Need Natural Pain and Inflammation Relief--Suggestions, please

[1skinnygal]

Hi Everyone:
After taking a few months to transition to raw foods, I took the leap and started going 100% on January 25th. I've had a couple of minor slip-ups but I'm back on track and doing great!

I had a root canal on Thursday (2/4/10)--actually, it was a second root canal on the same tooth--the first one, which I got a year and a half ago, failed and an infection set in so the dentist had to go in and drain the abscess. I am in some serious pain, but I don't want to take a chemical anti-inflammatory or pain filler. I'm just tired of polluting my system.

Would you guys please suggest some food/herbs/juices that can help battle inflammation, infection, and/or pain?

Thanks guys!

[RawKnitster]

Ouch! Very brave of you to go without pain meds. I think I would take a pill or two, at least for tonight. :o

I've read that the bromelain in pineapple is an anti-inflammatory. I had to look it up on Wikipedia to remember the name. It says this:

"It is an anti-inflammatory agent, and so can be used for sports injury, trauma, arthritis, and other kinds of swelling. Its main uses are treatment of athletic injuries, digestive problems, phlebitis, sinusitis, and aiding healing after surgery. Doses of 200 mg have proven to be an efficacious alternative to NSAIDS."

The greatest concentration of bromelain is in the core. I put the core in green smoothies.

Get well soon. :)

[1skinnygal]

Thanks, Raw Knitster. I will get some organic pineapples tomorrow from Whole Foods. And, actually, I'm on something of a juice/green smoothie fast these days, so your idea of putting it in a smoothie is perfect!

[DopeRawAbundance]

According to NutritionData.com, Olive Oil, Cayenne, and Turmeric are extremeleh anti-inflammatory. I had some pain in my jaw and between doing shots of Olive Oil with a teaspoon or so of Cayenne and Turmeric, and me putting a boiliing rag in a plastic bag and putting it up to my face, the pain subsided.

[streetsurfer]

The pineapple will help with the cleanup of leaked blood and tissue damage in the gums and jaw, if there is any. Not sure-I've not had the pleasure of a root canal...yet. The enzymes in it help in removing bruises too, for you girls who tend to bruise easily.

[Eva]

You'll want to avoid nightshades - like eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes... they can cause inflammation issues... :)

[Rick2009]

Ginger as well. Turmeric with a bit of black pepper to aide in its assimilation. When I had a painful dental infection I told the dentist instead of a prescrip antibiotic I wanted to try a home remedy. I used grapefruit seed extract. It worked. The dentist was quite surprised, both he and his colleages wanted to know what I used. If you google grapefruit seed extract you will find its many uses. It also combats candida, even systemic candida.

Be well,

[skier2]

ALL OF THOSE FOODS WILL CAUSE PAIN in the mouth! Do NOT use them. One painkiller will not pollute the system, because it is metabolized and leaves the body within a day. There is definitely a place for naturopathy and a place for allopathy, and please believe me that this is a place for allopathy.

[michigan roman]

golden seal root is a famed herb for mouth / gum infections

i buy the powdered root from www.mountainroseherbs.com
to always have on hand

on a side note a friend was living in alaska working on the big ss valdez oil spill in the 80s and got a very bad chemical burn / infection on arms from stuff they were using to clean up oil , western meds werent doing much then a native alaskan women healed the burns with the golden seal root as its passed on in their ways from long ago when they called it yellow root

[1skinnygal]

ALL OF THOSE FOODS WILL CAUSE PAIN in the mouth! Do NOT use them. One painkiller will not pollute the system, because it is metabolized and leaves the body within a day. There is definitely a place for naturopathy and a place for allopathy, and please believe me that this is a place for allopathy.

How true those words are!!!!!
I hung in there for 24 grueling hours, taking clove oil and turmeric and cayenne and pineapple juice and orange juice and just about everything else that folks suggested by way of herbal/natural remedies--and the pain never subsided; as a matter of fact, it got worse (though I do believe these remedies are helping stop any swelling and treat the infection). I think it was right about the time that I curled up in a fetal position and thought, "I wish someone would just shoot me and put me out of my misery" that I decided to pop an Advil (actually, I popped 3) and I've continued popping them every six hours and will continue to until the area where the procedure was done heals and stops hurting.

Because I think so many Americans are over-medicated and I'm so against what agribusiness and the corporate pharma world is doing to our collective health, I sometimes forget that, yes, there is a legitimate need and place for allopathic medicine. I am ever so grateful that the Ibuprofen is working to kill the pain--but just to make sure it's also not killing my liver, I'm drinking lots of celery juice and green smoothies with celery--same with cabbage (juice and smoothies)--and eating lots of pears!

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Glad to be part of such an amazing online community.

[Tirza]

...there is a legitimate need and place for allopathic medicine. I am ever so grateful that the Ibuprofen is working to kill the pain--but just to make sure it's also not killing my liver, I'm drinking lots of celery juice and green smoothies with celery--same with cabbage (juice and smoothies)--and eating lots of pears!

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Glad to be part of such an amazing online community.

This was good to know. I have had some bad flare-ups of knee pain and taken Advil in pretty hefty doses, but I am always worried about my liver. It's especially good to know that there are things we can do to minimize the possible effects of allopathic meds when they are needed.