Presenter: David Winston, RH (AHG)

Original Date: May 19, 2018

The search for effective, safe and non-addictive pain medication is an age-old quest. Studies show many people – especially the elderly, the poor, people of color and women – are undertreated for chronic pain. While herbs are not as powerful as opiates and other pharmaceutical medications, they can offer safer and often highly effective pain management. In this talk we discuss how specific herbs can relieve specific types of pain, how to combine herbs to create a synergistic effect and reduce inflammation, pain perception and spasm and how botanicals can enhance the effects of pharmaceutical pain medications. The focus of this class is to give the clinician the precise tools needed to manage pain with herbs. To that end we learn to describe the types and nature of pain, the location of the pain and the most effective combinations of herbs to treat pain syndromes. For too long herbalists have thought our ability to effectively relieve pain is very limited. This is untrue once you stop using generic “pain” herbs and understand how we can help control pain with precision and specificity in our herb choices. We also discuss some conventional pain medications and their limitations and adverse effects. Pharmaceutical classes covered include opiods, COX-2 inhibitors, NSAIDS.

1.75 Pain Management, and 0.25 Pharmacology (Total 2.0 CEUs) approved by OBNM