The Monthly Expert - Novato Business News
Advice from Charles E. Peri

Charles E. Peri

Our first thought when sustaining an injury is to grab for the aspirin or Ibuprofen, which are known in the professional world of medicine as NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal-Anti-Inflammatory Drugs).

There are a few things people should be reminded of from time to time. First, NSAIDs are linked to gastric bleeding—they irritate the lining of the stomach, which can lead to ulcers, aggravate colitis, and chrons disease.

Another common pain killer, acetaminophen, can cause liver damage. We must remember that the liver is responsible for protecting us against harmful chemical substances in our food and in our environment; so the last thing we want to do is harm one of the most important organs keeping us healthy just to gain quick and temporary symptomatic relief.

Another not so commonly used anti-inflammatory is corticosteroidsÑthese lead to suppression of the immune system, and they increase blood pressure. Corticosteroids do exist naturally in our bodies, but when taken in pill form can have harmful side effects.

So you are probably asking—what, then, can I take if everything is going to kill me?

There is an alternative, but first let me give you a quick overview of how NSAIDs work. During an injury, fatty acids are released in the body; enzymes convert these acids into prostaglandins. There are two basic types of prostaglandins that are released—ones that aid in healing and others that cause pain and discomfort. NSAIDs inhibit both good and the bad prostaglandins. What does this mean?

When your pain is gone and when your swelling has shrunk, this doesn't mean that your injury has healed. Add two to four months of Ibuprofen and aspirin—and presto!—now you have a chronic injury, not to mention gastric irritation and liver damage. Your injury never healed, because you never gave it a chance.

The anti-inflammatories inhibit the healing process as well as the pain and inflammation. This is where acupuncture and herbs come in.

Acupuncture reduces pain and inflammation without disturbing the healing process; it allows natural corticosteroids—a powerful group of hormones produced in the adrenal glands—to be reduced in order to reduce inflammation while still allowing circulation and the essential prostaglandins to do their job.

Herbs such as Boswellia, Turmeric, Corydalis, Radix Angelicae, Bioinflavinoids—to name only a few—are not as concentrated as NSAIDs, so they suppress the harmful prostaglandins (Arachidonic Acid), and do not interfere with the healing prostaglandins.

So, the result is pain and inflammation are reduced, and rapid healing is allowed to occur.

This is a good example of the Eastern medicine approach in treating the symptom as well as the cause, or the branch as well as the root.

(Charles E. Peri is a Novato acupuncturist. His article is the first in a new series of monthly "expert" articles this newsletter is offering its readers.)