Instant pain relief!

No matter where your sore spots are or how long they’ve been bothering you, these simple remedies can help you feel great again—fast!

✓ Speed healing with ginger root oil

Massaging achy muscles and joints with ginger root essential oil can cut your recovery time as much as 50%, researchers say. Ginger root oil is packed with nature’s own anti-inflammatories, which reduce swelling, relax tight muscles and encourage tissue healing. ■ To do: Mix five drops into 1 oz. of unscented lotion and massage into sore spots for two minutes twice daily. One option: Majestic Pure’s Ginger Essential Oil ($24 for 4 oz., Amazon.com). ■ Tip: Consuming 1 Tbs. daily of a different anti-inflammatory oil— extra-virgin olive oil—will help soothe your most stubborn aches in as little as three weeks, Italian research suggests.

✓ Alleviate aches 35% with protein

Prodding your brain to make more mood- boosting serotonin won’t just put a smile on your face, it will also raise your pain threshold, reducing chronic aches and pains 35% or more, Canadian research shows. And eating a 4- oz. to 6- oz. serving of skinless poultry, lean red meat, fish or seafood daily can switch on more of the brain enzymes that make pain- quashing serotonin in as little as 10 days!

✓ KO swelling

and stiffness with curcumin

A recent review of 22 studies suggests that curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) reduces stiffness, swelling and pain 50% or more in three months— better results than prescription meds offer! How? By reducing your production of COX-2, an enzyme responsible for revving the body’s production of damaging tissue inflammation, says study coauthor Yves Henrotin, PH.D. ■ Tip: For best results, choose a BCM-95 curcumin supplement (such as Life Extension’s Super BioCurcumin ($28 for 60 capsules, Lef.com/ww). This type of curcumin is seven times easier to absorb than the curcumin in turmeric. ■ Important: Always check with your doctor before taking any supplement for the first time.

✓ Elevate endorphins with activity

A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research shows that just going for a 20-minute walk each day can dampen pain, relax muscle spasms and speed healing of injuries as effectively as getting weekly professional massages— and those walks won’t cost you a dime! Moving the large muscles in your hips and legs kick-starts your brain’s production of its own powerful painkilling endorphins. Plus, it boosts the flow of oxygen-and nutrient-rich blood to the damaged tissues that need it.

✓ Calm pain nerves with green tea

You can tamp down everything from headaches to foot pain in as little as three months just by sipping 24 oz. of green tea daily, report researchers in the journal Chinese Medicine. The credit goes to green tea’s catechins, compounds that calm overactive pain nerves, reduce inflammation and encourage your immune system to repair damaged tissues, says study coauthor Priya Thambi, PH.D.

✓ Sooth stress with peppers

Whether you love mild bell peppers or spicy jalapeños, adding them to your daily diet could cut your aches and pains 25% in one month, say University of Arizona researchers. Peppers are loaded with vitamin C, a nutrient that reduces your production of cortisol, a troublesome stress hormone that can make chronic aches and pains flare.