You have to be mental to not love Menthol

If you are an Osteopath, I embrace you to my warm neuro-mechaincal boosum and say welcome to the world of nutrition as it pertains to the neuromechanical system.

Here I am on stage doing my best to look intelligent.

Anyhoo, back to this weeks newsletter which is all about menthol.

Did you know the use of menthol as a medicinal product has been around for all longer than you or I.

In fact for a few thousand years it has been used by people across the world.

The reason?

It made people feel better, so they used it.

The how was irrelevant.

These days we have the how and we have been able to show that it really can have some long-lasting effects.

Frankly, when I first came across menthol gels I was pretty sceptical it was anything other than a quick bit of relief.

That said, when you are in pain, a little bit of relief is welcome, so nothing is wrong with that and we certainly have sold plenty of different brands over the years. In fact, the patients absolutely love them.

But what I did not know (partly through ignorance and partly because some of the research is new) is that it can, when given in the right menthol % really reduce pain and therefore be part of breaking the vicious cycle that allows recovery from injury and chronic pain.

Check out this research using a 3.5% menthol gel with soft tissue injuries.

They got either menthol gel x4 daily or placebo x4 daily for 14 days.

The pain as rest was better in the menthol group.

As was pain on movement.

As was the functional disability questionnaire.

Now were they magically cured from pain and injury? No.

Does this in any way replace your treatment? No.

But we know that they can use it to control their pain away from you, which is very empowering for patients.

Plus, anything that reduces the intake of NSAID’s burning a hole in your stomach and paracetamol depleting your liver glutathione reserves is good by me.

Note: it is when you run out of glutathione to detox paracetamol, you end up with liver failure. FYI glutathione is a TRI-peptide made from: Glycine (my favourite amino acid, like EVER), cysteine, and glutamate).

And it will help their recovery as part of a comprehensive plan which involves a comprehensive history and exam to determine the pain generating tissue/s.

and then crucially, what has gone wrong with the TRIAD of health that has allow the symptoms to develop and PERSIST.

This last part sorts the posers from the bad muthaf***as, the bullsh**ers from the real deals.

Theories are nice, but they have to translate into results.

You need to master your neuromechanical craft. Mastery is a lifelong path that never ends.

You need to understand the metabolic system and how it affect the neuromechanical system and your emotions.

Come November, I will offer you the opportunity to join the Core Concepts in Chiropractic Nutrition, version 3, even simpler, even better, even easier to learn.

Until then, keep your eyes peeled for the launch of Chiro Ice which should be available next week, and we will discuss the benefits of topical ginger next time.