Chronic Pain, Arthritis

Chronic pain and arthritis. How can we deal with it?

Pain relief and muscle relaxation for people with arthritis and muscle cramps is an important and significant benefit of using magnesium products such as those made with Black Sea lye.We know that a lack of magnesium lies at the root of the epidemic of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoporosis. Deprived of magnesium, the heart beats irregularly; the arteries harden, narrow and become blocked; blood pressure rises; the blood becomes prone to clotting; the muscles go into spasm; insulin weakens and blood sugar increases; the bones lose strength; and pain signals become stronger. “Many people suffer needlessly from pain, including fibromyalgia, migraine and muscle cramps, because they do not get enough magnesium,” says Dr Mildred Seelig, a leading magnesium researcher at the University of North Carolina. The problem is made even worse when people start loading up on calcium, thinking it will help them, when in fact an excess of calcium leads to magnesium being flushed out of the cells and thus undermines the effectiveness of both minerals.

Prescription medicines such as antidepressants, tranquillisers and painkillers treat only the symptoms. Magnesium treats the symptoms by addressing the cause of the pain and the illness. In fact, it may be assumed that pain and illness are a residual effect of magnesium deficiency or some other mineral imbalance. Intravenous or transdermal treatment with magnesium increases the concentration gradient of Mg++ between the extracellular fluid and the cell membranes, thereby blocking the NMDA receptor and bringing relief from pain. The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor plays an important role in the mechanisms underlying the central increase in sensitivity in the spinal cord, something extremely important in the establishment of several chronic neuropathic pain conditions. When it is not in an active state, the NMDA receptor is blocked by the presence of a centrally located magnesium ion. From this information alone it is easy to understand how a low level of magnesium in the body leads to an intensified sensation of pain. What is more, pain medicines cannot replace magnesium. Pain signals may be suppressed temporarily, but the condition that caused them remains unchanged.

NMDA receptors form ion channels at excitable nerve synapses. Normally these nerve channels are a) closed and b) blocked by extracellular magnesium ions. For these ion channels to open, several things have to happen. First, in order for the channel to open there needs to be enough glutamate and the cell membrane needs to depolarise in order to release the magnesium. A negatively charged cell attracts magnesium ions, which then close the ion channels of the NMDA receptor. If the cell loses its negative charge, the magnesium ions will disperse. The loss of magnesium ions allows sodium, potassium and, most importantly, calcium ions to enter the cell. Once inside the nerve cell, the calcium ions activate the signalling pathways that require glutamate, substance P and other pain-promoting factors. The neurons in the spinal column then send a message to the part of the brain called the “thalamus”, which processes it and amplifies the reaction to the pain. Prolonged periods of activation of the NMDA ion channel and the accompanying high level of intracellular Ca2+ can start the process of cell suicide, leading to the death of nerve cells. Researchers have studied the effect of the combination of magnesium and morphine on experimental models of chronic and tonic pain. They found that magnesium on its own produced a significant antihyperalgesic effect (hyperalgesia – increased sensitivity to pain) in rats suffering from mononeuropathy and diabetes after being given 90 mg/kg. It was found that magnesium enhances the analgesic action of low doses of morphine in conditions associated with persistent pain. Given the good tolerance of magnesium, these findings have found clinical application in cases of neuropathic and persistent pain. The key receptor in the central nervous system for modulating pain is the NMDA receptor.

When these receptors become more excitable, as happens in conditions of magnesium deficiency, the sensation of pain intensifies. In fact, all receptors depend on the state of their bioelectrically dependent channels or gates. These gates are typically specific to minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium or sodium. It is precisely here that the idea is confirmed that a sufficient quantity and balance of minerals, especially magnesium, are key factors for optimal health, and it becomes clear how their absence or imbalance becomes the reason why pain is felt and, as a result, why ineffective methods of coping with it are resorted to. Several neuropathic diseases, including peripheral diabetic neuropathy, post-therapeutic neuralgia, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome), post-surgical/traumatic neuropathy, and toxic and idiopathic neuropathy, share the same pathways for conducting pain signals and would be positively affected by supplementing magnesium transdermally – both at a systemic and at a local level. The transdermal approach through baths, foot baths or local application has the unique advantage of allowing the body to regulate and distribute the magnesium where it is needed, and in the required amount; the body would not “overdose” itself, as this would mean acting against its own interest. When it is saturated – for example after you have taken a bath to which magnesium chloride has been added – it simply stops absorbing any more magnesium. All other methods of supplementing magnesium involve making scientific guesswork.

The combination of heat and magnesium chloride stimulates circulation and the elimination of waste products. The therapeutic effect of magnesium baths is due to the fact that they draw inflammation out of the muscles and joints. A whole new world of pain management will open up before us once doctors and patients realise that naturally sourced magnesium chloride can be applied locally and holds enormous potential for pain relief. Applied directly to the skin, magnesium chloride is absorbed through it and acts almost immediately on chronic pain. Transdermal magnesium therapy is also ideal for athletes, who require large amounts of magnesium. Taken orally, magnesium is nowhere near as effective as when applied transdermally for treating injuries and tired muscles. Perhaps the greatest difference between the oral and transdermal methods of magnesium supplementation becomes apparent when it comes to pain management. Magnesium deficiency is a common phenomenon among people suffering from depression and chronic pain. Major depression is thought to occur four times more often in people with chronic back or lower back pain than in the population as a whole. It has been found that cases of major depression increase linearly as the intensity of the pain rises. Since it is beneficial both for chronic back and lower back pain and for depression, magnesium applied transdermally is the best food and medicine for those suffering from these two problems. Transdermal magnesium chloride therapy for pain relief is natural, and therefore safe and effective. Magnesium can serve as a good alternative to opiates for people who quickly become dependent on narcotic painkillers, whose impact is spreading through the population and is already beginning to affect our children. Chronic pain is often treated with opiates, and the effect is excellent while they last, but the body rapidly develops a tolerance to them and the doses have to be increased continually in order to achieve the same analgesic effect, which makes managing the pain even harder in the future. Most pain medications are not safe; even painkillers sold freely over the counter carry unpredictable dangers. In that case, what better way to reduce or eliminate pain than taking a bath or rubbing liquid magnesium chloride directly into the skin or into the affected area of the body! From the pain of sports injuries to lower back pain and sciatica, headaches, passing kidney stones, the pain of restless legs that will not stay still for a moment, arthritis and just about every painful condition one can think of — most cases respond favourably to the local application of magnesium chloride.

When it comes to treating pain with magnesium, it is important to remember that this affects not only the symptom but also the cause of the pain. What is meant here is that the cause of the pain is often magnesium deficiency. The transdermal application of magnesium chloride is easily incorporated into any pain management programme and can be used alongside any other pain-relieving medication.*From the book “Transdermal Magnesium Therapy” by Mark Sircus.