Red pepper natural pain killer, says medical expert

Red pepper natural pain killer, says
medical expert
on november 27, 2013 at 1:06 pm in health
Lagos – A Consultant Neurologist, Prof. Adesola
Oguniyi, on Wednesday in Lagos said that red
pepper was a natural pain killer and an alternative
to medication.
Oguniyi, who works with the University of Ibadan,
said that extracts from red pepper were essential
in pain treatment.
“Studies have shown in some parts of the world
that extracts from red pepper, especially the
capsicum specie, can actually be used to treat pain.
“It is not the pepper that will be rubbed directly on
the affected area, it is the extracts from it which
would have been processed in a laboratory.
“It is useful as a topical preparation; when you
apply it on the skin, initially, it burns, but after a
while, the person does not feel the pain again,“ he
said.
According to Oguniyi, red pepper extract is safe for
most people, although it is not supposed to be
applied directly on open wounds or irritated areas.
He said that various types of mild and moderate
pains could be controlled with red pepper extracts
as an alternative to medication or medical
procedures.
According to him, the extracts can be applied on the
affected areas of pains such as back pains, cluster
headaches, rheumatoid arthritis, shingles and nerve
pains due to diabetes.
Oguniyi urged researchers to work toward
developing extracts from pepper in large quantity.
“We have experts and researchers in the country
who can do that.
“We eat a lot of pepper here; we have pepper in
abundance in our country; researchers should be
able to come up with something efficacious in
managing some painful conditions,’’ he said.(NAN)