Healing from injuries

Prevent the chronic complications of trauma... special techniques for reducing chronic diseases.

Reading the recent article from Science Daily on Healing Arthritis Caused by Traumatic Injury, I wanted to share some insights from years of Tui Na practice and training in natural and Chinese medicine. Inflammation is the normal response to injury and assault on our bodies, in the sort term it helps to bring the nutrients, stem cells, and healing factors to areas of our bodies that need the attention. Unfortunately, inflammation easily becomes excessive or chronic, causing more damage then help.

There are several reasons the normal inflammatory response can become problematic:

• Not spending the time to rest and allow the body to clear damage from the injury. The body needs to rest and repair injuries and often the social and personal pressures of performance overwhelm the natural need to rest after an injury.
• Poor diet and other sources of chronic inflammation can cause the body to become overwhelmed with inflammatory signals. Even with rest, when the body is flooded with inflammatory signals it is nearly impossible to completely resolve inflammation around a given injury.
• Certain parts of the body are prone to chronic inflammation such as joints, hands, and the digestive tract. Some areas have poor vascular supply (joints), are constantly exposed to foreign substances (guts), or are under constant use (hands and fingers). In these sorts of places it is much harder for the body to properly respond to trauma and consequently, chronic inflammation is more likely to occur.

Luckily, there are some simple methods for assisting the body in its response to trauma and help avoid chronic complications such as arthritis, chronic fatigue, cancer, and other chronic diseases.

• The first response to trauma should be to remove whatever is causing the trauma. Stop running, remove the splinter, stop eating the food, get away from the stressful situation. All too often we forget this simple and fundamental first response by continuing to injure ourselves or ingnoring the pain, the inflamation cannot stop unless we stop the trauma.
• We should rest to allow our bodies to respond and resolve the inflammation. This means not going right back in the game or getting back on our feet too soon, it is extremely important to spend the time needed to heal before resuming our normal activities.
  
• Address chronic insults to our bodies: these include food allergies or intolerances, chronically stressful situations, chemical exposures, poor posture or ergonomics, repetitive stresses, and others. This is the area that takes the most attention and expertise in today's world, and often is difficult to manage with the pressures of living. I invite you to contact Golden Leaf Clinic for consultation on how to best approach this for yourself and family.
• For sports and joint injuries physical therapy including Tui Na, lymphatic massage, manipulation and gentle, low impact exercise is important to preserve function and avoid chronic complications. A well trained therapist should be able to assist in the healing of joint and sports injuries.
• There are several herbal, dietary and supplemental methods to directly assist in the healing process and specifically reduce chronic consequences of inflammation. Unfortunately there is no one-size fits all guide for use of these methods and a specialist should be consulted. Again, contact Golden Leaf Clinic for consultation and referral.
• Finally, there are many specific techniques such as meditation, Qi Gong, prayer, therapeutic massage, Tui Na and others that can directly reduce inflammation both generally and in specific injuries. The choice of method that best suits a given person or injury depends on many factors including preference, mechanism of injury, philosophical or spiritual belief and personal lifestyle. The choice should fit with your beliefs and lifestyle, make sense to you and be something you are willing to do regularly. In today's world of stress and environmental exposures this is something I suggest for anyone interested in living a long and healthy life.

If you haven't guessed by now, I suggest that everyone consult with an expert on how to reduce chronic inflammation. The doctors at Golden Leaf Clinic would be more than happy to consult with you, or provide referral, for both general considerations or specific injuries.

Life is a process of degeneration and regeneration, pain and growth, loss and fulfillment, loneliness and love. It requires full attention and diligence, it promises nothing but often gives more than we can hope for; relish in its beauty, tragedy, color and shadow. Embrace it and it will embrace you. -Drew Scott