Let’s first understand how water is distributed throughout our bodies. Blood is made up of 90% water, muscles have 75% and the water content of bone is 25%. Our bodies need enough water to function and without sufficient water, our bodies struggle to perform all of their necessary tasks, like flushing out toxins and lubricating each cell. There is some evidence that supports water can decrease pain symptoms. Let’s look at some of the pain conditions and how water can have an impact on them.
Inflammation
Health experts recommend that a diet rich in anti-oxidants as well as staying hydrated with enough water are great ways to reduce inflammation in the body. Water is specifically recommended because it can flush toxins and other irritants out of the body. This decreases the prostaglandin and histamine response, which is associated with an inflammatory reaction.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain has been recognized to have a multifactorial origin. Water is the most important nutrient quantitatively and the scientific evidence has shown that mild dehydration may account for some amount of morbidity. Decreasing mild dehydration may bring down the morbidity seen in chronic pain sufferers.
Headaches
It is well accepted that water deprivation can lead to the development of headaches. Many observational studies have identified that dehydration, in addition to impaired concentration and increased irritability, can also act as a trigger for a migraine or other forms of headaches. In such cases, consumption of water provided relief from headache in most individuals within 30 minutes to 3 hours. It is believed that water deficiency-induced headache is due to intracranial dehydration and reduced total plasma volume. Although drinking water may help in relieving dehydration related headaches, however, the advantage of increasing water intake for the prevention of headaches is not well documented.
Joint Pain
Our joints have cartilage which is made up of 60% water. This cartilage acts like a cushion or a shock absorber and reduces the friction between the bones in the joint. There is also a gel-like fluid called synovial fluid which keeps the cartilage lubricated. When there is a scarcity of water in the body, cartilage loses its sponginess. Drinking more water may not treat the joint pain but it can keep your joints healthy. Proper hydration can improve the production of synovial fluid, reduce the inflammation and maintain the shock absorbing properties of cartilage.
Treatment Starts at the Source of Pain
Treatment of pain is easy when you understand how and why people say water cures pain. With any pain management, treatment always starts with the cause. Elimination of pain requires finding the underlying cause for the pain. As we understood, water may help in reducing the pain. But actually, it is our bodies that alleviate pain. The water can simply help our bodies reduce pain. It is important to consume an adequate amount of water every day, especially if you are dealing with a painful condition.
Another reality is that an intake of water in excess of the recommended daily amount does not have any significant health benefits. On the other side, excessive fluid intake may cause health complications for individuals with heart diseases, high blood pressure, or kidney issues.
If you are suffering from chronic pain, consider speaking with our pain specialist to see what treatment might be right for you.
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