Pharmacological and nutraceutical therapy

Medications: allies or enemies?

There are many drugs used for pain. Some, such as NSAIDs, are allies for temporary problems but cannot be used for long because they can cause serious problems for the kidneys, stomach and liver.

For chronic pain, different drugs are used, with different mechanisms, that do not simply inhibit inflammation to switch off pain.

Therapy chosen for the problem

For chronic pain it is necessary to identify the right drug for each disorder, or the combination at the lowest possible dose that brings benefit with fewer side effects.

Opioids, antiepileptics, antidepressants and local anaesthetics may act on the nervous system and block pain pathways.

All medicines can have side effects: when started at a low dose, an effect is often not felt or passes quickly.

Finding the cause and monitoring

It is essential to look for the cause of pain and act to resolve it. Used promptly, medication can help prevent circuits that lead to chronic pain.

It should also be stopped promptly when it is no longer indispensable.

The role of nutraceutical therapy

Nutraceutical substances are natural molecules, often endogenous, that can become part of pain therapy alongside medications and other techniques.

Personalising therapy is essential: having more tools available makes it possible to offer increasingly precise answers.

Integrating these substances means acting on the mechanisms of different types of pain and reducing it by acting on the cause, without side effects, without adding other medicines and while protecting the intestinal microbiome.

• Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), with analgesic and anti-inflammatory action.
• Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA), a substance produced by the body that acts on neuropathic pain at several levels.
• Micronutrients such as vitamin D, Omega 3, magnesium, selenium, zinc and B vitamins, when appropriate.

An integrated pathway

Integrated medicine allows me to combine different disciplines and techniques to identify the most suitable treatment for a specific problem and each individual patient.

Pharmacological and nutraceutical approaches may be associated with other techniques suited to the specific case.