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Natural Pain Relief Herbs ~ The Science Behind Stephania

April 18, 2014

Stephania RootEvery pharmacy offers shelves full of lotions and ointments for pain relief. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend time and money to find a good skin product that really works. Just look for an ingredients list that contains natural pain relief herbs that have a good history behind them and some modern scientific research to back them up. In case you don’t know exactly what to look for, let’s get started by looking at one of the top herbs for natural pain relief, Stephania Tetrandra. This herb is one of the 50 fundamental herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also well-known to modern science.First off, what is it about an herb that gives you natural pain relief? The answer depends on how it works to tackle the underlying causes of pain. Ideally, it should do so in more than one way. In contrast to synthetic drugs, which typically have only one or two mechanisms to treat pain, herbs generally provide a broad spectrum of beneficial effects. Indeed, it is common for herbs to influence pain in many ways.

The Science Behind Stephania

Pain is a sign of inflammation, which is your body’s healing response to cellular damage. Damage is the common factor shared by the aching joints of arthritis, by sports injuries, by sore muscles, and by many other sources of pain.

Scientists now know how Stephania works to alleviate pain from all of these sources, and more. So far we know that this herb does the following:

• Reduces the activity of certain types of inflammation-inducing molecules called cytokines.
• Inhibits superoxide anion and hydrogen peroxide, which are powerful cellular oxidizing agents.
• Slows down the formation of internal scarring.
• Hinders the activity of cyclooxygenase enzymes, which are the targets of so many pain medications (e.g., ibuprofen).

The bottom line in all that tech-talk is that Stephania is a pain relief herb backed by solid scientific research. It is no surprise that this herb is well-known in Chinese medicine for relieving the pain of arthritis and neuralgia. It is also no surprise that professional athletes have discovered its benefits for alleviating chronic pain from exercise-induced stress and sports injuries.

Finding Products That Contain Stephania

You might expect that, based on Stephania’s rich history as a Chinese medicinal herb and on its the growing body of scientific research, you would see it as a common ingredient in natural pain relief lotions. However, this is apparently not the case.

Stephania can nevertheless be found in topical formulas as one of more than a dozen herbs that work synergistically to alleviate pain, relax sore and tight muscles, relieve swelling and inflammation, and strengthen muscles and joints. Moreover, this formula also reduces internal bruising and improves circulation.

Jadience Herbal Formulas’ Natural Pain Relief Collection uses Stephania as one of the key active ingredients.

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