Herbal Remedies for
Back Pain - Devils Claw White Willow Bark And Cayenne Effective
Treatment Remedy for Lower Back Pain
April 20th 2006
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Devils Claw |
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The Cochrane Collaboration reports that the herbal supplement Devil’s
Claw given in a daily dose of 50mg (or 100 mg harpagoside), appears to
reduce lower back pain more than a placebo. A 60mg dose can reduce
pain about the same as a daily dose of 12.5mg Vioxx.
According to the report, Willow Bark, in a standardized daily dose of
120 mg and 240 mg of salicin reduced pain more than placebo; a
standardized daily dose of 240 mg reduced pain about the same as a daily
dose of 12.5 mg of Vioxx. Also, Cayenne was tested in plaster form, and
reduced pain more than placebo and about the same as the homeopathic gel
Spiroflor SLR. Adverse effects were reported, but appeared to be
primarily confined to mild, transient gastrointestinal complaints.
The story was featured on Good Morning American and other ABC, NBC, CNN,
and CBS news programs. Back pain is common, and about 35% of the
population in any given month will experience non-specific lower back
pain. This pain is defined as pain between the lowest rib and the
bottom of the buttocks that is not caused by a serious problem like
rheumatoid arthritis, infection, fracture, cancer or sciatica due to
herniated disk or other pressure nerves.
The researchers looked at ten randomized controlled trials that included
1567 adults with non specific acute or chronic lower-back pain. Two oral
herbal medications, Harpagophytum Procumbens (Devil's Claw) and Salix
Alba (White Willow Bark), were compared with placebo (fake pills) and
with rofecoxib (Vioxx). Topical Capsicum frutescens (Cayenne) was
compared with placebo and a homeopathic gel.
The authors caution that the trials only tested the short term effects
(only up to six weeks). Not all of the studies were consider high
quality and about half of the studies may have been prone to a conflict
of interest. They added that Vioxx has been withdrawn from the market
because of adverse effects, so all three substances should be compared
with readily available pain medications such as nonsteroidal
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen, to test for relative
effectiveness and safety.
So far, there is no evidence that the substances are safe and useful for
long term use. The researchers consider the results good for all three
of the herbal medicines for short term use.
By Dan Wilson
Best Syndication
Books about Pain
Keywords and misspellings: pane reumatoid rhumatoid
rhumatoidal rheumatoidal arthritis arthrites pain |
