Natural Pain Remedies?

[Teasha]

I would like to know if there is any natural pain preventives/remedies that can be added to Rockets food. I would like him to be able to ingest it while he is eating so he can have more help with pain control. I read this in one of the stickies:

-Pain, applied externally can desensitize nerve endings, thus reducing sensations of pain.

But I really want something to add to his food. He was in a lot of pain today and it made me feel terrible. Granted it was my fault because I forgot to give him his dose of Avitech Herbal Extracts Arthritis Formula from Kathie. But it made me think that if he had something in his food it would help control pain more in between his doses too.

So does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[wonderb]

I wonder if something homeopathic would be helpful? I know Arnica and Hypericum are used for pain. You can get it at a health food store or whole foods.

 

[Teasha]

I wonder if something homeopathic would be helpful? I know Arnica and Hypericum are used for pain. You can get it at a health food store or whole foods.

Can it be sprinkled on the food?

 

[wonderb]

It is a tincture. I would think you would want to give it to him directly, because you use very little. I don't know a ton about homeopathy, and even less about its use in birds, but I know people have used it before. Maybe someone else will be able to give you dosing suggestions.

 

[Teasha]

I have him on something given directly, wanted to use something else kind of as a boost. It can be added to the water too but I wanted to use a different herb or whatever so he did not become immune to it...

 

[Mizzely]

Chamomile flowers can help with aches and pains, keep calm, and can be fed directly

 

[karen256]

I don't know how helpful this is, but willow bark contains a small amount of aspirin and is considered to be a bird-safe wood. When my budgie had a tumor on his chest that was starting to sort of scab over, I started offering him willow branches to nibble on, thinking he might instinctively nibble on it to ease any pain he might be in (mostly I didn't want him to pick at the tumor). I have no idea if it helped as he didn't really seem to be in any pain and he was probably just chewing on it for fun - but it didn't hurt anyway.
What I did for my budgie was gather the long, thin new branches with nice tender bark, and braid a couple of them into a ring and then I just hung it up like a swing for him.

 

[Piccha]

Arnica Montana is your best bet both internally and topically. To be quite honest, applied topically is much more effective than internally for immediate results because the extract (depending on the type) is absorbed to the pain site, versus having to go through the digestive tract and some of the active will be destroyed in the digestive process. Then after that the extract will be available to the wound site for relief.

There is info available regarding dosing arnica for parrots both topically and internally (arnica is of the same plant family as chamomile, but much more effective.