few days to wear off. There is not much you can do. Good luck!
I’ve been sooo uncomfortable for about 2 weeks now. I have lower back pain across the back side of my hips. I know it’s just the baby putting pressure on my body, but I can’t sleep.
How did/do you help the pain?
I used a hot water bottle. It really helped!
I had on period that was 3 weeks late. Then my next two were a couple days early. In between my last period and this one (around the middle of my cycle) I had two different days, about a week apart from each other that I had bad cramping and back pain. No bleeding. Then my period came 3 days late. I have never been regular, but this pain in between is not normal for me. What could be causing this? I’m not pregnant.
Assuming you aren’t pregnant (which causes similar discomfort), you’re probably ovulating. Occurs in mid cycle typically & feels similar to mild period cramps/discomfort or pms symptoms & can also cause spotting.
Another possiblility is polycystic ovary/ovarian syndrom or PCOS. Pretty common (I have it, several aquaintances/friends do also!) & can be mildly to extremely painful & dabilitating from occurrence to occurrence. This can cause you to spot, too, when the cyst(s) erupts.
Go here for some info on this:
http://www.4women.gov/faq/pcos.htm
Regardless, you should see your gyn!
I’ve been running cross-country for four years now, but this is the first year I’ve exerpeince lower back pain. What can I do to avoid this? One of my teammates said it could be posture, but now says my posture shouldn’t be triggering lower back pain. What could be causing this, and what can I do to avoid this?
Try putting some padded insoles (Dr. Scholl’s or something similar) in your shoes. A lot of back pain can be traced back to your feet and how they are landing. You probably will benefit running in shoes that are specifically designated as "cushioned." Go to www.roadrunnersport.com for information on which shoes are well cushioned.
My partner and I have tried to concieve, and in the last couple days she has had some minor lower back pain and pain in the area of her Uterus. She is not due for a period for quite some time, but it seems too soon. It hasn’t even been a week yet since intercourse. Could this be a sign of conception?
may be a sign…better let her take a test. u can determine pregnancy after 10 days from sex
I am tired of going to doctor for my back pain, and having them just keep refering me to specialist. I need pain relief. Not back surgery! I have some old injury, but the biggest problem is probably a pinched nerve or something that is causing unreal pain.
I have tried, for something similar, reflexology to relax the entire body, followed by work on the specific area, ie your back.
It may not be reflexology that works for you, it may be something else – accupressure, biofeedback, yoga, … There are many, many different things to try. You’ll know pretty quickly if you found the right thing for you. If not, move on, try the next thing, or try a different practitioner.
Whatever the treatment, or treatments of choice, try to go to a facility that has a place where you can relax before and after, and try to give yourself time for this. To me, this makes a very significant difference – I used to rush to finish what I was doing, rush in the car to get to the treatment, rush out of the treatment in traffic, the try to make up for whatever activity I had missed time on – this negated the treatment.
Whatever the treatment is, start with the treatment not for your back, to get your body ready. Then, over several sessions, slowly increase the focus on your back.
Note that when I say relax, I mean much more than that, but I cannot describe it very well. Maybe well being is a better description. It seems as though it makes your body really have its full ability to deal with the issue.
It worked for me. Good luck.
When does the actual neck and back pain usually occur? I’m almost a month pregnant and I woke up this morning experiencing the worst back of my neck and back pain! I’m experiencing stiffness and sharp pains everytime I bend my head neck or back forward, even when I’m sitting down. Has any woman experienced this kind of back pain? When does back and neck pain usually start during pregnancy?
It could just be stress for you or you could have pulled a muscle.
Since you are only a month pregnant, I wouldn’t think that the neck and back pain was from pregnancy.
A cause for neck and back pain is because of the increase in hormones which causes a shift in joints and can loosen ligaments which could cause posture to change and a less support for your back.
Another reason is once you become bigger and actually have a pretty big belly, your center of gravity will change and this causes a different posture that your body isn’t used to., which over time will cause pain. Also when the baby becomes bigger and you start to gain more weight, your back has to support more weight in a different area than it’s used to. Ever carry a heavy back pack around all day and your back begins to hurt? It’s like that, only in your belly.
You can start to help symptoms of this by using pillows between your legs to even out your back while you are sleeping. There are also certain pregnancy pillows that are made specifically for pregnant women.
I started feeling back pain around 20 weeks. I’m also very small built and very short, and carrying a baby and baby weight for me was a struggle. You’ll start feeling pain once you put on more baby weight and your belly gets bigger, but it can all depend on your build.
Good luck to you!