Care and Control of Adhesive Arachnoiditis Depends on Water
/By Dr. Forest Tennant
Chronic illness tends to decrease one’s desire to drink fluids. If you have Adhesive Arachnoiditis (AA), however, you must drink some fluids about every 2 hours while awake. Why?
AA is an inflammatory disease of the spinal canal in which cauda equina nerve roots become attached by adhesions to the arachnoid-dural membranes covering the spinal canal.
The arachnoid membrane is unique among tissues in the body as it doesn’t have its own blood supply. No arteries feed into it. Consequently, it depends on a “full tank” of spinal fluid that comes from the fluids you drink. Spinal fluid brings nutrients and medication to the arachnoid. It also bathes the inflamed area and washes away inflammatory waste and toxins.
Spinal fluid must be constantly kept at a high level. The body makes about 500 milliliters (17 ounces) of spinal fluid a day. If you are dehydrated due to lack of regular fluid intake, you may not make enough spinal fluid to control AA, including its pain.
Water Soak Every Day
Soaking in water daily is also important to control pain and inflammation from AA.
Water soaking is an age-old remedy for pain that is still worthwhile. It is believed to relieve pain by relaxing muscles and increasing blood flow to damaged areas of the body.
Water soaking also extracts excess bioelectricity and inflammatory toxins that have accumulated due to inflammation and damage to the neurologic circuitry in the body.
Here is a list of water soaking measures that are applicable to a person with AA:
Stand in the shower and let water flow off your back, neck and legs.
Immerse your body up to your neck in a bathtub, hot tub, jacuzzi or pool.
Drape a warm, water-soaked towel over your back.
Soak your feet and ankles in warm water.
The soaks should be done for 5 to 15 minutes. Minerals or herbs can be put in foot baths. The most popular mineral preparation is Epsom Salts.
Forest Tennant, MD, DrPH, is retired from clinical practice but continues his research on the treatment of intractable pain and arachnoiditis. Readers interested in learning more about his research should visit the Tennant Foundation’s website, Arachnoiditis Hope. You can subscribe to its research bulletins here.
The Tennant Foundation gives financial support to Pain News Network and sponsors PNN’s Patient Resources section.
