By Marcia Zimmerman, CN, January 2010

Winter months are prime time for joint, muscle and tendon flare-ups. It’s hard enough to get out of bed when it’s cold and dark – even harder when aches and pains make it hurt to move. Before deciding that the discomfort is here to stay, take stock of exactly where you are hurting, your lifestyle, past injuries and surgeries, and finally, your family history.

Where does it hurt?

To answer this, we will look at three common areas of discomfort. We will assume the pain is not a result of injury or surgery. Keep in mind that minor aches and pains are likely the result of some stressful event or the level of daily stress in your life. Stress has been linked to most major illnesses including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and gastrointestinal problems.1  Consequently, reassessing your lifestyle is the most important place to start.

Shoulders and neck

If most of your pain is centered in your neck and shoulders, it may be work-related. Long hours in front of your computer can be a major cause of over recruitment of the trapezium muscles that span the top of your shoulders. You are probably holding a lot of stress in your shoulders and they become very tense. Are they tight when you rub them?

Try this simple exercise. Shrug your shoulders moving them up toward your ears. Then wrap them toward the back, bringing your shoulder blades close together. Finally, drop your shoulders downward and relax. Doing this several times a day helps realign your shoulders in the proper position and relieve the stress on your neck. It also helps expand your chest and tighten your pectoral muscles and this helps breathing. You may also find a combination formula that relieves stress while also helping to keep you on your game and more productive.

Joint and Spine Discomfort

Wear and tear on joints is a normal part of aging. Happily, it is possible to reduce joint discomfort and help rebuild collagen structures. Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM have been mainstays in relieving the discomfort of creaky joints with reduced range of motion.2  Now research has discovered a new aid for relief called Decursinol, an extract from Japanese Angelica.3 Topical creams such as a mixture of cetylated fatty acids called Celadrin have also proven helpful.4  More recently, undenatured type II collagen from chicken sternum has been shown to relieve joint and back discomfort, increase range of motion and improve grip strength more effectively than glucosamine and chondroitin.5

Muscle and Tendon Soreness    

Growing older should not equate with growing bolder – at least as far as exercise is concerned. January is the time many of us decide to try a new and more ambitions exercise regimen. We want to start the New Year right, so off to the gym we go to put in an hour lifting weights and doing the cardio circuit.

If you are not accustomed to such a vigorous workout, you will probably wind up very sore. Not only that, you may have done your body more harm than good. Exercise should be kept to 30 minutes in order to maximize the benefits of raising muscle building hormone levels and reducing levels of cortisol. Proper exercise boosts your white blood cells, activates your immune system, improves mental function, and reduces nervous tension. You should feel energized after exercise, but not so tired you need a nap. You may consider boosting your exercise capacity with nicotine adenine dinucleotide, reduced form (NADH), which is a highly effective coenzyme form of niacin.6 Ribose is sometimes added to increase NADH synthesis and increase its ergogenic value.7  For muscle soreness and discomfort, topical capsaicin cream (0.25 – 0.75%) may be helpful. Capsaicin has been shown to reduce substance P, which is a type of pain receptor.8  If the muscle is inflamed, you can reduce the inflammation with COX-2 inhibitors such as curcumin and Pycnogenol.9,10

My monthly webinar for NOW-University will be presented January 18th at 8 PM central time. There will be much more discussed on the topic of this Z-File and the webinar. You may also wish to review my webinars on inflammation, responding to pain, and hormones.

References
  
 “De-Stressing in Stressful Times” Harvard Health Letter, 12/10/09.
2 The NIH Glucosamine/Chrondoitin Arthritis Intervention (GAIT); National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother. 2008;22:39-43.
3 Seo, S.J.; et. al.; “The Analgesic Effect of Decursinol” Arch Pharm Res. 2009;32:937-43 Epub
4 Kraemer, W.J.; et al.; “A Cetylated Fatty Acid Topical Cream with Menthol Reduces Pain and Improves Functional Performance in Individuals with Arthritis” J Strength Cond Res. 2005;19:475-80
5 Bagchi, D.; et al; “Effects of Orally Administered Undenatured Type II Collagen Against Arthritic Inflammatory Diseases: A Mechanistic Exploration” Int J Clin Pharmacol Res. 2002;22:101-110.
6 Sauve, A.A.; “NAD+ and Vitamin B3: From Metabolism to Therapies” Perspectives in Pharmacol 2008;324:883-893.
7 Kreider, R.B.; et al.; “Effects fo Oral D-Ribose Supplementation on Anaerobic Capacity and Selected Metabolic Markers in Healthy Males” Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2003;13:76-86.
8 Derry, S.; et al.; “Topical Capsaicin for Chronic Neuropathic Pain in Adults” Cochrane Database 2009;(4):CD007393.
9 Saw, C.L.; et al.; “Synergistic Anti-InflammatoryEffects of Low Doses of Curcumin in Combination with Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Docosahexaenoic acid or Eicosapentaenoic Acid” Biochem Pharmacol 2010 79:421-30. Epub 2009.
10 Schäfer, A.; et al.; “Inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 Activity by Plasma of Human Volunteers After Ingestion of French Maritime Pine Bark Extract (Pycnogenol) Biomed. & Pharmacother. 2005;60:5-9.