In part one of How to Deal with Physical & Emotional Pain in Eating Disorders Recovery, I outlined the typical pain experienced in recovery and some of the reasons why we have that pain.
In this post, I would like to share some of the solutions that I used to deal with pain in my recovery.
Most of my clients, like me, want natural treatments for digestive pain or other physical and emotional pain. The good news is, there are so many options…you may even have some of your own favorites and I’d love to hear about them!
Here Are Some of My Favorites:
- 100% pure essential oils: Ease blend, E-motion blend and Birch essential oil - if you go to my website, you will see the Forever Young logo and find out how you can learn more about these products or make an order.
Ease – For digestive pain, gas and bloating. Dana Young, founder of the Forever Young Essential oils, recommends a couple of drops of Ease rubbed on your abdomen in a clockwise motion. This has worked well for me. I may even take a couple of drops on my tongue.
E-motion Blend – I use a couple of drops rubbed on the bottom of my feet to help with strong emotions and depression. I’ve been amazed at how my emotions change just from using this essential oil on my feet! I’ve since used it with clients who are having emotional-based fears that cause physical pain, like hives and headaches, for example.
Birch Essential Oil - Birch is excellent for re-mineralizing your teeth. I used this to get over that painful “sensitive teeth” feeling and it did wonders for me. Birch smells and tastes like spearmint (yum!). I follow Dana Young’s recommendation to put a drop or two on my toothbrush (I put it right on my toothpaste on my brush) and brush. Your breath will love it! I’ve also used it as a mouthwash by putting a couple drops in water — it’s much more effective than chemical-laden commercial mouthwashes.
I use Forever Young essential oils, not the kind from the health food store. Essential oil labeling allows them to say 100% pure, even if they have up to 50% of chemical extenders (some cancer-causing). I like that Forever Young essential oils are 3rd party tested and truly 100% pure. They are organic and wildcrafted oils and Dana Young, the creator, suggests many uses, including ingestion and use in teas and cooking.
- Body Ecology’s Vitality SuperGreen : While this is not an instant cure, it really helps over time. Vitality SuperGreen is a green drink with organic ingredients that was created to heal your gut. It really helped me over the course of about a month. Vitality SuperGreen includes Glutimmune — a gut healing form of glutamine, along with fermented greens, algae and probiotics.
Use Vitality SuperGreen first thing in the morning to energize you. Fatigue was a big issue for me in recovery and it’s normal when you are detoxing. Vitality SuperGreen is an energizer, which really helps. It can als be used to ward of binges.
- The Big Gun: I bought a cold laser from my dentist, Dr. Yolin, who has been using them in his practice for people with IBS, chronic fatigue, migraines and other illnesses. He’s amazing – he’s an alternative dentist in the Boston area who analyzes your bite. I went to him after seeing Rhonda Lenair, the medical intuitive who helped me recover from bulimia.
Dr. Yolin helped me with my teeth and my bite — and how my bite related to the sleep problems, digestive pain and IBS I was experiencing.
The laser goes with me everywhere. It’s hand held and completely safe. It helps with addictions, bone pain, organ and tissue pain. Even better, it speeds up regeneration and healing.
My laser is the only thing that instantly fixes terrible digestive pain for me. There have been times I couldn’t walk or thought I’d have to go to the emergency room, but when I use the laser, it goes away almost immediately. I am truly grateful for the laser…it’s pricey, but for me, has been 100% worth it. I even use it on my husband when he has headaches or backaches.
Be Kind To Yourself
Remember to be easy on yourself if you experience pain in recovery. See if you can soften your emotions and remove anger and frustration. Healing is a process and it may take longer than we’d like it to.
And yet, with each day, things get better and better. Pain goes away until it is no longer there.
When pain does show up, it’s ususally to remind us where we need to make changes in our lives to support our greatest good. One of my favorite things to keep in mind during times of fear or pain is Louise Hay’s Affirmations for Eating Disorders.
There is nothing more healing than learning to be kind to ourselves! As you continue to show yourself and your body kindness, you may notice (as I did), that your body’s natural ability to heal kicks in. Until then, you also have some natural techniques to help your body in your recovery process.
