Pain Conditions

How do you support people with pain conditions at Collective Health Center?

When it comes to our health, there are so many different conditions that we may see throughout our lives. Anything from spring allergies to irritable bowel syndrome, the list can vary greatly patient to patient and a naturopathic approach can be extremely beneficial to keeping yourself healthy and balanced. With an estimated 25% of Americans suffering with chronic pain and many others also having some acute pain, I love being able to use my skills to help support and bring relief to patients with these conditions, which can really interfere with our ability to engage with our health and lives in the ways in which we would like. Pain conditions can range from menstrual pains to temporomandibular joint syndrome and everything in between. While pain is a broad term, defining a condition with the term pain helps us to work closely to understand it, and in time, address it more fully.

Whether it be a new dietary regimen or acupuncture therapy, I love being able to see the progress of my patients dealing with pain when they leave my office feeling better than when they came in. Although pain conditions can vary from isolated illnesses to complex chronic pains, I make it my goal to find the approach that is best for my patient and their specific body’s needs. As a holistic doctor, I work with my patients to find all aspects that are affecting their health. If they are experiencing a pain condition such as migraines, I don’t just focus on their brain and relieving tension. With migraines, I will look into their dietary habits – what trigger foods are they consuming that may be causing low magnesium levels in their brains, and consider if they have some sort of allergy/intolerance to foods that may be contributing to these tremors? The list of considerations goes on and on and looks at their whole lifestyle to find the right solution for them.

In addition to nutrition and dietary changes, herbal medicines are a great tool that utilize for patients suffering with pain conditions. I love working with my patient’s and customizing herbal formulas to their specific constitution, which will better suit their pain needs. One specific pain condition I utilize herbal medicines for is arthritic pains. There are so many different pharmaceuticals that are utilized for arthritic conditions. While these medications can be game changers for some, often they carry with them deleterious side effects and sometimes they do work for patients. By finding the right combination of herbs and supplements, I am able to help my patients feel at ease with their arthritic pain without causing any adverse effects on other parts of their bodies such as their liver or kidneys like a lot of over the counter medications can cause. I also consider drug-herb and drug-nutrient interactions, aside from pharmacists, naturopathic doctors are the only healthcare providers specifically trained in this. 

Another approach that I love to take with pain conditions is acupuncture! Acupuncture works well for helping to manage most pain conditions including: headaches, migraines, neck pain, low back pain, knee pain, arthritis, digestive pains from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), endometrial and menstrual pains, etc. Even with pain conditions that are considered more difficult to manage, such as chronic regional pain syndrome, I’ve seen patients respond well with a combination of acupuncture and naturopathic approaches. While most patients, depending on their conditions, may require more treatments, I have seen many patients with acute or chronic pains that disappeared after one or two treatments. I love to incorporate herbal supplements along with my acupuncture treatments that can be used both topically or internally as these can be so helpful in pain management.