ABCs of pain: I is for…

I is for injection….

It’s also for:

Inflammation: Many times, when we have pain, it’s caused by inflammation or swelling, even if we can’t see it. For example, some types of arthritic pain are caused by inflammation inside the joints, so people are treated with anti-inflammatories to help relieve the pain.

Imagery: As part of the complementary and alternative methods of healing, imagery is a major player. People are taught to put themselves in a different place from their pain, or they are taught to imagine pushing the pain away, for example. Here are a couple of sites that do a better job of explaining what imagery is:

• MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Alternative medicine – pain relief
• Alternative Approaches to Pain Relief

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): IBD is the term used to describe ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Both of these diseases can be very serious because, not only do they cause pain and discomfort, they keep your body from absorbing the necessary nutrients and you can become malnourished. Here are some good web sites that describe the IBD in better detail:

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• CCFC Crohn’s and Colitis – Facts about IBD
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease — familydoctor.org

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Often IBS and IBD get confused and that’s understandable considering how close they sound – but there’s a huge difference between the two. While IBD covers two distinct diseases, IBS is a syndrome that covers a group of symptoms. The other major difference is that IBD can be very serious, while IBS may feel serious (with its pain and discomfort), the outcome is not usually as bad as it can be with IBD. You can read more about IBS here:

• Canadian Society of Intestinal Research • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Irritable bowel syndrome – MayoClinic.com

Image: iStock

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Don’t forget the Pain Relief book give away, ending July 14th:

Pain Relief book give away

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