DMSO is a Miraculous Therapy for Chronic Pain and Musculoskeletal Injuries
DMSO is a Miraculous Therapy for Chronic Pain and Musculoskeletal Injuries
The decades of evidence DMSO revolutionizes the practice of medicine
Story at a Glance:
•The standard approach for treating pain and musculoskeletal injuries typically involves giving NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen), and in more severe cases, opioids. Unfortunately, these drugs are extremely dangerous (e.g., each one kills tens of thousands of people each year), but nonetheless have remained the standard of care for decades.
•DMSO is a remarkably effective pain-killing agent, in many cases allowing individuals who’d been disabled for years by their pain (e.g., a failed spine surgery or severe arthritis—DMSO’s most popular use) to get their lives back. Furthermore, it can treat many types of pain other therapies do not work on (e.g., complex regional pain syndrome).
•DMSO is a highly effective therapy for healing wounds and creating healthy scars, making it particularly helpful for recovering from surgery.
•DMSO is incredibly effective for healing a wide range of acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., arthritis, headaches, neck and back strains, restless leg syndrome, sprained ankles, trigeminal neuralgia and numerous traumatic injuries). It typically has an 80-90% success rate and often has an instant and dramatic effect. This use was particularly popular with professional athletes, as it allowed many of them to quickly return to the field rather than be out for the rest of the season.
•In this article, I will review the scientific literature that explains how DMSO provides pain relief and healing, the vast body of evidence (comprising of thousands of patients) showing it indeed does, and our preferred DMSO home treatment protocols for pain, arthritis, and musculoskeletal injury (along with the best sources for procuring DMSO).
One of the curious facets of Western Medicine is that while money is always spent on “research,” whenever the occasional miracle drug comes out that works too well with a wide range of applications, it is inevitably consigned to the dustbin of history regardless of the data put forward for it.
In the first part of this series (which provides important context for this article), I listed the decades of evidence that demonstrates the simple (naturally occurring) chemical Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is a remarkably safe drug that completely transforms the care of many challenging and insurmountable illnesses (e.g., strokes, severe head trauma, spinal cord injuries, amyloidosis, Down’s Syndrome and dementia).
Note: after publishing the first article, I received many correspondences from readers who said DMSO was life saving when they had a stroke, many more testimonials on Twitter, and a few stories where it was used to treat a pet’s stroke (e.g., this reader’s dog).
However, while each of these applications, particularly DMSO’s utility in strokes, would completely change medicine and how those lifelong illnesses affect our society (and were what drove many doctors to spend decades researching DMSO), none of that accounts for why DMSO took America by storm and campaigns were launched (that members of Congress eventually joined) to overturn the FDA’s embargo on DMSO.
Rather, it was because DMSO solved three of the most common problems in medicine:
•It quickly heals a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., those routinely experienced by professional athletes or a chronic back injury leading to partial disability).
•It effectively treats a variety of joint disorders (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis).
•It’s an extremely effective and very safe painkiller.
Because of this, it was miraculous for many with chronic pain and disability (e.g., from osteoarthritis or a failed spinal surgery), particularly since all other pain-killing medications have significant (and frequently lethal) side effects and worse still—often don’t even work.
Note: a key theme to consider throughout this article is the immense difference in toxicity between DMSO and its conventional alternatives (such as corticosteroids and gabapentin). For example, NSAIDS and opioids each kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, whereas in over 60 years of use by millions of people, DMSO has not been linked to a single death. Likewise, NSAIDS are the leading cause of drug induced hospital admissions (because they are toxic to the heart and small intestine and particularly toxic to kidneys and stomach), whereas a systematic review of all published DMSO studies found the side effects associated with DMSO (e.g., typically skin irritation or a garlic-like odor and occasionally nausea, vomiting or diarrhea ) were minor and transient. Likewise, it’s very easy to overdose on an NSAID or Opioid, whereas a meticulous human study found taking 90 days of DMSO at 3-30 times the standard dosage did not cause any toxicity and was well tolerated by the research subjects (whereas almost any other drug would be extremely dangerous at doses that high).
This program about DMSO on 60 Minutes, for example, provides a context to how impactful it was for many Americans:
Additionally, shortly after this segment aired, a March 24, 1980, congressional hearing was held on the merits of DMSO, which grilled the FDA on its decades of stonewalling DMSO (leading to the FDA promising to treat DMSO fairly at the hearing).
Story at a Glance:
•The standard approach for treating pain and musculoskeletal injuries typically involves giving NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen), and in more severe cases, opioids. Unfortunately, these drugs are extremely dangerous (e.g., each one kills tens of thousands of people each year), but nonetheless have remained the standard of care for decades.
•DMSO is a remarkably effective pain-killing agent, in many cases allowing individuals who’d been disabled for years by their pain (e.g., a failed spine surgery or severe arthritis—DMSO’s most popular use) to get their lives back. Furthermore, it can treat many types of pain other therapies do not work on (e.g., complex regional pain syndrome).
•DMSO is a highly effective therapy for healing wounds and creating healthy scars, making it particularly helpful for recovering from surgery.
•DMSO is incredibly effective for healing a wide range of acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., arthritis, headaches, neck and back strains, restless leg syndrome, sprained ankles, trigeminal neuralgia and numerous traumatic injuries). It typically has an 80-90% success rate and often has an instant and dramatic effect. This use was particularly popular with professional athletes, as it allowed many of them to quickly return to the field rather than be out for the rest of the season.
•In this article, I will review the scientific literature that explains how DMSO provides pain relief and healing, the vast body of evidence (comprising of thousands of patients) showing it indeed does, and our preferred DMSO home treatment protocols for pain, arthritis, and musculoskeletal injury (along with the best sources for procuring DMSO).
One of the curious facets of Western Medicine is that while money is always spent on “research,” whenever the occasional miracle drug comes out that works too well with a wide range of applications, it is inevitably consigned to the dustbin of history regardless of the data put forward for it.
In the first part of this series (which provides important context for this article), I listed the decades of evidence that demonstrates the simple (naturally occurring) chemical Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) is a remarkably safe drug that completely transforms the care of many challenging and insurmountable illnesses (e.g., strokes, severe head trauma, spinal cord injuries, amyloidosis, Down’s Syndrome and dementia).
Note: after publishing the first article, I received many correspondences from readers who said DMSO was life saving when they had a stroke, many more testimonials on Twitter, and a few stories where it was used to treat a pet’s stroke (e.g., this reader’s dog).
However, while each of these applications, particularly DMSO’s utility in strokes, would completely change medicine and how those lifelong illnesses affect our society (and were what drove many doctors to spend decades researching DMSO), none of that accounts for why DMSO took America by storm and campaigns were launched (that members of Congress eventually joined) to overturn the FDA’s embargo on DMSO.
Rather, it was because DMSO solved three of the most common problems in medicine:
•It quickly heals a wide variety of musculoskeletal injuries (e.g., those routinely experienced by professional athletes or a chronic back injury leading to partial disability).
•It effectively treats a variety of joint disorders (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis).
•It’s an extremely effective and very safe painkiller.
Because of this, it was miraculous for many with chronic pain and disability (e.g., from osteoarthritis or a failed spinal surgery), particularly since all other pain-killing medications have significant (and frequently lethal) side effects and worse still—often don’t even work.
Note: a key theme to consider throughout this article is the immense difference in toxicity between DMSO and its conventional alternatives (such as corticosteroids and gabapentin). For example, NSAIDS and opioids each kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, whereas in over 60 years of use by millions of people, DMSO has not been linked to a single death. Likewise, NSAIDS are the leading cause of drug induced hospital admissions (because they are toxic to the heart and small intestine and particularly toxic to kidneys and stomach), whereas a systematic review of all published DMSO studies found the side effects associated with DMSO (e.g., typically skin irritation or a garlic-like odor and occasionally nausea, vomiting or diarrhea ) were minor and transient. Likewise, it’s very easy to overdose on an NSAID or Opioid, whereas a meticulous human study found taking 90 days of DMSO at 3-30 times the standard dosage did not cause any toxicity and was well tolerated by the research subjects (whereas almost any other drug would be extremely dangerous at doses that high).
This program about DMSO on 60 Minutes, for example, provides a context to how impactful it was for many Americans:
Additionally, shortly after this segment aired, a March 24, 1980, congressional hearing was held on the merits of DMSO, which grilled the FDA on its decades of stonewalling DMSO (leading to the FDA promising to treat DMSO fairly at the hearing).
How DMSO Works
In the first part of this series, I provided a wealth of evidence that demonstrates a few key properties of DMSO, such as:
•It rapidly spreading throughout the body once it contacts the skin (or is ingested), and if mixed with anything, brings that into the body as well.
•It protecting cells from a variety of otherwise lethal stressors (e.g., burns, being frozen, losing their blood supply, radiation, and sonic shockwaves). This amongst other things allows it to be a miraculous therapeutic for otherwise crippling injuries of the central nervous system (e.g., strokes and spinal cord injuries).
•It is incredibly safe (with the primary side effects being a temporary concentration dependent irritation when it’s applied to the skin and in certain individuals, an unpleasant garlic like odor that lasts for a few hours, while the primary severe side effect is a 1/2000 chance of an allergic reaction.).
•It significantly increases blood circulation throughout the body and simultaneously removes edema and excess fluid from where it does not belong. This is particularly important for the joints, as their structure predisposes them to having a limited blood supply (especially when they are damaged and need that blood to heal).
These help explain how DMSO is almost universally applicable to a wide range of conditions—but simultaneously are only some of its remarkable properties. For instance, I believe its ability to rapidly heal injuries and eliminate pain results from being highly anti-inflammatory, restoring critical blood flow, being an effective muscle relaxant, protecting cells from death, and blocking the conduction of problematic pain signals.
If you take a step back for a moment, it’s extraordinary a single substance can do all of that at the same time—particularly since the drugs we have that only do one or two of those (e.g., NSAIDs, steroids, or opioids) are often quite dangerous.
Note: in addition to these mechanisms, I believe that DMSO’s other properties may also explain its analgesic effects. For example, pain is often due to a tight muscle or injured tissue, and since DMSO treats each of these, it can eliminate the “root cause” of pain.
However, I believe DMSO’s least appreciated effect arises from its ability to eliminate blood stasis in the body, as in many cases, chronic pain is due to insufficient blood reaching an area (e.g., DMSO has been recognized to address the pain associated with blood clots). This builds on an observation from Chinese Medicine that blood stasis can cause severe pain throughout the body (e.g., sharp piercing pains are often associated with blood stasis) and my observation that blood stasis is a key disease of the modern age (in large part due to vaccines altering the electrical dispersion within the body and creating micro clots throughout it).
How DMSO Treats Pain
Note: I harbor strong ethical issues with animal experimentation (discussed further here) but am nonetheless citing animal studies because it is important for this information to be known.
A few mechanisms have been identified to explain how DMSO treats pain (many of which also likely account for DMSO’s remarkable ability to heal musculoskeletal injuries).
Conduction Blocking
Many different nerves exist in the body. One group, known as the “small fibers” are responsible for transmitting specific sensations and (particularly the C fibers) are frequently linked to debilitating chronic pain syndromes (e.g., small fiber neuropathy, is characterized by sensations of pins-and-needles, pricks, tingling, and numbness alongside burning pain and electrical shocks).
Note: the five most common symptoms of COVID vaccine injuries, in order, are fatigue, post-exertional malaise, brain fog (discussed further here), small fiber neuropathy, and dysautonomia.
DMSO selectively blocks the conductions of these smaller fibers, thereby stopping the pain without causing significant damage to the rest of the body or the body developing a tolerance to it (rather DMSO typically becomes more effective with time).
Note: alpha-delta (Aδ) fibers are responsible for sensing shallow, quick and sharp pain, whereas C fibers (especially when repeatedly triggered) mediate stronger somatic signals involving temperature, sensual touch, and muscle and joint pain—in essence comprising many common facets of chronic pain.
This is supported by the following data:
•One study evaluated sural nerves within cats and found that 5% DMSO slowed the conduction and decreased the amplitude of nerve impulses within the C fibers, while higher doses (9%) blocked it (with the block being instantaneous at 15%), and that these effects disappeared once DMSO was washed off. Another study of cat radial nerves found that at lower concentrations, DMSO blocked the conduction of small nerve fibers (first C and then Aδ), while at high concentrations, it blocked the conduction of larger fibers (alpha-beta [Aβ] and alpha-gamma [Aγ])
Note: this blockade is thought to be in part due to DMSO decreasing the resting membrane potential by changing its permeability to chloride and potassium (e.g., by blocking the leak channels).
•Another study found 5-10% DMSO blocked the afterdischarges of C-fibers (a process associated with painful stimuli).
•DMSO has been observed to suppress NMDA and AMPA induced ion fluxes in neurons, each of which are receptors linked to chronic pain (e.g., NMDA is linked to central pain sensitization).
Note: I believe this property may in part account for why DMSO treats complex regional pain syndrome. Likewise it has been proposed to explain its utility in treating cancer pain.
•DMSO has also been observed to block sodium and calcium ions' entry into cells (likewise, many local anesthetics work by blocking sodium ion entry). This effect has also been proposed to explain how DMSO can help cancer pain.
Note: DMSO has also been reported to significantly enhance the potency of local anesthetics (which in turn has been demonstrated in this study and this study).
•In a human study, 50% DMSO was found to produce partial anesthesia (numbness) to pinpricking sensation, while a questionable reduction occurred with 20%, and no effect was observed with 10% DMSO.
•Isolated frog sciatic nerves immersed in 6% DMSO for 30 to 120 minutes developed a 40% decrease in conduction velocity. Normal conduction velocity returned after the nerves were washed for one hour in Ringer’s solution.
Superficial radial nerves were isolated from adult cats and immersed in 75% DMSO for 60 minutes. Nerve conduction was totally abolished in the smaller nerve fibers (thought to be important in pain perception), but was reversible if the DMSO was washed off immediately once nerve conduction disruption began. Another author found that immersion in 5% to 10% DMSO completely blocked conduction in small peripheral nerve fibers from cats.
Note: DMSO temporarily blocking neurologic transmission may also treat pain by resetting pain circuits (as other methods that do this are highly effective for many of the challenging conditions DMSO also treats).
Choline Esterase Inhibition
The body has a variety of regulatory processes which in tandem allow it to maintain a steady internal state despite being exposed to numerous external stressors. One of them is to eliminate the neurotransmitters it produces so they do not excessively stimulate nerves. In turn, certain drugs (e.g., SSRI antidepressants) work by preventing this elimination, thereby raising the levels of a target neurotransmitter.
One of the key neurotransmitters in the body is acetylcholine, which serves a variety of functions such as being the primary neurotransmitter of the parasympathetic (rest and relax) branch of the autonomic nervous system. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors raise acetylcholine within the body by preventing its breakdown enzyme from eliminating it. These drugs in turn have a variety of functions, such as increasing parasympathetic activity or improving memory, but likewise if used excessively can cause a dangerous overdose known as “cholinergic syndrome.”
Note: years ago I tried numerous memory aids for studying and found the most effective one was a natural acetylcholine esterase inhibitor (which also had the side effect of creating vivid and lucid dreams).
Decades of research (e.g., this 1966 study, this 1966 study, this 1975 study, this 1983 study, this 1991 study, and this recent 2017 study) have shown that DMSO is an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor (and that it increases the pre-synaptic release of acetylcholine). That property in turn is believed to account for DMSO lowering the threshold for the vagal nerve to fire and DMSO’s powerful ability to increase parasympathetic function in the body (e.g., DMSO increases the response of the smooth muscle of the stomach to both muscle and nerve stimulation) and also to help with improved memory and concentration (although that could also simply be from improved cerebral circulation).
However, unlike other acetylcholine esterase inhibitors, at high doses it hasn’t been observed to cause a cholinergic syndrome (which may be because while under 1% DMSO is an acetylcholine esterase inhibitor, over 10% blocks cholinergic transmission, or because it is a competitive rather than irreversible inhibitor, or as the previously cited studies show, because its inhibition is significantly weaker than the pharmaceutical drugs used as acetylcholine esterase inhibitors).
Note: one of the few adverse effects of IV DMSO is certain individuals experiencing a partial reduction of the heart rate, which is likely due to DMSO’s effects on the autonomic nervous system.
Furthermore, in addition to enhancing parasympathetic function, DMSO also blocks the inhibitory effects of the sympathetic nervous system, both of which counteract the sympathetic symptomatology commonly seen in autonomic disorders.
Note: this property may also contribute to DMSO’s pain-relieving effects as existing research shows acetylcholine esterase inhibitors reduce chronic pain.
Anti-inflammatory:
Many of my colleagues who used DMSO in practice primarily used it for inflammation. It was incredibly effective in this regard, and unlike the other dangerous options (e.g., steroids or NSAIDs), DMSO is very safe. Since inflammation is a key component of both pain and musculoskeletal injury (e.g., “chronic inflammatory pain” is well recognized), this property likely is key to DMSO’s utility in those conditions.
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The best medicine for pain is never having existed to experience pain in the first place