If you have arthritis you could try glucosamine and chondroitin with MSM and collagen. These are food supplements, not really herbs. Also Omega 3 oils, such as flaxseed oil (I use cod liver oil, which also supplies vitamins D and A).

Do you take a calcium supplement, and have you ever consulted a competent chiropractor? You may be beyond that, but it might be worth checking with one before submitting to surgery.

Feverfew is supposed to be good for migraines, but it can permanently change how some of the muscles work, so do some research before trying it.

Other areas to explore are acupuncture and homeopathy.

There may be some useful herbal preparations you could use as salves to help deaden the pain as well. With what you are already taking, that would probably be the best avenue for you to go regarding herbs.

If you are willing to share the cause of your condition, it might suggest other possibilities to others on this board.

!. For your back: get either a mattress or a bed cover/pad that has some give. If your stuff is hard you will be miserable. I have stenosis in 6 discs, so understand I am telling what works.
2. Hot baths before bed. Don't think this is unimportant. it works.
3. Exercise. Even people in their 70's see improvement in all their mobility after 3 weeks of lifting weights. Go slow and find a program for you.
4. B vitamins. Get at LEAST 25 mg of the ones that are in the mg range. I use B 100's. You might not be able to utilize all the B's you need. Take extra, and take magnesium and manganese to make them work.
5. Vitamin C. At least 1 Gram of it. Daily. If you eat sugar, more. Sugar, by the way, will make you hurt worse. Don't believe me? Cut it out for 3 months. Then eat some. See what happens.
6. People with TMJ can alleviate their problems with B vitamins. Migraine sufferers can alleviate their problems with extra B's. Get the pic? You don't get enough of the vitamins you need. Supplements are nice, but change your diet.

Acupuncture! Pain is caused by stuck energy so get it moving for relief. Hope you feel better soon!

I have also found that sitting up in bed, with back propped with a firm pillow (especially at the small of the back) can be quite helpful. In this position, the muscles at the back of the legs and buttocks get a nice stretch, which lessens the pull on the back, relieving pain at times.

Use reclining chairs with caution. Unless the small of the back receives adequate support, they can be part of the problem.

Also, the alignment of the head with the neck and back needs to be carefully monitored. It is usually necessary to use smaller and narrower pillows than are generally available while sleeping. A towel can be folded in various ways and covered with a pillowcase if a pillow of the right size cannot be found, and is easily adjustable by refolding it as needed. Note the carved "pillows" Geisha used to use in Japan. Humans do not necessarily always need or benefit from soft, squishy pillows.

If you can locate a skilled rehab specialist, he or she can assist you in building musculature that can support your skeleton better, essentially providing internal muscle cushions that help protect the defective interstices between your bones. It is worth asking around to find a truly skilled one. The best one I was able to find also had a black belt in one of the martial arts.

Hello,
If you are suffering from back pain and neck problems from long time, then use memory foam mattresses which are more beneficial for back pain and gives good night's sleep.

Pain is associated with congestion and acidosis (over-acid conditions). It is important to alkalize and detoxify the whole body with a raw food diet and herbal program.

An acid diet creates acidosis
Acidosis is the main reason behind inflammation
Acids damage and mutate cells
Your lymphatic (sewer) system is your main immune system that helps keep your cells acidic wastes from accumulating in and around cells.
Acid-forming diets inflame the colon, kidneys, and thyroid (skin) thus, reducing their ability to filter ones lymphatic system, including the lymph nodes (septic tanks)
As ones lymphatic system backs up, so do cellular, systemic and parasitic wastes.
Thus, acidosis/inflammation builds up in many tissues of the body, head to toe. Lymph nodes swell, pimples, boils, abscesses and tumors are formed, etc.
In time, normal cells move to A-typical then to cancer
To cure is to reverse how you created it. Add a little "magic" from our little friends...the Herbs!
Foods rich in astringent and anti-oxidants are high on the list in cancer cases. Fruits fit this need to a tee! Fructose is a much higher vibrational sugar requiring no cellular loss of energy in its utilization.

In other words, if it were me, I would only eat raw fruits, vegetables, and herbs(ideally organic, but conventional will do). My mother has severe scoliosis, so I could tell you a thing about back pain.. She also has artificial hips, knees, as well as shoulders. She is in excruciating pain. Matter a fact, she just stopped taking her pain pills and other pharmaceuticals because of the "side effects", they were making her sick. I encourage her to eat more "healthy", trying to eliminate everything out of a package, junkfood, with more whole natural foods like fruit and salads. I also forage for dozens of herbs, one of her favorite, or should i say best pain relief is stinging nettle. I rub it on her back and the prickers inject phyto chemicals(plant medicine) into her, she says they help better than pain pills, she can't wait for them to start growing in another few weeks!

In short, only eat healthy food(fruits and vegetables, preferably raw, uncooked), only drink healthy (filtered, pure, clean water), get adequate sleep, control your stress. That is key to all illness. It's what you eat, drink, breath, and put on your skin. Start reading all your ingredients, better yet, if it comes in a package with a list of ingredients, don't buy it. Again, it's what you eat, drink, breath, and put on your skin. Start making those things healthy, you will be healthy. It's really that simple. Don't wait for a magic drug cure, start living healthy right now.

There is increasing evidence that consumption of excessive anti-oxidants might actually be bad for cancer patients.

This adds to what we already know about potential hazards of taking antioxidant supplements.

This is not to say that plenty of fruits and vegetables aren't part of a healthy diet, but that antioxidant benefits have been overstated.

It also needs to be emphasized that your body does not get acidic from "acidic foods" or typical diets of any kind. There are homeostatic mechanisms in the body that tightly regulate blood/tissue pH within a very narrow range. If this system got out of kilter* to make our blood acidic, we'd be dead in short order.

*this can happen, but only in cases of poisoning or serious disease such as can happen in profound disorders affecting the lungs and/or kidneys, which normally regulate pH.

Here is a link that might be useful: Acid-base balance explained

This post was edited by eric_oh on Sun, May 4, 14 at 10:50