More than half of people worldwide (52%) experience headaches regularly, and women are more likely than men. But men are more likely to suffer a stroke. This is according to a new study published in The Journal of Headache and Pain. And about the same number of people suffer from pain associated with pathologies of the musculoskeletal system.
In one of her programs, Elena Malysheva talked about what pain is, its nature, and how to get rid of it. Questions are far from meaningless if every second inhabitant of the Earth feels overwhelmed and unhappy because of pain. For example, 26% of respondents considered tension headaches (pain of mild or moderate intensity, evenly distributed throughout the head) to be their constant companion. As the TV presenter said, “today pain is a colossal problem for humanity.”
Pain is a reaction to mechanical damage in the body, originating from receptors directly in the brain. It is as real and tangible as any other pain and “lives” in the head.
The sensation of pain can exist separate from the source and even outside of it, i.e. when it no longer exists. This is demonstrated by the so-called phantom pain. That is why you do not need to endure the pain and you cannot.
This is what Elena Malysheva says. According to the popular TV doctor, a person should not live with pain.
By the way, men tolerate pain twice as well as women. They have half as many nerve receptors on the surface of their skin as women. However, if pain comes, it spares no one: neither women, nor men, neither old nor young. Although it most often “visits” people after 40 years. During this period, the body experiences another age-related “restructuring”; the body’s strength reserves are depleted as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle over a long period, errors in nutrition and professional specifics. It is then that for the first time we are visited by serious “sores” that “stick” for a long time, if not forever.
So, the most common type of pain is headache. It is mainly associated with hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
The second most common pain people experience is musculoskeletal pain (MSP) and pain affecting the joints. It is familiar to everyone who has been diagnosed with arthritis.
The international project to study the global burden of disease (GBD-2019 study of the World Health Organization) showed that chronic MBS has an extremely negative impact on health and poses a serious threat to the patient’s life. Their movements are limited, their sympathoadrenal system is constantly active, i.e. adrenaline and cortisol “scald” to the limit, prematurely wearing out the body. The patient is depressed and sleeps poorly. Another vicious circle: pain prevents falling asleep, insomnia worsens the body’s ability to perceive pain, and the person cannot close his eyes.
The main thing is to fall asleep so as not to deprive your loved ones.
When something hurts constantly, a person is not in control of himself. He cannot do anything properly, he has difficulty concentrating, and his tension and general irritation increase. This affects not only himself, but also those around him. This means that we need to take action.
The first thing that comes to mind out of habit is swallowing a pill, which will have an immediate and long-lasting effect. Although medications, as a rule, do not eliminate the cause of pain, this should be well understood. However, they temporarily provide wonderful pain relief by suppressing or reducing the “volume” of a specific synoptic “signal” that enters the brain and screams pain. Usually these are painkillers that we all know and that temporarily “drown out” the pain syndrome. There are a lot of them: analgin, sedalgin, paracetamol, naproxen, ibuprofen, etc. It is impossible to list them all. Interesting, for example, is Novema (the active ingredient is naproxen). Medicines containing it are well suited for use “on demand”: even low, “over-the-counter” doses of this substance represent new possibilities for pharmacotherapy and provide a significant reduction in pain for a long time (up to 12-15 hours) at any time of the day, and it is possible, at last, to do something calmly or, at last, to sleep. In addition, Elena Malysheva claims: “According to research, among the entire group of over-the-counter drugs, this active ingredient is characterized by a minimal risk of developing cardiovascular complications, i.e. strokes and heart attacks, and fewer injuries to the cardiovascular system and does not cause an increase in pressure, which is very important.” Helping ourselves in one thing, we should not harm something else – the heart or the gastrointestinal tract.
But there is no need to rush to take pills yet. If, for example, your knee hurts, it is better to first resort to local painkillers, such as gels or ointments. I have anointed my knee and the side effects are minimal: nothing is swallowed and the pressure remains calm, like in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, we first resort to gels and ointments that will help us, and the tablets will last, if the pain does not go away or does not last long.
However, medicine also offers other, non-pharmacological ways to relieve pain. For example, neutralize it with cold – doctors often recommend applying ice to the sore spot. Or, on the contrary, pepper. This is already knocking out a wedge with a wedge. A plaster with pepper is very suitable for this. It will “draw” the pain to itself.
If you know acupressure, you can use it too. This is how the Chinese usually save themselves: through the art of acupuncture.
