Give Your Pain the Old 1-2
By
Natalie Moore
Posted May 12, 2017
Dear Living Well Daily Reader,
Chronic pain is one of the worst parts of aging.
Those nagging twinges and aches can really slam the brakes on even the simplest activities.
What’s worse, the mainstream only offers risky pain drugs that are addictive, can damage your stomach, and have even been linked to heart attacks.
But now researchers from Boston’s Children’s Hospital have just pinpointed two natural ways to decrease your pain without medication.
And the best part — they work better than some painkillers.
I’m talking about sleep and caffeine.
That’s right, good sleep and a cup of coffee could be the drug-free pain solution we’ve all be searching for.
Scientists have known for ages that sleep loss negatively affects your body.
Recently, researchers wanted to see if sleep deprivation increased pain sensitivity in mice.
For the experiment, researchers exposed mice to moderate sleep deprivation for five consecutive days.
Next, they tested their pain levels and found that the sleep deficits, although minor, significantly increased pain sensitivity in healthy mice.
Even worse, painkillers like ibuprofen and morphine didn’t offer any relief from their pain sensitivity.
But what they found next was amazing…
A small dose of caffeine successfully stopped the heightened pain sensitivity associated with sleep deprivation.
It’s as if it was shutting down their pain receptors!
Experts believe that folks who suffer from chronic pain might benefit from increased sleep at night and drinking a caffeinated beverage, like coffee, during the day.
This combo could help you break the pain cycle.
Give it a try for a couple weeks, and let me know how you feel. You can email me at feedback@livingwelldaily.com.
Live well,
Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily
Ed. Note: Please send your feedback: feedback@livingwelldaily.com – and click here to like us on Facebook.
Written By Natalie Moore
Natalie Moore is a dedicated health researcher with a passion for finding healthy, natural, and science-based solutions. After a decade of direct healthcare experience in western and natural medicine, she was involved in public health research before joining Living Well Daily.
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