Pain Relief Without Pills

We feel your pain. But you shouldn't. Whether it's in your back, neck, head, knees, or anywhere else, pain doesn't do you any good. See, when you chronically hurt, your body's pain receptors start to expect it, which actually ratchets up the pain a notch. If you tell your body it's okay to ache -- by not doing anything about it -- you're reinforcing the message that pain is okay. But you can reset this response. One of the cheapest and most interesting ways to do this yourself -- no docs, no drugs, no medical devices needed -- is with a remedy you probably already own: your headphones.

Put them on and turn on some soothing sounds. When people with osteoarthritis listened to relaxing music through headphones for 20 minutes every day for 2 weeks, their bodies felt better. In fact, the more often they listened, the better they felt. These folks listened to Mozart, but if he's not at the top of your playlist, just pick something else that's fairly slow -- it should have fewer than 80 beats per minute.

Other research has found even more benefits from music. Unrelenting pain makes people feel powerless, but music somehow helps restore feelings of confidence and control. And more power equals less depression from the pain (and, in a chicken-and-egg way, less depression may give you less pain). So when you want to tune out what hurts, tune in daily to a slow program on your iPod. For the greatest pain-busting benefits, try not to skip sessions.