PAIN AND SWELLING

Pain is a very complex phenomenon, and it defies a simple comprehensive definition. Research in this field has demonstrated that pain is much more variable, complex, and subject to modification than anyone imagined in the past. Most individuals expect that pain is onfy a physical phenomena which must always follow an injury, and that the intensity of that pain is proportional to the amount and extent of the damage. Pain research,(l) on the other hand, has demonstrated that such a perception is not always correct, and that there seems to be an important psychological element associated with the type and intensity of pain. These and many other studies have shown that the type and intensity of pain that an individual might experience from an injury can be associated with a perceptual and emotional quality. Most people would expect that individuals that have experienced severe injuries from wounds in warfare would be in a great amount of pain. However, many of these individuals do not complain of excruciating pain, and do not request morphine to reduce pain from the injury. On the other hand, almost all civilians that had undergone major surgery from incisions similar to the wounds received by soldiers, required morphine to help alleviate the pain. On the other hand, about 30 percent of individuals that have experienced amputation of a limb will complain about the pain in that severed portion of their body long after it has been removed. Such a condition is known as "phantom-limb pain." This psychological element may be determined by the past history that a person has had with that type of painful situation, by the meaning they give to the pain producing situation, and by the "state of mind" at the moment it happened. Even cultural perceptions of pain producing conditions can determine how we react to such events.

There is one all important positive aspect of pain that warns us that something physically harmful is happening to one's body, and that something needs to be done to correct that situation before more damage is done, this is usually a uniquely unpleasant sensation that becomes so overwhelming that it obliterates anything else we may have been doing or thinking about at the time. In other words, the sensation of pain demands our immediate and complete attention to stop it as soon as possible, and by what ever means available.
The pain sensation that is most relevant to NonScents is that aspect of it that is predominately physical in nature. This perspective recognizes many types of pain, and each variety of pain seems to have its own unique aspects even if these features cannot be articulated very clearly. For instance, the pain from a headache is different from the pain experienced from a burn, which differs from the pain from a bruise, which is different from the pain brought on by a canker sore in the mouth. Stomach pains and cramps are unique and differ from the pain experienced from bee stings, gout, fire ant stings, arthritis, hemorrhoids, etc. NonScents does not make any medical claims that it is able to cure or heal pain or swelling. However, NonScents does have some physical and chemical properties that could explain how it might help to relieve pain and swelling. Soon after case history studies were started at NonScents in the early fall of 1989 it became apparent that this product was bringing physical relief from a wide assortment of ailments to both animals and people. Eventually patterns began to emerge, and more clearly defined many of the types of physical problems that NonScents was apparently able to help. As this data base began to grow one of the prominent trends that emerged was that NonScents seemed to be able to bring a great amount of relief to many different types of pain. Many of these cases were also accompanied by a substantial amount of swelling. It seems that the pain message triggers other mechanisms that may cause swelling in the injured area so as to help contain the deleterious effects of such a wound. However, after pain was removed most, if not all, of the swelling would soon disappear in about a day or less. In many of these cases, if these conditions had been treated by conventional methods the pain and swelling would last for at least several days. Often when NonScents was applied to an afflicted area, relief from most, if not all, of the pain usually occurred in minutes. In other cases, such as with gout, the pain disappeared or was greatly diminished overnight. Usually swelling seems to take longer to subside, but is often greatly reduced or completely gone after a good night of rest.

There are certain types of pain that NonScents does not affect at all For example NonScents will not bring relief to a headache, or a broken heart, and there is no convincing evidence that it has helped relieve pain from at least several types of arthritis. NonScents seems to work most effectively in relieving pain from the skin or flesh, muscles, etc.

After it became apparent that NonScents was able to bring substantial relief to many kinds of pain, the obvious question that arose was how does it work? The answer to that question is not clearly understood at this time, and the final analysis of this phenomenon will have to be left for the proper scientific, medical and governmental authorities to determine. However, it is tempting to speculate how NonScents might be able to bring such quick relief, especially to so many types of pain. The following discourse is offered as a possible explanation for this phenomenon.
The most obvious property that NonScents has is that of adsorption, whereby the negative charge on those crystals is able to attract the positive end of polarized molecules. The polarized molecules will then be attached to the sides of the NonScents crystals in a way that is similar to a piece of steel that is attracted to and becomes attached to a magnet. The difference between this analogy is that the magnet uses a magnetic force for the attraction and attachment, whereas the NonScents zeolite crystals and the polarized molecules have electrostatic charges (electric charge that does not move) which can accomplish the same thing. Somehow this property must be able to interrupt the biological process that causes many types of pain. Next it would be pertinent to consider the biological factors that cause pain.

Pain is very important to a living being because it warns a person or animal of something that is very wrong or dangerously threatening the body. Thus pain is an urgent message that is passed onto the central nervous system to be identified and analyzed. Therefore, it is necessary to consider how the pain message is transmitted to the central nervous system. Standard textbooks in zoology and comparative anatomy indicate that information is passed on to the central nervous system by a complex network of nerves. The nervous system is composed of a group of nerve cells called neurons. The cells have many very fine and delicate tube-like extensions that are called dendrites which have many branches that wrap around other cells in the body. It is from these connections that a neuron receives incoming signals. One part of the neuron extends away from the nerve cell body as a long and thicker extension, and is called the axon. This portion of the nerve cell provides a pathway over which signals can travel from a cell body for a long distance to another part of the nervous system. An axon may be anywhere from a centimeter to a meter or more long, a single neuron and its axon does not usually go all the way to the brain or central nervous system. Instead, the axon terminal end, bifurcates into many small branches which connect with other neurons at their dendrite or axion branches. The point of connection to another nerve cell is called a synapse .(2) This is a relay point between two cells where the information from one cell must be passed onto another. The synapse consists of two parts: a knob-like tip of an axon terminal and a receptor region on the surface of another neuron. However, these two membranes are separated by a small gap called the synaptic cleft.

Somehow, the message from one neuron must be passed across this synaptic gap. Precisely how this is accomplished is still not completely understood. However, it must involve some kind of an electrochemical reaction in the vicinity of the synapse. Scanning electron microscope photos have shown small vesicles in the synaptic membrane that contain packets of a transmitter chemical (3,4) that has been identified as acetylcholine or noradrenaline.(5) When these vesicles are opened up the transmitter chemical is released, and it bridges the synaptic cleft so that the message is transmitted to the next neuron. Research has identified a number of chemicals that have either proven to be neurotransmitters, or at least meet many of the criteria for such a substance. In this way the message eventually reaches the central nervous system.

The fluid inside a neuron cell is also known to be much more concentrated in potassium than the body fluids outside the cell which are rich in sodium. If this equilibrium is disrupted the nerve cell may not function properly and the message transmittal process may become eratic or even shut down. Zeolites do adsorb heavy metals very effectively. In fact clinoptilolite, which is the variety of zeolite in NonScents, shows a strong preference to adsorb large atoms with a single positive charge such as potassium. Both sodium and potassium have only a single positive charge, but potassium is the larger so it is preferred for adsorption.
This senario would suggest that many small crystals of NonScents which range in size from less than a micron to several microns in diameter could easily cover up neuron endings in the synapse area. One micron equals one millionth 10 of a meter. That



endings in the synapse area. One micron equals one millionth 10" of a meter. That size is better understood by the fact that it would take about 400 microns to fit over the dot in the "i" in the word micron. The adsorption from the crystals may desiccate the neuron of much of its potassium and disrupt the message transmitting process. The NonScents crystals may even adsorb much, if not all of the chemical transmitter, such as acetylcholine. In such a way the message transmitting process would be shut down, and the pain message would not reach the central nervous system. Therefore, the sensation of pain would cease to exist.
Even in a very small wound such as a sting from a bee, wasp, fire ant, stinging nettles, etc. there is plenty of room for the tiny NonScents crystals to enter the damaged area and adsorb toxins which cause pain and swelling. It must be remembered that the vast majority of poisonous chemicals that are very dangerous are usually toxic in extremely small quantities. In the vast majority of cases it does not require much NonScents to adsorb such small quantities of toxins. If the toxins are removed quickly from a wound it is reasonable to assume that the pain will be terminated or greatly reduced. Removal of the toxin would also greatly decrease the severity of the wound, and in addition swelling would also be decreased or eliminated
Many toxins are known to have an acidic pH. NonScents, and most zeolites, when placed in a small quantity of neutral water will cause its pH to become slightly alkaline. Thus, in some cases NonScents may also help detoxify a toxin by neutralizing its pH and changingits chemistry. This probably is notavery important aspect of bringing relief to most stings orinfections because if it was only a simple matter of neutralising the pH of a toxin, with baking soda would suffice. However, in some cases, such as with gout the alkaline pH may help to dissolve the uric acid crystals in the infected area more efficiently which would bring relief to that kind of condition.

A hot tub or whirlpool bath has a tendency to cause the tiny crystals of NonScents to adhere to a persons body. The small size of these crystals will cause many of them to adhere against many of the smallest pores of the skin. Thus, even though one side of the crystal maybe adsorbing water from the tub, the other side of the crystal would be available to adsorb toxins from the body that come in contact with the skin. Thus, large portions of the body could become detoxified and bring relief from pain and swelling in various parts of the body.


References Cited
(1) Melzack, R., Feb. 1961, The Perception of Pain.
(2) Stevens, C.F., Sept. 1979, The Neuron, Sri. American, P.55-65.
(3) Axelrod, J., June 1974, Neurotransmitters, Sci American, P.59-71.
(4) Schwartz, J.H., April 1980, The Transport of Substances in Nerve Cells, Sri.
American. P.152-171.
(5) Lester, H.A., 1977, The Response to Acetylcholine, Sri American, P.107-117.