Guest article by Dr. Frank Silva N.D. – Dr. Frank Silva is a Naturopathic Doctor who uses natural therapies to stimulate healing and wellness. He is passionate about addressing the root cause of disease, and uses nutrition, botanicals, acupuncture, homeopathy, and vitamins and minerals in designing individualized treatment options. Catch Frank in person at the FREE seminar on May 21, 7:00 pm at the Good n Natural Seminar Room as he discusses more about joint pain. Seating is limited so please call 204-326-9565 for reservations.

Let’s face it: Joint pain is uncomfortable and frustrating, especially for those who are used to being active. For fast pain relief many people have relied on over the counter or prescription medications to make it through another day. But as most can attest, the medications hardly come without side effects and none of them actually address the root cause.

Recent studies show 1/3rd of Canadians have suffered from joint pain within the last thirty days and it’s expected that 80% will suffer from low back pain at some point in our lives. When we exercise or push our body beyond a certain limit, we produce inflammation as part of the healing cycle. In people with autoimmune conditions, they produce inflammation not as a result of wear and tear, but because their immune systems actually destroy healthy tissue. And of course, any time we don’t sleep well and eat well, we further encourage the production of inflammation. This inflammation is what creates pain and ultimately destroys healthy joints.

The naturopathic approach to fighting joint pain involves identifying and treating the root cause. If your car was leaking oil, we could simply top it up with fresh oil; but we would have to do that every single day and the leak would still be there. Treating the root cause involves finding the leak and patching it so that we no longer have to keep adding oil. Although we might think the cause of joint pain is the last activity we did, it is actually much deeper. The body will use certain enzymes to produce inflammation after an injury, which is great! But sometimes we make too much inflammation causing unnecessary pain. So the answer is not to stop playing golf if it makes your hips or elbows hurt, but rather treat the underlying mechanisms that are leading to an over production of inflammation with proven natural ingredients.

5-Loxin advanced is one of the newest studied botanicals we have to fight inflammation at the source. This nutrient is harvested from the Frankincense tree and has been used for centuries to fight joint pain. 5-Loxin works to rapidly lower joint pain by actually balancing the enzyme that produces inflammation. Thereby, it not only resolves the symptom, but also addresses the root cause.

As previously mentioned, sometimes our immune system is capable of producing inflammation, and prematurely damaging healthy joints. Research studies have pointed towards a specific type of collagen, known as Type 2 Undenatured Collagen, as an effective way to balance or regulate an aggressive immune system in those with autoimmune conditions. When compared to Glucosamine and Chondroitin, Type 2 Undenatured Collagen provides faster pain relief in a much smaller serving size.

One of the drawbacks of conventional drugs is they fail to help repair joint tissue, and most anti-inflammatory drugs create a vitamin C deficiency. The only way to increase collagen and cartilage in our joints is to have the body make it from scratch, and the main ingredient is vitamin C. Most pain killers relieve pain temporarily, but because they stop the repair of joint tissue, the pain is often around longer than it needs to be.

A few other herbs worth notable mention include Turmeric for its potent inflammation reducing effects. Studies show patients who take turmeric are able to reduce their pain medication. White Willow Bark has been used by the ancient Egyptians for fast pain relief and led to the discovery of Aspirin; today White Willow Bark is still used for fast pain relief without any side effects. Lastly, Ginger is a popular herb for nausea and indigestion, but also works wonders for joint pain by reducing inflammation and regulating the enzyme responsible for producing inflammation.

Traditional healers never relied on one single herb or ingredient to treat a patient. Rather they would create a formula that combined the powers of several herbs or nutrients to deliver a complete therapy. That’s why there’s no single magic ingredient but using a well-designed formula may make things much simpler and offer quicker results.