When you are a busy parent, you’re rushing from the school run to your job and back home to get the housework done. We like to think of ourselves as invincible, so we don’t consider ourselves as people to put first, until we do ourselves a mischief and bam – we’re out of action. For most people, the first thing to do when an injury occurs is to reach for the painkillers and start popping them while carrying on. The thing is, if you have damaged your joints or muscles and you don’t give your body the adequate rest it requires for healing, all you’re going to do is pop pills to mask the pain and prolong the recovery by weeks if not months.

When you find yourself out of action for a few weeks, your stress levels go up. How will the family manage without you doing the school runs? How will you keep up with the kids? Can you afford the best legal team for injuries to help yourself financially while you recover? All of these questions need to be answered so that you can minimise your stress levels and recover properly. While you are busy working out all of that, you need to consider putting down the paracetamol and NSAIDs. These offer you some short-term relief, sure, but what about the side effects? What about your body and its reliance on painkillers? You need to solve the problem and build your body up instead of hoping to cure the issue with a little white pill. Finding natural remedies to get your body back to its best is important. Not only can you help yourself to build up your immune system and get your fighting strength up, you can spend the next few weeks recovering in the most natural way possible. Check out our top natural pain relief items for when you have been put out of action:

Mint. If you have suffered a head injury that has led to persistent headaches or neck pain, a menthol gel can really help to ease the pain. Balms that have been infused with mint are the perfect pain relief for a headache, as menthol stimulates the nerves that communicate with the brain to relieve the pain. This is why cold packs work on the back of the neck – menthol feels like the ‘cold’.

Sunlight. Lower back pain is not something to joke about, but if you can hobble into the backyard on a sunny day, you could help yourself massively. Light exposure regulates the serotonin and melatonin levels which can regulate the pain you are feeling. Of course, for the more severe injuries, light therapy may be the best option for you and you can read about that here.

Cherry Juice. If you have been in a car accident or similar, you could suffer from delayed onset muscle pain, or DOMS. Mixing an ounce of very tart cherry juice into three ounces of water can help with muscle soreness, and you can read about how cherry juice can help muscle pain here.

TENS. Knees, hips and the spine are always under strain, and using a TENS machine to ease pain is a good idea. The electrical signals will release endorphins in the brain, which combat your pain. You can even control it with an app, which means you don’t have to leave the couch if you don’t want to!

Curcumin. Most commonly found in turmeric, curcumin can help to alleviate pain in the joints, and if you have injured your knee or hip in a trip or fall, it could really help. It has anti-inflammatory properties and inflammation is a common cause of pain. You can cook with it or take it in tablet form, whichever way you do it it’s a perfectly natural pain reliever.

These natural pain relievers can keep you away from the pills and medicines found over the counter. Natural and plant based solutions offer a solid remedy for pain relief, especially for smaller injuries. While you find yourself stuck on the sofa with your ankles or knees raised for rest, do some research on what pain relief could work for you. If you can get up and about, yoga and low impact exercise can also aid your recovery and make you feel good at the same time. Next time you find yourself groaning in pain, why not give one of these a try and see how you get on?