We have always known that pain management research is geared towards finding alternative and better ways of treating and managing pain. Present-day anesthesia and pain medications are all loaded with undesirable side effects. The use of anesthesia in surgeries is unquestionably effective. However, overcoming post operative pain, discomfort and risks which arise from the effects of anesthesia is quite a struggle. Pain medications also has a long list of dangers, risks and unwanted side effects associated with them. These are the reasons why researchers are continuously looking for safer and less inconvenient ways of easing pain. Some have resorted to alternative methods like meditation, distraction and relaxation. All these help reduce pain but they are not effective in numbing pain. Leaving no stone unturned, there are current studies on a possible alternative to anesthetics and pain medication – hot chili peppers!

Have you ever munched on a hot chili pepper and couldn’t feel your tongue which also felt like it grew to twice its size? The numbness and loss of sensation that we get from eating a hot chili pepper is the same numbness and loss of sensation that anesthetics and pain killers give us. In hot chili peppers, it is caused by capsaicin. Capsaicin is generally the “hot” in hot chili peppers. Being a natural anesthetic, we can expect very little to no side effects from capsaicin.

Researchers combined capsaicin with lidocaine, a main ingredient in localized anesthetics, to create a new anesthetic which numbs or removes sensation without paralyzing the body or without affecting movement or control. This brings us back to the hot-chili-pepper-numbed tongue which you could still move though it felt like the tongue wasn’t there at all. By retaining movement and control, a patient will be able to stay awake and alert and risks involved in blocking nerve endings associated with movement will be avoided.

What advantages can hot chili peppers give then to modern surgery? Applying selective numbing concept of the hot chili pepper to the human body, the hot chili pepper anesthetic will selectively numb only those nerve cells which give the sensation of pain. Other nerve cells like those which are responsible for motion will be spared from the effects of the anesthetic. This means that the anesthetized part will not be paralyzed during surgery. Because of the localized approached, the patient will also remain conscious. All these will definitely put an end to post operative nausea, pain and other side effects and will remove risks caused by paralysis.

Finally, there will be a way to block pain without losing muscle control. This type of anesthetic will definitely add ease to the pains of childbirth. By not impeding muscle control, women in childbirth will be able to have normal deliveries without having to experience so much pain.

Persons who are suffering from chronic pain will benefit as well and and doors to new possibilities will be opened like the development of hot chili pepper based topical anesthetics and pain killers.

Author Bio: Seomul Evans is a senior Marketing Services consultant and Health care Marketing Consultant for leading Dallas Pain Management Specialists.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: Medical, health, healthcare, pain, doctors, physicians, hospitals, surgery, surgeons, clinic