Natural anti-inflammatory for herniated lumbar disnc?

[MycoMistress]

Hi all, I recently got an MRI and it was discovered that I have several herniated discs in my lower back. The discs are also "dried out". I'm not in a lot of pain, but it seems my days of digging in the yard all day are over.

The doctor told me that if I can reduce the swelling in my lower back it will feel better more quickly--the nerves will heal, etc. He talked about putting me on steroidal drugs--either doing an epidural or taking pills which have lots of terrible side-effects. Since I'm not in tremendous pain, I'm not interested in taking a drug where the side-effects seem worse than the cure.

I'm wondering if anyone out there has had similar back problems and has used an effective herbal or fungal anti-inflammatory. I recently read Paul Stamets' Mycelium Running and noticed that there are lots of mushrooms with this quality.

I already take 2 grams of Reishi a day. I have read about using Datura wrightii as a topical anti-inflammatory--you make a tea and soak your hands or feet in it for a half-hour once a day. Has anyone tried this? I have several of these plants, but I don't want to mess around with this plant unless I know what I'm doing.

I'm looking for something that could be taken or used over a long period of time--possibly the rest of my life.

If anyone has some suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

[the_chosen_one]

there are some good extracts and raw materials that i make use of.

corydalis (especially this), boswellia, myrrh, salvia miltiorrhiza .. a pretty long list really. i can add as i think of them during the work day. in the meantime here's a link to an excellent sponsor.

http://www.ktbotanicals.com/extracts...ort=20a&page=2

blending can provide some interesting results as well.

[TastyBeverage]

Cabbage has a lot of anti inflammatory compounds. Try grating it raw and making a compress out of it for your back.

An old housemate of mine used to do this with burdock leaves as well, but not everyone grows those in their garden.

[riseabovethought]

Ahhh, youre speaking my language friend. Sorry you discovered you have herniated discs- truth is, most people do. Thats why we rush in and get an MRI right away, to reveal the herniated disc, so THEN we can do epidural injections which is a blend of steroids and pain killer. The pain killer wears off after about 2 weeks disguising the pain temporarily and tricking most patients into thinking the shots helped them. Then the pain returns and then the side effects of the steroids begin, severe acne all over the back, chest, neck and arms, one lady grew hair on her face, another patient grew tags/ little moles all over his neck after his ESIs. It rarely helps but sometimes (maybe the patient would have got better without it) it can make radicular pain (when the pain radiates down a leg) better but it could have been fixed right by a good Chiro all the while. The prob is finding a good Chiro. Anyway, this is something Ive given years of thought... What you want to do is take salt baths, long hot soaks in a tub with at least 2 cups of quality salt, the more natural mineral salt you can find the better. The nice thing about salt, real salt, is that in conjunction with hot water, it allows for the transfer of fluid across the transcutaneous membrane, it can actually hydrate your body. Youre exactly right about disc problems- when they herniate and go bad, the real problem is they've dried out. How to get them rehydrated? There are only 2 ways to get water into the body, one is drinking it and it appears that this is not sufficient, the other way is to soak it up through your skin. But soap stops this process while salt facilitates it. Thats why soapy baths or showers do little for hydrating our bodies. In japan, where people live the longest in the world, salt baths are common. Its something thats so simple, you'd think it wouldnt work, but its simplicity is the reason its so powerful. You can see it when you pee before you get in and you'll have a full bladder again when its time to get out. You'll notice improvement after only a few times. Another aspect of this is that a clinic in Germany claims to have the highest success rates in the world treating cancer- their treatment- hot baths increasing the body temp as high as possible for as long as possible apparently the heat kills cancer cells. Add salt to that hot bath, make it as hot as you can take it for as long as you can make it, and I think what you have is the best chances of rehydrating your dried out discs possible. And remember, alcohol, coffee, and soda are dehydrators so stay clear of them too if you really want to rehydrate the body well. Anyway, good luck to you.

[TastyBeverage]

No offense, but that doesn't make any sense scientifically. At least not the way you've explained it. Osmosis dictates that water would move from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution. So sitting in a salt water bath would DE-hydrate, not hydrate.

[mycowarrier]

Originally Posted by TastyBeverage

No offense, but that doesn't make any sense scientifically. At least not the way you've explained it. Osmosis dictates that water would move from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution. So sitting in a salt water bath would DE-hydrate, not hydrate.

You are right there Tasty. And the best way to replace fluid in the discs is through decompression therapy. They have clinics to do just that but they're pricey. The idea is to pull on the spine and cause the discs to suck in the fluid. Many people swear by the therapy and say they avoided surgery due to it. Some people use gravity inversion boards for the same. I've seem them in sporting goods stores for around 200$. gluck

[riseabovethought]

water moves from a dilute solution to a concentrated solution exactly, its called simple diffusion and your body is full of salt, while there is only a dilute solution of salt water on the outside of your body. Water is whats needed and this is one of the best ways to get it in there, using salt to push water through the skin into the body. Decompression will help but if there's no fluid or not enough in there, where's it going to get it? First, one needs more water in the body (salt bath) then decompression therapy might work better, or adjustments can also help, but first its hydration. Of course if you create a situation where there's a higher salt concentration in the water than in your body, then you would be right about DEHYDRATION, but it would take huge amounts of salt in the bath to be a higher salt concentration than what we have naturally in our salty bodies. Taste your blood or sweat- its very salty, and it would be very difficult to make a saltier environment in one's bathtub than what we have in our bodies. Which is why saline is so commonly used in medicine.

[riseabovethought]

Also, to answer your question more specifically, if you want natural anti- inflammatories, eat an anti- inflammatory diet- fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds are all anti- inflammatory. Meat and everything else is inflammatory. Alkaline water is anti- inflammmatory, some people use water ionizers to make the water alkaline and this makes your water like drinking fruits and vegetables, anti- inflammatory...plus you can juice also. And swimming always helps, patients that swim alway sget better faster than those that dont. So my advice is to swim, juice, eat well, stretch (decompression or highly skilled adjustments), and salt baths. Good luck!

[TastyBeverage]

Well ok it depends on how much salt you put in your bathwater then. But blood is only 0.9% salt as opposed to sea water which is about 3.5% so it would have to be a pretty dilute solution.

As for anti-inflammatory foods, i was on an anti-inflammatory diet for several months while trying to diagnose an auto immune disorder. Fruits are not anti-inflammatory due to sugar content. Any form of sweetener is not allowed except for very small amounts of stevia. No honey either. There's been some back and forth over whether fruits should be included in the diet since many are high in anti oxidants which are really good for you. However anti oxidant and anti inflammatory are not the same thing at all.

Some people react to veggies from the nightshade group like tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes since these contain small amounts of solanine which is inflammatory.

[riseabovethought]

thanks tasty, my other point is that MRIs are very sensitive to herniated discs and will show them in almost anyone, just FYI. Thats why Drs love MRIs so much- good money- maker.

[MycoMistress]

Thank you for the replies.

I have a good chiropractor, but at the moment, since this is a work comp case, I'm not allowed to get treatments from him. The insurance company only allowed a certain number of chiropractic treatments and I used them all. I'd rather not go into any more details or I'd be writing for days. What's great is I have an MRI report for my chiropractor, so he no longer has to go by symptoms alone. However, it's been fairly easy to figure out what is wrong with my back just from the obvious symptoms. I'm not surprised I have four herniated discs in my lower back.

What's great is I also have an inversion table at home. It helps if I use it carefully. Swimming has also helped a lot--not doing laps, but just standing there in water up to my neck. My lower lumbar discs have been severely compressed, so it's not a surprise that decompression would help a lot! Walking helps. The physical therapist told me that the worst thing I could do is stay in bed and be sedentary. Movement is what increases circulation and heals.

I've been doing a lot of reading since I've had tons of time--I spent a month lying on the floor of the office. I've been eating a very nutritious diet--all natural food--nothing processed. I'm not surprised that good food has made a huge difference in how I feel. I've been making slow-cooked chicken soups where the bird simmers for up to a full day. Mmmm.

The salt bath idea sounds interesting. Unfortunately I don't have a bathtub at home. I am NOT interested in those steroids! Trust me!

[MooNChilD]

I would like to say that I had a very bad lower back and was on 50mcg Fentanyl Pach and allot more anyway they got me hooked then kicked me off because I smoked MJ and seance then I'm off that shit and I'll smoke for ever! but I got me one of thoughs inversion tables and I swear I'm almost 80% better ! That and I think about me healing myself and to Not think about the pain and my pain goes away ! Good luck and Best wishes to you !