Bizarre Treatments For Chronic Pain

Doctors are using some pretty strange techniques to ease pain these days. And despite what you might imagine, "strange" doesn't always mean "experimental"—while some of these techniques are on the cutting edge, others have been in use for centuries. Here, 7 you should know about. 


Spider Venom

How it works: The same compound spiders use to paralyze their prey long enough to suck them dry could be the next big thing in pain relief.

Scientists recently identified seven compounds in tarantula venom that block an important step in your body's pain process. The paralytic essentially turns off one of the body's sodium channels, called Nav1.7, which sends pain signals to the brain. "Scientists looked at spider venom and other paralytic compounds and thought, Ok gosh, that could help quiet down nerves or manage pain if we translated it into medication," says Moshe Lewis, MD, a chronic pain management specialist at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. But don't go scanning your pain reliever ingredients for spider venom. Scientists still need to figure out how to make it into a medicine that's safe for human use.

Electricity

How it works: Electrical stimulation, also known as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), sends electricity through your muscles and causes them to contract and release.

A TENS unit comes with stickers that are placed on the lower back, neck or shoulder and provide electrical voltage directly to the muscle. TENS units relieve chronic muscle pain for about 50% of people who try it, according to Neel Mehta, MD, medical director of pain medicine at The Weill Cornell Medical Center. The electrical impulses are thought to release endorphins that block pain messages from reaching the brain. Doctors have started using a similar system to treat people who have chronic headaches. The Occipital Nerve Stimulator works in the same way, except the stickers are placed on the back or front of the head depending on where a patient feels pain. TENS systems are available at doctor's offices, medical supply groups, and online retailers like Amazon.com.

Spinal Cord Stimulation

Sharp or stabbing pain, chronic back pain, pain that nothing else has worked on
How it works: It's like a pacemaker, but instead of working for your heart, a spinal cord stimulator sends waves of electricity along your spine. It creates a pleasant tingling sensation meant to distract the brain from feeling pain signals. When two signals approach the brain at the same time—one telling it to feel pain and the other a tingling sensation from the spinal cord stimulator—the brain can only allow one to pass. If the tingle from spinal cord stimulation is selected, "you can make a once-painful sensation more pleasant," says Mehta. Spinal Cord Stimulation works in about 50% of patients. But for those who do get relief, the minimally invasive surgery needed to install a stimulator can be a small price to pay.

Bee Venom Acupuncture

A few dozen bee stings probably doesn't sound like a great treatment for pain, but in one study, 82% of patients treated with bee venom acupuncture reported significant pain relief. And of nearly a hundred studies testing bee venom acupuncture, says Darla Logan, NMD, a doctor from Arizona who specializes in naturopathic medicine, most demonstrate bee venom acupuncture is an effective pain treatment. Honeybee venom increases blood circulation, softens tissues, reduces inflammation, and increases feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, giving you an emotional boost in addition to treating your pain. Doctors sometimes prescribe sterilized bee venom for patients to inject themselves at home, though usually not in acupuncture points. Bee venom is also available online mixed into products like skin creams and dietary supplements. Of course, be sure to stay far, far away from this if you have an allergic reaction to bee stings. CONTINUE READING