Alternate treatment of musculoskeletal pain

Pain is a major complaint among people reporting at various health facilities yet it remains one of the most under treated patient complaint. Notwithstanding the significant advancements in pain research over the last decade, the development of effective pain killers is on the decline. This has resulted in various unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences such as loss of sleep and limitation of mobility among others by affected persons. Plants have played a remarkable role in health care since ancient times till date and remain an important source of medication for the many people living in developing countries. One such therapeutically useful medicinal plant in Ghana and other parts of Africa is Palisota hirsuta. This book assesses the anti-nociceptive effect of the aqueous extract of this plant in a rat model of musculoskeletal pain in comparison to some analgesics on the market. The results thus attempt to validate the plant's traditional uses and its value as a source for the discovery of new pain drug candidates. This book would be of benefit to all life science and pharmaceutical drug discovery researchers. Practitioners of herbal medicine would also find it of interest.