Natural Health Remedies

There are many reasons why people are starting to turn to natural health remedies instead of the conventional prescription drugs. If you went out onto the street and ask lots of people what they think of natural and alternative therapies then you’d get varying answers. Some will talk about what they’ve read in a magazine or watched on TV whilst others might have personal stories to tell.

Although I have been lucky enough not to have dealt with any real health ailments in my life, I have taken a keen interest in health supplements, food, exercise and all of these types of topics. The reason is because of what I’ve had to witness from my own parents.

My mum was officially diagnosed with Multiple Scleroses (MS) 13 years a go. There were many different tests done at the time including a lumber puncture and brain scans. When the doctor told her that it was MS he effectively said for her to go home and forget about it. If you have ever watched anything on tv about ms or read about it, you will know that it is a degenerative condition which leaves people in wheelchairs, or even in much worse conditions. Simply going home and acting like everything is normal is not at all possible. Because of the lack of help from conventional medicine, my mum and dad both read considerable amounts of information about this condition via books. They read about nutrition, exercise and natural health supplements. They also had consultations with natural health practitioners (including Jan de Vries) who said that it wasn’t as bad as MS and it was actually ME. They are both 2 of th e many different types of autoimmune condition.

I won’t go into a great amount of detail about what natural health therapies that were used but there were many vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids (evening primrose oil and fish oil). Although she still gets tired and has to take a nap every day, she has never needed to use a wheelchair or anything like that.

My dad’s health problems were back pain and digestion problems. First of all he hurt his back whilst taking heavy carrier bags from the shopping trolley and placing them in the boot of the car. Carrying the heavy weight whilst twisting round caused him major pain. His doctor told him to go home and rest but my dad wasn’t happy with this medical advice. So he got lots of books on back pain and they said that he should exercise. This advice is now common practice but at the time my dad’s doc wasn’t happy about him going against his professional opinion.

The other health problem related to digestion. My dad had put anti freeze into the car but realized he put in too much. SO he got a straw and sucked some out and then spit it out before he swalled any. Unfortunately some of this got into his system and it made him very ill very quickly afterwards. It’s thought that it damaged in the inside of his stomach causing food and nutrients not to be absorbed as well as they should. Luckily after a lot of different health advice and supplements he is now able to eat properly again. When he had this condition he couldn’t eat a single thing with yeast or wheat in it. Now is body had recovered.

It’s funny that when a doctor can’t see with his own eyes what is wrong with a patient they think that the patient is a hypochondriac. The doc had asked about his symptoms, when the occurred and if there was any pattern. My dad wasn’t sure so he decided to take a diary of everything he had eaten along with how he felt. The doctor said that he was thinking way too much about his condition and that he should stop. Instead of looking for proper treatments, he wanted to give my dad antidepressants.

Although you should always take the advice of a trained medical practioner, you can also ask if you can receive alternative treatments. Here in the UK, my gran gets accupuncture for nothing on the NHS because of her joint pain. Luckily there are more and more natural therapies being used and they aren’t seen as being mumbo jumbo. Unfortunately I think we still have a long way to go before your doctor will look at alternative therapies before prescribing any drugs.

If you have restless legs syndrome you will notice a rather unpleasant feeling in your legs. This discomfort tends to increase when you lie down or it you’re sitting. You will also tend to find relief when you get up and start moving about. Unfortunately pain is often experienced at night when you are sleeping and the only way that you can deal with the problem is to waken up, get out of bed and start moving about. The reseason restless leg syndrome is referred to as one type of sleep disorder is because the pain in your legs cause you to have an uncomfortable and disrupted sleep.  The pain doesn’t just occur in the legs however, you can also experience discomfort in your arms too. It can often be very difficult to describe the pain you experience however you will be able to deduce that it’s not the same feeling you get when you have muscle cramps. The best way to describe the symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) would be tingling, burning sensation and prickling. You might even feel as if you’ve got creepy crawlies crawling underneath your skin. The symptoms are at their greatest at night and are caused because you’re not being active. You will also probably notice that your symptoms can subside for a length of time and then come back with different levels of intensity.

Another symptom often associated with the symptoms of RLS is what’s called Periodic Limb Movements of Sleep (PLMS). You might hve this condition and not even be aware of it because it happens when you are sleeping. However if you are a PLMS sufferer then you will find that you are unable to enjoy a really good deep sleep and it’s often the cause of a disrupted sleep for your sleeping partner.  Restless legs syndrome is connected to the relsease of a certain chemical called dopamine which is responsible for the movement of your muscles. It is often an hereditary condition, actually 50% of patients find that it’s hereditary. If you are either stressed or pregnant then you will also find that the symptoms become aggravated. Other factors include a deficiency of iron along with diabetes and alcoholism as the latter two can damage the nerves in your hands and feet.

Unfortunately the diagnosis of restless legs syndrome isn’t always easy because the symptoms can be confused with other conditions such as nerves, stress and muscle cramps. Also many sufferers don’t bother to ask for any medical help. In the cases where RLS is thought to be the problem, your doctor will ask you various questions to make a diagnosis. The doctor will ask what you’re symptoms are along with the frequency in which the pain occurs. You will also be asked about what relieves your symptoms and what youre sleeping patterns are. There are sleep clinics that have been set up to monitor you closely and therefore make the best diagnosis.  As mentioned earlier, moving about if often the best way to relieve your symptoms of restless leg syndrome. By walking and stretching along with other types of exercise you’ll be able to help a lot. Of course if it’s discovered that you have a nutritional deficiency then you should deal with this too so that these symptoms can cease.

Often certain lifestyle changes and medication is recommended for those who are dealing with the symptoms of restless leg. There are different medications available including muscle relaxants, antidepressants, medication that is normally given to those with epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease plus opiods. Because these treatments are designed to treat other medical conditions, their use as a treatment for RLS can have mixed results.

If you prefer to try alternative therapies first before trying any of the above medication you should look at yoga, massage, exercise along with hot or cool packs. This will all help you develop a more normal sleeping pattern.