
A cure for pain - sajid
https://www.wired.com/2017/04/the-cure-for-pain/
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le-mark
I've suffered from occipital nueralgia for over 10 years now. Luckily mine
isn't as severe as it ca be for some. I'm able to self treat by applying
pressure when it gets really bad. So I manage and it doesn't effect my life
much aside from usually being a cranky son of a bitch to my wife, which I do
regret.

Once a few years ago I had an "occipital nerve block". That's where a pain
specialist injects novacain into the nerve. I was pain free for about a month,
it was marvelous. But insurance didn't cover it so I never got one again.

About a month ago I woke up feeling like I was high or something. I was in
physical bliss. I realized it was the first time in many years I'd been
totally pain free. It made me kinda sad.

~~~
matthjensen
I wish our medical system trusted patients more. Why not tattoo a tiny dot on
the scalp where the patient needs to inject, train him, and then send him home
with the Novocain.

Have a checklist of warning signs that should terminate treatment or require a
checkup.

Here's a video explaining the procedure.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDaNhPNwT8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udDaNhPNwT8)

~~~
EricDeb
Does novocain have the same dangers as lidocaine-like if you hit a vein or
artery it can cause seizures?

~~~
AstralStorm
Lesser but still bad.

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Mz
Oh, geez. Pain is a messenger. It tells you something is very wrong. We need
to start finding more ways to effectively treat underlying causes and stop
focusing on mere comfort. That sort of medicine is what they do at hospices
waiting for you to die.

I spent 3.5 years in constant, excruciating, PLEASE KILL ME NOW pain. So I am
not being callous here. I am no longer in that kind of pain because I
inadvertently began treating the underlying cause.

I am galled by the constant search for better ways to go numb and stop feeling
the pain. I can't understand how the serious damage this guy has suffered
doesn't serve as a dire warning that this is the wrong path. The right path is
to wonder WHY people are in so much pain and solve THAT.

~~~
cpncrunch
Can I ask what your condition is, and what you have done about it?

I agree it is best to consider the underlying cause, but sometimes that isn't
feasible. Take psychosomatic pain, which is a massive issue, but very
misunderstood by doctors and patients alike. It is arguably the largest cause
of chronic pain, and yet there is virtually no information or research on it,
and patients are mostly left up to themselves. A few figure it out themselves,
or discover John Sarno's books, but the majority are just given painkillers.

~~~
colordrops
I'm not the OP, but I've been living with excruciating neck pain due to
degenerated cervical vertebrae and disks, and I've tried everything for the
last 10 years, including pain killers, 4 years of chen style tai chi (was very
martial, probably made it worse), 2 rounds of physical therapy, strength and
cardio training, a standing desk, supplements, etc. Nothing worked - until a
coworker introduced me to Mysore Ashtanga Yoga. It's like magic - my neck pain
is almost completely gone. The yoga is very strenuous, and there is a ton of
bending of the spine. It hurt a lot at first, and I got a lot of numbness in
my arms and hands. But after about two months it all went away. It's amazing.
It's not a cure though. A couple days without practice and the pain is back.
Not as intense, but it's there. The practice must be daily.

~~~
knight17
Is this type of Yoga (Mysore) self-learnable or do you recommend to learn from
someone who knows it well?

~~~
maxxxxx
Go to a teacher and make sure that teacher is a responsible person. I did
Ashtanga for a while and some teachers have the tendency to force people into
positions they are either not ready for or should probably never do. And when
someone gets injured they are told to work through it. This often works but
sometimes it makes things much worse.

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woodandsteel
You can tell your medical patient is an android when you ask them to rate
their pain on a 1 to 10 scale, and they answer back to three decimal points.

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notadoc
Be skeptical anytime you hear "cure" for any medical condition, especially
with regard to something as enigmatic and complex as pain or the nervous
system.

And no, another pill a patient has to take every day is not a cure.

~~~
jacquesm
I'm pretty sure a patient that is suffering from chronic pain would happily
take a pill if that would make the pain go away without the risk of addiction.

~~~
ChristianGeek
Chronic migraine sufferer here...would happily swap the pills I currently take
daily just to reduce the frequency of my migraines for one that eliminated
them.

~~~
notadoc
I'm sorry to hear about that.

Do you take magnesium supplements? There is some evidence it can be effective
at reducing pain and frequency of migraine.

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=magnesium+migraine](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=magnesium+migraine)

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28286809](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28286809)

Alas, it too is a pill regimen and also not a cure.

