Key Laboratory of Modern Preparation of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanchang 330004, P. R. China.
Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
Am J Chin Med. 2020;48(1):1-16. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X20500019.
Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience in many diseases and is often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. Pain negatively affects the quality of life and increases high health expenditures. Drugs with analgesic properties are commonly used to relieve pain, but these Western medications could be overwhelmed by side effects including tolerance and addiction. Herbal medicines may provide alternative measures for pain management. In this review paper, after introduction of Chinese medicine theory and treatment modality, emphasis is placed on the application of Chinese herbs and herbal formulations in pain management. Three of the most commonly used herbs, i.e., , , and , are reviewed. Subsequently, using this ancient medical remedy, Chinese herbal formulation in treating common medical conditions associated with pain, such as headache/migraine, chest pain, abdominal pain, low back pain, neuropathic pain, osteoarthritis, and cancer pain, is presented. Chinese herbal medicines could be considered as a complementary and integrative approach in the modern armamentarium in combating pain.
疼痛是许多疾病中一种不愉快的感觉和情绪体验，通常由强烈或损伤性刺激引起。疼痛会降低生活质量，并增加高额的健康支出。具有镇痛作用的药物通常被用于缓解疼痛，但这些西药可能会因副作用（包括耐受和成瘾）而失效。草药可能为疼痛管理提供替代措施。在这篇综述论文中，在介绍了中医理论和治疗方式之后，重点介绍了中药和草药配方在疼痛管理中的应用。对三种最常用的草药，即、、和，进行了综述。随后，介绍了使用这种古老的医疗方法，中草药配方治疗与疼痛相关的常见医疗病症，如头痛/偏头痛、胸痛、腹痛、腰痛、神经痛、骨关节炎和癌痛。中草药可以被视为对抗疼痛的现代武器库中的一种补充和综合方法。
