Can Tramadol treat period pain?

There is a real problem. It is called medicalization, i.e. the process of taking something entirely natural and converting it into a disease or disorder that can then be cured by doctors (usually men). We have now reached the point where every part of the female reproductive cycle has been redefined so as to require treatment (how very caring and patriarchal of the men). It starts in puberty, goes through menstruation, infects the processes of fertility, conception and birth, and pursues aging women into the menopause. The most obvious continuing "problem" is premenstrual tension (sometimes referred to as a "syndrome" to make it sound more like a deadly disease). This affects all women to some degree with a small percentage being so badly affected they must take time off work. We have now reached the point where PMS is socially constructed as a disorder, i.e. doctors have brainwashed women into believing most of the symptoms associated with menstruation constitute a disorder. The approaches to treatment begin with reassurance and what is politely called counseling. It seems women need to be taught coping strategies so they can get on with their lives. Diet and nutrition are changed. Calcium and other substances are added. Hormones are administered in the desire to re-establish the right balance, and diuretics reduce the water retention. If all this dramatic cycle of medical effort fails, we are then into classifying this as the more serious Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and the treatments begin with the more powerful antidepressants, reflecting the fact that the mind as well as the body are obviously disordered.

Finding it difficult to swim against the cultural tide and feeling that they should "do" something, some women have been turning to alternative methods. These range from relaxation techniques, through yoga and other forms of physical exercise, to acupuncture. Acupuncture is perhaps the most interesting because it has the longest medical track record as a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Throughout China and South East Asia, women routinely go for acupuncture to relieve the cramps associated with menstruation. It is deeply embedded into local culture as the safe and effective way of treating the discomfort or pain. Unfortunately, women in the West are more skeptical and such formal research as exists for the use of acupuncture in the US and Europe finds no clear evidence of benefit.

All of which brings us to the simple approach. There is no need to treat menstruation as any different from all other causes of discomfort or pain. If you experience low intensity pain, you take one of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. If the pain is moderate to severe, you buy tramadol online and take that. There is no need to suffer - martyrdom should not be a part of your psychological make-up. The standard painkillers are all that is needed in the majority of cases. Should this prove ineffective, it will be evidence of a more serious underlying cause that genuinely does need investigation by your regular healthcare professional. It is possible that all you need is a different painkiller, but a check-up, if necessary by a specialist, should identify the cause of the pain and recommend treatment for the genuine disease or disorder. Otherwise, stay with the conventional painkillers or, if you want something slightly different, try tramadol apap - a combination drug that some people find easier on the stomach.

Natural Tramadol produced within our brain

A recent experiment has shed more light on the concept of human body's natural pain relief system. Scientist have analyzed the activity of chemicals in the braains of study participants who were subjected to sustained pain and have come to new concepts of subjective pain sensations and how the body deals with pain.

The results of the study have confirmed that there's a connection between what people feel when experiencing pain and what happens with their brain chemical balance at the same time. This will definitely help find better pain relief solutions in the future as the concept of pain itself gains new dimensions of understanding. Researchers have indicated the crucial role of endorphins (naturally produced opioids) in blocking certain receptors in the brain and thus restricting pain signals from spreading throughout the system.

Duding the test the subject had to sustain 20 minutes of jaw muscle pain. The readings of brain chemical activity indicated an increased production of endorphins with the start of pain sensations. And when the substance was in abundance the subject reported decline in unpleasant sensations of pain, saying it has become less intense than previously.

The regions in the brain that were already known for their role in emotional and affective responses have indicated the largest increased in endorphin production. This fact gives scientists a better understanding of how brain chemistry and emotional behavior are closely related.

Endorphins being quite similar to synthetic opioids such as Tramadol target special types of mu opioid receptors in the brain and thus block pain signals. But the distribution of these receptors in the brain also plays an important role in subjective pain sensations and the effect we know as the pain threshold.

Researchers have found that the highest concentration of mu opioid receptors is found in the exact areas of the brain that are responsible for emotions and feelings.

More interesting discoveries were made when comparing the chemical activity between different test subjects. Having individual peculiarities in location and concentration of pain-receiving mu opioid receptors, test participants have also displayed various levels of endorphin production, which was directly related to pain ratings they have reported. If some people have rated their pain sensations as low with abundant production of chemicals that delivered nearly the same results as painkiller medications like Tramadol hcl, others had very strong pain sensations due to the low levels of endorphins produced in the brain. This explains the difference in natural pain threshold level each of us has.

Does this mean that we don't have to buy Tramadol anymore and have to rely on our natural painkiller system? Of course, no. There are different types of pain that are very hard to withstand even if you have a high level of pain tolerance.

However, this study will definitely help scientists understand the effects of the natural pain-relief system and improve painkiller medications in order to gain better effectiveness without competing the natural abilities of the body to control pain sensations. Who knows, maybe there won't be a need in medications at all if we learn how to control our own abilities. But until then we will still use drugs to make the pain go away.