by Michele Cagan, HSI reporter
On a bad arthritis morning, brushing your teeth can bring tears to your eyes. And on a day like that, your fingers may be too stiff to even open the pill bottle.
You need relief…fast. That’s where Joint Rescue comes in—it’s a comprehensive herbal formula that tackles pain and inflammation as soon as you start rubbing it on. And that’s not all. With repeated use, the powerful healing herbs in this proprietary formula can help your joints mend over time.
That’s right—Joint Rescue doesn’t just take away the pain. In time, with regular use, it can even start fixing the cause of your pain.
Modern-day poultice gives you pain relief with no muss or fuss
In the past, healers would treat a painful injury with a poultice (a soft, damp cloth filled and infused with healing herbs). Poultices were so effective, they were used for centuries…and, in fact, they’re still used—mainly on horses to relieve inflammation. And while horses don’t seem to mind, I doubt you’re into the idea of walking around with a pile of herbs and linen wrapped around your legs.
It was when he was applying comfrey poultices to his horses that Steve Frank, founder of and former chief herbalist at Peaceful Mountain, was inspired to create a modern-day poultice for people. Instead of wrapping the herbs in linen to form a bulky bandage, he created a water-based gel that delivers the full strength of seven healing herbs without any of the fuss.
Since water-based gels are easily absorbed by your skin, the anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties of these specifically selected herbs are fully bioavailable. That means quick, strong relief for you…with no greasy residue left on your skin or your clothes. And because Joint Rescue goes right on the site of your pain, it gets right to work, unlike pills that have to first be digested and make their way through your bloodstream until they finally reach the right destination.
Full-strength herbal ingredients deliver full-strength pain relief
Peaceful Mountain’s Joint Rescue contains full-strength herbs, unlike homeopathic formulas, so you get the full benefit of the herbs’ pain-relieving powers. And this combination of ingredients was carefully chosen to make sure your pain would be attacked from every angle, leaving no source untreated.
Many of the seven herbs that come together to rescue your joints will be familiar to you, and some may be new. But all of them tackle pain, stiffness, or inflammation with a unique approach—and they all work together for maximum relief.
Devil’s claw, a South African tuber, is well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties. The people of Madagascar and the Kalahari desert have been using this plant to treat pain for thousands of years. When Europeans discovered devil’s claw in the early 1900s, they immediately began using it for pain and inflammation.
Most studies involving devil’s claw have focused on supplements—but there’s strong evidence backing its pain-relieving properties:
- One four-month study (which involved 122 people with hip and knee arthritis) found that devil’s claw reduced pain at least as well as diacerhein (a popular European drug for osteoarthritis), but caused fewer side effects. On top of that, the patients in the devil’s claw group were able to take fewer painkillers than those in the drug group.
- A twelve-week study, this one including 75 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, got stunningly positive results. Patients’ pain scores dropped by almost 25% on average…with only two patients reporting minor adverse events (indigestion and a feeling of fullness).
White willow (also known as willow bark) has also been used for thousands of years, this one by the Chinese and Europeans. History traces willow bark all the way back to Hippocrates (creator of the Hippocratic oath), when patients simply chewed on the bark to knock out inflammation. This natural analgesic contains salicin—which is chemically similar to salicylic acid, a.k.a. aspirin. And though white willow works more slowly than aspirin when it comes to pain relief, the relief seems to last longer…and with a much lower dose.
One reason white willow may work better is that aspirin contains only one key chemical compound, while its natural counterpart contains many other healing properties. And when white willow’s effectiveness has been put to the test in studies, the results have been overwhelmingly positive:
- A study that included 78 patients, all hospitalized with knee or hip osteoarthritis, found that white willow relieved pain much better than did a placebo.
- Another small study, this one including people with osteoarthritis of the lower back or neck, showed a substantial improvement for the white willow group as compared with the placebo group.
Arnica may be the most famous topical pain herb, but Joint Rescue brings it to you in an uncommon way: full-strength. (Most arnica preparations—both oral and topical—on the market are homeopathic, meaning they contain infinitesimal amounts of healing compounds.) Arnica has been widely used since the 1500s by Native Americans, primarily to ease pain, reduce inflammation, and speed wound healing. In naturopathic medicine, it’s often the first-line defense for sprains and bruises… and it’s now being used more and more to treat arthritis.
Arnica has been tested extensively in its topical form…and proven effective over and over again:
- A study involving 79 people with osteoarthritis of the knee found that arnica gel brought on significant decreases in pain and stiffness with twice-daily use.
- A larger study, this one with 204 osteoarthritis patients, pitted arnica gel against ibuprofen gel…and the arnica gel proved at least equally effective, with a lower side-effect profile. In fact, the arnica group enjoyed a slightly higher pain reduction percentage—26.6% pain reduction, compared to 23.9% for the ibuprofen gel group.
Comfrey is used extensively in traditional folk medicine—and that’s how it was dubbed “bone knit.” One of its key components, allantoin, is a known cell proliferant (promoting cell growth), which helps explain its success at healing sprains and broken bones. Comfrey is also well known for its anti-inflammatory powers and its ability to heal bruises quickly.
Despite worries over potential side effects with oral comfrey, several studies demonstrate topical comfrey’s pain-relieving effectiveness:
- An open study that included nearly 500 patients with various painful conditions (including sprains and distortions) found that pain improved by an average 45-47%, and that morning joint-stiffness time dropped by an average 17 minutes. On top of that, at least two-thirds of the participants either stopped taking or took smaller doses of NSAIDs and other pain medications once they began using the topical comfrey preparation.
- A placebo-controlled study of 220 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee found that comfrey ointment reduced pain, improved mobility, and improved quality of life. On the WOMAC scale (a standard for rating arthritic pain), patients in the comfrey group reported pain-score reductions of 60.4, as compared with a drop of just 14.7 in the placebo group.
Poke root (also known as pokeweed) has long been used in folk medicine to treat both rheumatism and arthritis. It turns out that poke root is a natural antiviral, and the Peaceful Mountain herbalists included it in the formula because many medical professionals believe that some forms of arthritis stem from viral causes.
This native North American herb is chock-full of pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP), which has demonstrated broad antiviral activity in the lab. And on top of that, other compounds in poke root, called saponins, exhibit anti-inflammatory properties, doubling its antiarthritic punch.
- In vitro studies have shown that PAP can restrain the replication process of a wide range of viruses, including influenza, herpes simplex, and poliovirus.
- One of the saponins in poke root, phytolaccagenin, was shown to have anti-inflammatory properties when tested on rats, specifically demonstrated by a standard called the rat-paw-edema model.
Turmeric has lately come to be known for its potential against some cancers, but it’s been used much longer for its powerful anti-inflammatory properties…for at least 4,000 years, in fact. It’s a staple of both Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine in treating a wide variety of ailments, from liver problems to wound healing to inflammation. It’s very effective against swollen joints because of its ability to reduce the levels of inflammatory enzymes in the body—specifically, COX-2 (sound familiar?) and LOX.
So far, most of the research on turmeric and inflammation has been in vitro or using supplements rather than topical formulas, but that’s just beginning to change. The existing research, though, has a lot to say about turmeric’s ability to quell painful inflammation:
- Extensive research has traced the anti-inflammatory effects to a key component of turmeric—curcumin, which regulates a number of biological factors (such as cytokines and enzymes) all linked with inflammation.
- One study involved rats that had been induced to experience rheumatoid arthritis, and were then treated with turmeric. The turmeric extract “profoundly inhibited joint inflammation and periarticular joint destruction.” Translation: It really worked.
Celery seed is commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine—and has been for thousands of years—to treat the pain and inflammation that come with arthritis and gout. This herb seems to work so well due to its natural detoxification properties and its reputation as a diuretic—both properties may help ease inflammation, and in turn reduce pain.
Though there’s no published research to back up the fact that celery seed helps ease arthritis in humans, the anecdotal evidence… like centuries of use…is strong.
Arthritis sufferers weigh in on Joint Rescue
Studies proving the effectiveness of individual ingredients are a critical part of product research, but knowing how the formula works as a whole—on people suffering from arthritic pain—tells a better story. And some of those stories have been shared with us…
K. Kelley from St. Louis, MO had this to say to the folks at Peaceful Mountain: “I recently bought your Joint Rescue gel and would like to thank you for creating such a wonderful product! I have severe osteoarthritis and have been in great deal of pain for the last 2 years. Normal painkillers do not help anymore…then I tried your gel…and now at least I can walk without pain, thank you!”
And J. Wagner from Phoenix, AZ had this to add: “I have had very bad arthritis pain in my hands for over 10 years and beyond taking powerful painkillers (that are supposedly bad for you) nothing has worked to stop the pain. I was given your Joint Rescue product by a friend last week and can not believe how much relief I am getting. I can even open some jars now!”
Comfrey caution
While I was researching comfrey, a lot of red flags popped up, even some severe warnings. You see, comfrey contains some toxic compounds…toxic when taken internally, that is. These compounds, known as pyrrolizidine alkaloids, are extremely toxic for your liver—which is why the United States. and several other countries banned the sale of oral comfrey products.
Still, it’s smart to use caution when dealing with comfrey. For one thing, it’s best not to apply comfrey preparations to broken skin. And it’s very important to make sure any topical products you use that contain this powerful herb have been produced by reputable manufacturers like Peaceful Mountain.
Breaking News — HSI Exclusive
Partner product increases the pain-fighting power
As this issue was going to press, I got an urgent message from Chris Groutt (Executive Vice President of Peaceful Mountain). He’d just gotten the results of a pilot study for Joint Rescue Dietary Supplement…and the results were stunning.
This single-ingredient supplement contains BiovaFlex™, a natural egg shell extract rich in joint-healing nutrients. For six weeks, 42 patients with persistent joint pain took BiovaFlex™ daily…but it didn’t take that long to see impressive results:
- Pain symptoms were reduced by 16.42% within 14 days.
- Knee functionality improved by 9.19% in just seven days.
- Average WOMAC scores dropped by more than 20% over the course of the study
HSI Members are learning about Joint Rescue Dietary Supplement before anyone else. In fact, it wasn’t available at all before mid-August. We wanted to tell you about it right away…and let you take advantage of an exclusive HSI member discount for this cutting-edge new product.
And we’ll give you the full story…including some highly beneficial ‘side effects’…in next month’s Members Alert.
Joint Rescue, Peaceful Mountain. Ph (888)303-3388; www.peacefulmountain.com/hsi. A 3.5-oz. tube of Joint Rescue is normally US$13.95, but until October 15, 2009 HSI members will receive a 20% discount. For phone orders, mention HSI and receive the same discount.
Joint Rescue Dietary Supplement, Peaceful Mountain. Ph (888)303-3388; www.peacefulmountain.com/hsi. A 30-count bottle is normally US$29.95, but until October 15, 2009 HSI members will receive a 20% discount. For phone orders, mention HSI and receive the same discount.
