Curcumin (Turmeric) as a trial for your pain
At Resolve Pain, we will always consider all therapies which we can try for your pain – these include standard medications – but we are always looking for other therapies which have evidence of benefit which we can use to try and reduce people’s pain.
Recently, Curcumin (Turmeric) has had several large clinical studies suggesting that for some people, the medicationcan work almost as well as anti-inflammatories for some types of pain. Usually, these pains are inflammation based – such as sore joints or muscles – what we call ‘nociceptive’ pain.
Curcumin studies, particularly in osteoarthritis and widespread aches and pains, have shown this medication to be effective for some people – not everyone. It has minimal and rare side effects – possibly nausea or diarrhoea (the ‘runs’) in some people and, at times, a slightly yellow-coloured stool (poo). Most people do not get these side effects.
Some people cannot have standard anti-inflammatories – as these can cause gastritis, stomach ulcers, and increasedrisk of heart conditions if you take them for long enough. Curcumin is an alternative option that you can use instead,and it may give you a similar benefit. We do not sell the medications and get no financial benefit for recommending this therapy. Our team generally recommends that the most cost-effective option to use is the Nutra life Bio-Curcumin – which is what we commonly recommend. This can be bought from most chemists. You need to take at least two capsules per day, and you need to take them regularly (not just ‘as required). Ideally, you take this medication for 4-6 weeks at a minimum before deciding whether it is working for you or not. It takes a little while to build up the dose in your system to the required level to give a benefit.
Your Resolve Pain team will discuss options appropriate for you and can answer any further questions you may haveabout this medication. There are links to further information below.