Study Compares Fish Oil Supplementation to NSAID Pain Relievers For Arthritis and Disc Pain in the Neck and Back.

A study published in the Journal, Surgical Neurology (April 2006) Fish Oil as an anti-inflammatory alternative to NSAIDs pain relievers for arthritis and degenerative disc pain.

These particular patients primarily had degenerative changes in the joints and discs of their neck and/or backs that is commonly referred to as a type of arthritis.

NSAIDs are commonly used for pain relief of neck pain and back pain.

These pain relievers include both over the counter and prescription anti-inflammatories.

At the time of the study, over 70 million prescriptions were written for NSAIDs and a SHOCKING 30 billion over the counter NSAIDs were sold ever year.

Clearly we have a problem with pain.

It’s a very common complaint that effects seemingly everyone.

Unfortunately, these pain relieving medications can cause serious side effects in some people ranging from stomach problems including very serious ulcers, kidney problems, heart attacks, and even deaths. Of course not everyone will have a major event… still if there was a safer alternative that worked well (of course Chiropractic fits this bill nicely and improves underlying mechanical problems that are often causing the pain)… it would definitely make sense to use them.

NSAIDs cause an estimated 100,000 hospitalizations a year and an estimated 16,500 deaths each year.

The researchers followed a group of non-surgical neck pain and back pain patients that took a relatively small dose of fish oil daily.

The results from fish oil were really pretty impressive.

After 75 days 59% of the patients discontinued their NSAID pain medication.

No side effects were reported and of course this is important.

The important thing is that this was a singular intervention to improve pain, using fish oil.

It could have been improved with many other factors, but for a study isolating one variable is important.

However, it’s the balance of Omega 6 (Vegetable Oils) and Omega 3 Fats (Fish Oil and a few others) that matters.

Adding fish oil while significantly reducing omega 6 intakes would have likely been much more effective for pain relief.

Adding Chiropractic Care would’ve likely made a huge difference as well.

I hope this article review helps you. It should be noted that some people should not take fish oil and others should use caution, for example those using blood thinner medications.

If you suffer from pain / chronic pain in Texarkana and would like to see us, contact us – we’re here to help!