Rethinking Pain Relief Solutions

New concerns about acetaminophen and ibuprofen contributing to antibiotic resistance give reason to rethink pain relief solutions.

by Mila McManus, MD

For decades, ibuprofen and acetaminophen have been the go-to remedies for everyday aches and pains. Found in nearly every household medicine cabinet, these drugs are considered safe when used as directed. Yet, emerging research suggests their impact may not be as harmless as once thought, raising concerns for both individual health and the global community. It may be time to rethink pain relief solutions.

A recent study from the University of South Australia found that ibuprofen and acetaminophen may contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. When combined with antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, these medications accelerated genetic mutations in E. coli, creating more resilient bacterial strains. Even more troubling, these strains showed resistance not only to ciprofloxacin but also to multiple classes of antibiotics.

This matters because antimicrobial resistance already causes over 1.27 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization. In other words, humans are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics to the extent that when they are desperately needed to save lives, there is not one that will do the job. While researchers do not advise eliminating ibuprofen or acetaminophen completely, the findings underscore the need for cautious prescribing and heightened awareness of drug interactions—especially among older adults and those taking multiple medications.

Pain Has Many Roots

Not all pain stems from injury. In fact, much of the discomfort people experience daily can be traced to chronic inflammation, hormone imbalance/decline, stealth infections, nutrient deficiencies, stress, or lifestyle habits:

Dietary triggers like refined carbohydrates, sugars, and processed oils fuel systemic inflammation.
Nutrient gaps—particularly low omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and magnesium—may heighten pain sensitivity.
Stress and poor sleep amplify pain perception and slow healing.
Hormone imbalances can greatly contribute to chronic pain.
Stealth infections such as parasites, viruses, mold, and bacteria can wreak havoc!
Gut health imbalances can drive body-wide inflammation, affecting joints and muscles.

Addressing these root causes often reduces pain naturally—without the risks linked to long-term painkiller use.

Natural Approaches to Pain Relief

Instead of relying solely on over-the-counter drugs, consider these evidence-based strategies:

Anti-inflammatory foods: Incorporate vegetables, herbs, and omega-3-rich foods like wild salmon, flax, and chia. Turmeric, ginger, and peppers provide natural compounds that ease inflammation.
Collagen and bone broth: Support joint and connective tissue health.
Hydration and gut health: Drinking enough water and eating fiber-rich or fermented foods can reduce systemic inflammation.
Gentle movement: Walking, swimming, or yoga improves circulation and mobility.
Optimize and balance your hormones.
Get tested and treated for leaky gut.
Targeted supplements: Vitamin D, magnesium, and omega-3s may improve resilience against chronic pain.

Supplements and Therapies to Discuss with Your Provider

Beyond foundational diet and lifestyle changes, some people explore advanced or emerging options for pain relief. Talk with one of our medical providers about this growing list of safer options.

NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) injections or oral precursors (NMN, NR) for cellular repair and energy.
Helleborus injections, studied for potential anti-inflammatory properties.
Protease with bromelain, plant-derived enzymes that may reduce swelling and pain.
Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, with well-documented anti-inflammatory effects.
Krill oil, a source of omega-3 fatty acids and the antioxidant astaxanthin.
Local castor oil packs for circulation and inflammation relief.
Prolotherapy, an injection-based treatment designed to stimulate healing in tendons and ligaments.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to enhance tissue repair and reduce inflammation.
Valasta (astaxanthin supplement), a potent antioxidant.
BPC-157 peptide, an experimental compound with early evidence of healing and anti-inflammatory benefits.
MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) for joint health and pain reduction.
Red light therapy
PEMF therapy like ONDAMED

The Takeaway

While ibuprofen and acetaminophen remain useful tools, their hidden risks highlight the importance of looking deeper into the causes of pain. Moreover, these types of pain medications, as well as opiate pain killers, produce a lot of oxidative stress and actually hasten degeneration! Addressing inflammation, nutrition, and lifestyle factors while guarding the gut and immune function can provide powerful, lasting relief. And for those seeking further support, a growing list of supplements and therapies offer additional avenues to explore under medical supervision.

Pain relief is not just about masking symptoms. It is about healing from the inside out.

By rethinking our reliance on over-the-counter painkillers and leaning into healthier pain relief solutions, we can reduce risks for antibiotic resistance, improve long-term wellness, and move closer to lasting relief.

Be pain-free. Be Well.

References

Health.com. (2025, August 26). Healthy diet linked to lower chronic pain, study shows. Health.com. https://www.health.com/study-healthy-diet-lower-chronic-pain-8761603

Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Anti-inflammatory diet. Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/anti-inflammatory-diet

ScitechDaily. (2025, August 28). Common painkillers like ibuprofen could be fueling a global health threat. SciTechDaily. https://scitechdaily.com/common-painkillers-like-ibuprofen-could-be-fueling-a-global-health-threat/

Verywell Health. (2024, June 17). Anti-inflammatory supplements: Options. Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/anti-inflammatory-supplements-options-190474

Woodlands Wellness MD. (2017, August 5). Dietary adjustments for pain relief. Woodlands Wellness MD. https://woodlandswellnessmd.com/dietary-adjustments-pain-relief.html

By Mila McManus MD|2025-09-09T09:28:27-05:00September 10th, 2025|Articles, General|

Dietary Adjustments for Pain Relief

By Nancy Mehlert MS

Edited by Mila McManus MD

It’s very common that headaches, joint and muscle pain can be caused from the foods we are eating. Therefore, it is well worth the effort to practice some food elimination tests to find out if you are reacting to foods. Usually the pain response is reflective of inflammation and/or a food allergy. When we trigger elevated insulin levels from the foods we eat, we are also stimulating inflammatory prostaglandin production, leading to inflammation and pain.

Here are the key adjustments to make in your diet if you want to relieve chronic pain as well as provide the healthiest environment for wellness:

What to eliminate or dramatically reduce:

Sugar, in all forms. Sources include fructose from fruit, honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, coconut sugar, corn syrup, dextrose and maltodextrin. Check out any ingredient list such as food bars, protein powders, every bottled or canned beverage, portions of fruit, condiments such as BBQ sauces, salad dressings and ketchup, wine, alcoholic beverages and even uncured meats. Look closely, as you may be surprised at what you find. And think in terms of cumulative amount and effect. Sugar is sneaky.
Grains, and most commonly wheat and other gluten/gliadin containing grain,s as well rice and corn are fast digesting carbohydrates which convert mostly to glucose, thus elevating blood sugar and insulin levels which stimulate inflammatory pathways. Hence, pain.
Processed foods – sugar, grains, chemicals, damaged fats are all inflammatory contributors to pain and bad for us in a myriad of ways. Migrate to, and stick with, a whole food diet.

What to Eat

Be sure to eat plenty of Omega 3 fatty acids including Pacific wild salmon, anchovies, and sardines as well as fresh ground flax, hemp seed, chia seed, and grass fed butter or ghee. There is also an oil found in fish and dairy butter (grass fed butter or ghee is optimal) called CMO, which stands for Cetyl Myristoleate. It acts as a “joint lubricant” and has anti-inflammatory effects as well.
Include fresh herbs and spices. Curcumin/turmeric, ginger and many peppers have anti-inflammatory effects.
Include plenty of fresh vegetables
Consider collagen sources in bone broth, protein powders and as supplements which can support joint and gut health to reduce inflammation and pain. We carry protein powders in vanilla and chocolate flavors with beef collagen in them and can also recommend how to make or buy high quality bone broth.

References:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/12/13/6-chronic-pain-triggers.aspx

By Mila McManus MD|2017-08-05T13:24:13-05:00August 5th, 2017|Articles, General, NANCY’S NUTRITIONAL NUGGET|

Deep Blue

The soothing combination of CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils of

Wintergreen, Camphor, Peppermint, Ylang Ylang, Helichrysum, Blue Tansy, Blue Chamomile, and Osmanthus create the doTERRA Deep Blue proprietary blend. Available in a cream, roll-on, and supplement, Deep Blue provides soothing effects and targeted benefits.

Source:

doterra.com

By Mila McManus MD|2016-10-06T13:38:27-05:00October 6th, 2016|General|

Energy Medicine

by Mila McManus MD

We use energy medicine every day in main stream as well as alternative medicine. If you’ve ever had an x-ray, mammogram, MRI, CT scan, or ultrasound, then you’ve experienced the wonders of energy medicine. Besides using energy for diagnostics, we use energy for therapies, such as with ultrasounds and lasers. If you’ve ever had acupuncture, you’ve experienced energy medicine. When you understand that our bodies, the universe, and everything in it are made up of energy and molecules, you can begin to understand that energy medicine is not voodoo.

What most people experience in modern medicine is chemistry, e.g. pharmaceutical drugs, when it comes to treating their ailments. I’ve been a physician for many years and my main focus has been using chemistry (hormones, vitamins, dietary interventions, and when necessary, pharmaceuticals) to treat and detoxify my patients. Well, since 2018, The Woodlands Institute for Health & Wellness has been exploiting the powers of the universe and the body’s innate ability to heal itself. We incorporate energy medicine to facilitate healing and I’ve seen some pretty amazing things using a device that emits pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF). There are many PEMF devices out there and they are not all created equal. Our technology is top notch and my only regret is not having this device years ago!

When you hear the term “EMF”, you may be thinking of dangerous scattered EMF related to cell phones, laptops, wi-fi, and baby monitors (yes, baby monitors are the worst offenders!). PEMF devices use focused, therapeutic low doses that actually jump start the body’s healing process. PEMF also stimulates cellular detoxification. Imagine a bottle neck traffic jam on the highway due to construction on the road. Four lanes merge into one and it’s painfully slow to get from Point A to Point B. Now imagine the electrical highways throughout your body that are required for communication for your body to have any action (for instance, for you to raise your arm within a millisecond of wanting to raise your arm, your brain must send an electrical signal to your arm in order to contract the right muscles that allow you to raise it). Well, due to injuries, infections, toxins, and inflammation, our electrical highways can get traffic jammed. An injured joint, for example, requires not just blood supply to rush in, but also requires energy to get to that area to provide the correct signals for healing and function. PEMF therapies unjam that traffic to allow normal speeds of communication to allow the body to heal itself, whatever ails it. A great analogy I read about distinguishing the speed of chemical reactions (e.g. pharmaceutical drugs) vs energetic reactions is understanding the difference in how long it would take to walk across the country vs fly across the country. I’ve seen patients’ pain disappear immediately after a session before they’ve even left the office. Not everyone responds this quickly though. What’s also pretty unique about the PEMF device that we use in our office is that it incorporates biofeedback which directs us not only to the specific frequencies with which someone should be treated at that particular time, but also helps us to locate the areas in the body that have the disturbance. And you might be surprised to know that the area where you may have pain, for example, may not be the area at which the PEMF needs to be directed.

Important benefits to note regarding the use of PEMF include:

Increases oxygen delivery to your cells
Improves ATP production (the energy source for our cells)
Enhances circulation
Speeds healing
Stimulates detoxification
Reduces pain
Reduces swelling
Reduces inflammation
No known side effects
Non-invasive
Non-painful
Non-pharmaceutical
Antioxidant properties
10,000+ scientific papers and 2000+ double blinded studies to back up its claims

It’s important to understand that we cannot say that PEMF therapy “diagnoses, treats, or cures any disease”. It’s facilitating your body’s ability to heal itself. Also, the only contraindication to using PEMF therapy is pregnancy. Having metal implants (e.g. hip or knee replacements) does limit the areas that can be treated.

Check out our Current Promotions page for ONDAMED specials!

Click here to read one of many patient testimonials about ONDAMED.

Find upcoming information and demonstration sessions here.

References:

http://www.pemft.net/

www.ondamed.net

By Mila McManus MD|2021-10-20T10:39:53-05:00March 1st, 2016|Articles, General|