Pain & Inflammation

Case Study – Herbs for Pain & Inflammation

Clinical notes kindly provided by Asti Renaut

Woman 35 years, lower back pain from tears in discs. Associated muscular pain. Painful, irregular periods. Pain and heaviness in whole pelvic area “like wearing sumo nappies”. Nerve pain internally in vaginal/anal areas. Pain effects sleep, waking in night with pain

3 weeks later:

Client noticed difference “straight away”, pain “not there”, slept through the first night and each night since. Period pain not nearly as severe. Feels 80- 90% better. No nerve pain until previous day, when carried a heavy load.
Continued on with all remedies, but changed formula from Pukatea to Gotu Kola, to encourage tissue healing.

4 weeks later:

Continuing to feel good, only has pain recurrence with excessive exercise, only once since last visit. No menstrual pain last cycle. Continued with all remedies.

After a further month with a similar pattern, to reduce cost we decide to try taking the herbal tonic out of the equation. However, 2 weeks after this client rings up for a repeat of the herbs, as the pain had returned somewhat without them.

Case Study - Rheumatic Pain

Clinical notes kindly provided by Asti Renaut, Naturopath & Herbalist

27 year old male presenting with rheumatic bilateral dorsal foot pain, worst in metatarsophalangeal joints of big toe and middle 3 toes. Patient spends up to 8 hours at a stretch standing at work on concrete floors.

Patient wants to come off his daily dose of diclofenac, but cannot tolerate pain after 1-2 days without medication. Pain is “like a broken bone”, shooting pain, worse for weight bearing, worse in the morning and better for movement.

History

Pain in feet started suddenly, accompanied by shoulder pain, and diagnoses at the time of onset varied. Patient was given prednisone. Soon after onset patient developed measles, following which shoulder pain was gone but foot pain remained. Patient was taken off prednisone and put on diclofenac.

Rheumatologist diagnosed possible Rheumatoid Arthritis, but this was not conclusive. ANA is elevated, as well as CRP and ESR, but patient is not Rheumatoid Factor positive.

Patient has been on diclofenac for 5 months, initially 75mg 1-2x daily, and now once daily only. After a brief phone call patient started on Epsom salt footbaths and topical salve with Kawakawa and Rosemary applied twice daily as a massage. Also Ginger tea, dietary changes and Cod Liver Oil. At time of consultation patient had been on these supplements for 4 months. The footbaths had helped to relieve swelling, but no other changes were noted, as diclofenac was keeping pain at bay.

Patient wishes to keep treatment as simple and inexpensive as possible.

Herbal Pain Formula:

1. Pukatea 70% Ginger 5% Liquorice 25% mitte 50ml, 10ml 2-3x daily, taken for first 2-3 days

2. Devil's Claw 40% Kumerahou 40% Ginger 5% Liquorice 15% Peppermint 10% mitte 50ml, 10ml 2-3x daily, taken for next 2-3 days

1 week later
patient report first tonic was ineffective, but 2nd one has been good and he has not needed diclofenac since starting on it. Repeat Devil's Claw/Kumerahou tonic 210ml.

2 weeks later

patient has still not taken any diclofenac and feels no pain in feet. I am interested to see which of the two main herbs is more effective, so give the following:
1. Devil's Claw 80%
Liquorice 15%
Ginger 5%
Mitte 100ml, 5ml bd. To be taken for the first 10 days

2. Kumerahou 70%
Liquorice 25%
Ginger 5%
Mitte 100ml, 5ml bd. To be taken for the next 10 days

3 weeks later

patient is still pain-free and reports that both tonics were good, and “if anything, the 2nd one was slightly better”. His feet have been fine, he just needs to retrain his body not to limp!
Repeat Kumerahou tonic, at reduced maintenance dose of 5ml once daily.

1 month later

patient continues to do well. At our next appointment we will look at reducing dose further or coming off tonic all together.

Practitioner Comments

This was a case of trial and error, an exploratory case of finding out which herbs work best for rheumatic pain.

It was interesting to note that Pukatea, usually a very effective pain herb, was ineffective for rheumatic pain in this instance.

Kumerahou has traditionally been used for rheumatic conditions, and has alterative, anti-microbial and kidney tonic effects which may contribute.

The Ginger and Liquorice were a common denominator in all the tonics, but I doubt very much if these were the sole cause of the reduction in pain and inflammation, something indicated specifically by the fact that they were in the Pukatea tonic, but this was not effective.

I like that the Liquorice and the Kumerahou will also be helping to heal any GIT damage done due to 5-6 months of NSAID use. Obviously there are potentially other systemic immune issues that may need to be addressed, but for me as a practitioner this was an instructive case in learning the potential for herbal pain relief.

The patient was impressed by the fact that the diclofenac seemed to be only suppressing the inflammation, while the herbs have been easily reduced in quantity and seem to have actually provided healing and a lasting solution.