BACK TO ASK THE HERBALIST INDEX

ANSWERS FROM LORYHL:
QUESTION: I am a 38 year old male and recently my MRI shows three herniated discs in my neck and one is pressing against the spinal canal. I have headaches, pressure on the rear of my head, light ringing in the ears, can’t sleep nights at all, and light occasional numbness in my hands when I hold the hands up too long. Are you able to help me?  If so, how?  Oh and a stiff neck, of course...

ANSWER: There are many things you can do to help yourself. Here is a start to it, and I can tell you I have extensive personal experience in this matter.
- read the downloads attached, all of them, and on castor oil packs, put on abdomen, and put on neck, 4 nites per week
-eat as healthy as you can, sugar, soda, heavy meats, chemicals, pre packaged foods, all cause inflammation, and will make you more sore and stiff.
- take the Chinese formula, called Neck formula, by Plum Flower ( we carry all the herbs) and also take Dr Christopher's blend, in pills, BF and C, to rebuild the injury and allow to heal
- go to a good acupuncturist, get Ci Quong massage, and acupuncture
- have both at least once a week, for 3-4 months, then maintain after, at once or twice per month
- find a holistic, cranial, sacral chiropractor, not a regular one, and have them work on you, it is gentle chiropractic, check this out thoroughly before you do it
          Read this, then get back to us for more info, or to order, if you need to. Also look up the Nightshades, group of foods, which seriously contribute to arthritis in the body. Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, green pepper, red pepper, tobacco, yellow pepper, all are first cousins, all are very contributive to arthritis, pain, and inflammation. I can send you more info on this, if you like.

ANSWERS FROM KAREN MALLENGER
QUESTION: I am a midwife and I have a client who is having some back/sciatica pains.  She sneezed and has been in pretty bad pain since then.  She has been to a doctor who prescribed Tylenol and a mild muscle relaxer, neither of which are helping much.  She did some research and read that St. John's Wort can be used to help with sciatic pain.  But everything I have found say that it should not be used during pregnancy but I cannot find any reasons for why. I was wondering if you knew anything about that or if you may have any suggestions for anything else that she can do or use.  I would appreciate any wisdom you could give.  Thank you for your time.  Your website is a great resource.

ANSWER: My first suggestion is get her to a chiropractor. Ask around. I'm sure you can find someone reputable. If they want to take all kinds of X-rays and charge you a bunch of money, find another one. A good chiropractor doesn't need X-rays to show them bones out of alignment. I realize there are a lot of quacks in the group, but there are some very good doctors of Chiropractic medicine.  Since it seems this was traumatic (incidental) and not something that developed over time, that would be my first suggestion.

ANSWERS FROM DAVID BRILL

MUSCLE SPASMS
QUESTION:  What can I take for muscle spasms

ANSWER:  For general spasms you would want to use Nervine Herbs such as the following:

Kava Kava
Valerian
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Saint Johnswort
Fresh Oats


MUSCLE TENSION
QUESTION: I need to find something natural for muscle tension. When I get real tense where I can't sleep at all I take a 350 ml. tablet of Tylenol Codeine or Quinine, but I do not want to use drugs, so am looking for something natural to relax my muscles and stop my legs from jerking and twitching at night.

ANSWER:  Scullcap is good for insomnia, restless leg syndrome and nervous tension
Chamomile is good for insomnia, restless leg syndrome, to relax, spasms or cramps
Kava, is good to relax muscular tension, anxiety, restless leg, spasm and cramps.

Additionally Tylenol use is very hard on your liver, I would recommend its discontinuance and the use of Milk Thistle to support your liver to recover from this harsh chemical.