Melatonin As A Natural Pain Reliever

 

Although African herbalists have been using devil's claw as an analgesic for joint pain for hundreds of years, with great success, it has been little known in the western world. But scientists have only recently realized that the pain relieving chemical in devil's claw is melatonin, and have begun to explore its potential.

Melatonin Switches Off Pain Receptors

In addition to all the other sites in the body that are influenced by melatonin, it turns out that this hormone also switches off two classes of pain receptors known as MT1 and MT2. These pain receptors are found at the front and the back of the spin in the lumbar (lower back) and at thoracic (chest) levels.

 

If you have lower back pain, for example, melatonin makes it possible for you to get better sleep by numbing the MT1 and MT2 pain receptors in the lumbar spine during the night. If you have a chest cold, melatonin help you sleep better despite tightness in the chest and soreness in muscles that have been exhausted by coughing fits.

Melatonin Stops Inflammatory Pain

Melatonin is particularly effective against pain caused by inflammation. Laboratory tests conducted on animals have found that melatonin relieves pain caused by the hot pepper extract known as capsaicin. It will also relieve the pain caused by allergic skin reactions, skin infections, tired and sore muscles, and autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and the relatively rare conditions such as Dressler syndrome that occur after surgery, especially heart surgery.

Melatonin Stops the Pain of Neuropathy

Melatonin is also effective against pain caused by neuropathy. Neuropathy is a chronic tingling, burning, and stabbing pain that is experienced by most people who have had diabetes for 10 years or more. Neuropathic pain also occurs in people who have shingles and herpes, conditions that are common enough that you probably know exactly what we are talking about.

This kind of pain causes unpleasant sensations night and day, but especially at night. Melatonin helps relieve this kind of pain all over the body so sleep is easier. Unfortunately, because melatonin also induces sleep, you wouldn't want to take melatonin supplements to control either kind of pain during the day.

Many Painful Conditions Relieved by Melatonin

What painful conditions are relieved by melatonin? There are clinical trials that find that melatonin is helpful in relieving the pain caused by:

• Fibromyalgia

• Post-traumatic stress disorder

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Neck injuries

• Back injuries

• Peptic ulcers disease

Melatonin doesn't so much stop pain as it helps the brain ignore pain signals that don't protect the body. If you start to step on a tack with your bare foot, a pain signal helps your central nervous system direct your muscles to stop before you step down hard. If you have a rash from poison ivy, pain signals just hurt and hurt some more. Melatonin helps the locus ceruleus of the brain route signals to destinations that rank them as “important” or “unimportant” so you only feel pain that you can do something about.

Melatonin also helps the brain deal with deficiencies of adrenal hormones and serotonin. It does not force the body to make more of these hormones, but allows the brain to operate better with the amounts it has.

Melatonin Supplements and Natural Alternatives That Cost Nothing at All

Melatonin supplements are safe, effective, and side-effect free, as long as they are taken about hour before bedtime. Taken during the day, or taken late at night, they will induce sleep at the wrong part of the circadian cycle, making it hard to fight drowsiness during the day.

There's essentially no dosage of melatonin that is so large that it causes any other kind of undesirable effect. In Italy, many clinics offer their elderly patients and cancer patients up to 20 mg of melatonin every night for pain control, although as little as 1 mg may be enough to help make it easier to fall asleep.

It's not always necessary to take a melatonin supplement to get more melatonin into your system. You can take St. John's wort—but it is very important not to mix St. John's wort and prescription antidepressants. The combination can be so stimulating that it induces a “serotonin crisis,” causing a swing from depression to hypomania.

It's also possible to get the benefits of melatonin by eating sour cherries. This takes about ½ a cup (50-60 grams) for a sleep-inducing effect.

But the most important way to ensure that you get all the benefits of melatonin for both sleep and pain relief is to sleep in a totally dark room. Even a tiny amount of blue light will prevent your pineal gland from making the melatonin your body needs for sleep and pain relief.

Can't sleep without a night light? Try sleeping with a sleep mask. Or if you can't sleep with a sleep mask, make sure you have a red or yellow night light rather than a clear or blue one.

Or just take a melatonin supplement. As little as 1 mg may make a difference, although most people sleep best after taking 3 mg of more. Always take melatonin when you are ready to go to bed, not earlier in the evening, and not when you have been up all night tossing and turning. Used correctly, melatonin will help you get your zzz's and waking up feeling refreshed and pain-free.