The thing that makes inflammation difficult to treat is that it’s just a normal response to injury. It’s a way for your body to prepare the injured area to get better. The body is trying to heal the injured tissue.
The inflammation also protects the area. It also causes pain, which will also help you make good decisions about treatment. When something is swollen and hurts we all tend to seek medical attention a lot faster.
Types of Injury that Can Cause Inflammation
According to WebMD.com, inflammation is the body’s response to protect us from infection, bacteria, and viruses. But, conversely, some illnesses seem to be caused by inflammation.
In fact, that’s where autoimmune diseases come from. Essentially, the body is producing an inflammation response when none is needed, causing swelling, discomfort and sometimes severe pain.
There are different types of injury that can cause inflammation. Your body either experienced an external or internal trauma, or for some reason you lack good circulation. Finally, another way to end up inflamed is some form of toxin or poison which can be either external or internal.
- Trauma – Swelling (inflammation) happens with any type of trauma such as blunt force pressure on tissue– the force applied too hard to any tissue, damage from sharp objects, falling, and other things can all cause trauma. Even twisting your ankle can cause trauma and thus swelling.
- Anoxia – Lack of oxygen can also lead to inflammation. If you have poor circulation you might see swelling in the legs. If you cut off the blood supply to any part of your body it can swell in an effort to try to protect the area.
- Poison – It doesn’t have to be what’s considered a real poison. It could be an allergen, an infection, a bite or other substance that your body wants to get rid of. For example, if you’re allergic or even sensitive to gluten your body might signal to swelling, usually in the belly. Another example is gout. If you have gout, you have a buildup of uric acid in your blood which causes crystals to form in the joints which causes inflammation.
Whenever you experience any type of inflammatory response you will likely experience pain, even if swelling isn’t present. This response could last just a few minutes, or it could be a chronic condition that causes inflammation permanently, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia. Most of the pain is caused by the inflammation itself. If you can lessen the body’s inflammatory response, you can lessen the pain you’re experiencing.
How Inflammation Affects Your Body
Inflammation is supposed to help your body protect and heal itself. But, sometimes this reaction can get out of control. Often, wide spread inflammation in the body causes all sorts of diseases. Some people believe that inflammation can be traced to the root of most diseases that we suffer from today.
This is likely true since there are so many diseases that can lead to inflammation, as well as develop due to long term inflammation.
- Fibromyalgia
- Gouty Arthritis
- Low Back Pain
- Neck Pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
Inflammation may cause redness, swelling, joint pain, joint stiffness, be warm to the touch, and even cause loss of joint function due to the excruciating pain that can arise from some of these conditions, like gout. You can even have symptoms that feel sort of like the flu with fever, chills, fatigue, headaches, loss of appetite, and muscle stiffness.
Diagnosis
Usually, you’ll need to seek medical attention to get properly diagnosed if you think you have an inflammatory condition. No matter whether it’s due to an injury or due to a chronic illness, seeking medical care from an expert will help you get through it. Although, it may not cure it.
Medical History
The way you’ll get diagnosed is your doctor will take a careful history, conduct a physical exam, evaluate all your symptoms, as well as use imaging technology, such as X-rays and MRIs. They will also test your blood levels for issues that might show up, such as high uric acid levels and low vitamin D levels.
Evaluation
Depending on the seriousness of your condition, you’ll either be treated now with medications, home instructions, or even hospitalization. Some types of inflammatory conditions can be life-threatening, even if you have no pain associated with it. Especially if it has something to do with your cardiovascular system, kidneys, or other important organs.
It can sometimes take trial and error to figure out what is going on when you have unspecified issues with inflammation. Tell your doctor all your symptoms even if they sound strange. Most people don’t share with their doctor all their symptoms because they don’t want to complain. But, it’s imperative that you share everything with your doctor so you can be treated properly.
Dealing with Inflammation
The goals of treating inflammation, of course, has to do with reducing it, but it also depends on what your diagnosis is. There are good ways to treat any condition caused by inflammation including diet.
Depending on the seriousness of your issue your doctor will want to do one or all the following:
- Cure the Disease – In some cases there will be medications and treatments that will cure the condition that is causing the inflammation. In that case, this option will be used.
- Control the Condition – Sometimes medications can be used to help control the condition. It might be as simple as an aspirin or might be a more serious controlled substance, like steroids, to lower inflammation.
- Slow Down the Disease – There are cases where there is no cure, but with the right diet, medication, and treatment, the progression of the disease causing the inflammation can be slowed using various treatment options.
- Modify Life Activities – A doctor may suggest different ways to modify your lifestyle such as by using a walker, cane, or by simply eating differently. Eating a non-inflammatory diet can help a lot.
- Relieve Pain – Doctors struggle with ways to help treat pain for people who are suffering. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get medications easily, but in other locations, you may not. Opiates aren’t considered to be a good treatment for inflammation but people report that they do help with pain.
- Improve Physical Health – Physical therapy can do wonders to help people who are dealing with inflammatory issues, whether from an injury or due to chronic illness. By teaching you to move better, and giving you active things you can do when you are suffering, physical therapy cannot be understated as helping with inflammation.
Dealing with inflammation medically is not always an option for every person due to lack of health insurance in some places. However, if you notice anything new about your symptoms it cannot be stressed enough that a doctor is the best person to give you the right advice for dealing with and making sense of inflammation.
Eating an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
One way you can help yourself if you suffer from any conditions that cause inflammation, or if you’ve developed an auto immune illness due to inflammation, is to eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods Include:
- Nuts
- Fish
- Fruit & Berries
- Vegetables
- Whole Grains (unless you are gluten intolerant)
- Healthy Oils
Food to Avoid Include:
- Refined Carbohydrates
- Fried Food
- Soft Drinks
- Red Meat
- Dairy
- Hydrogenated Oil
The diet that is closest to an anti-inflammatory diet that you can eat is The Mediterranean Diet. Essentially, you want to eat as close to nature as possible keeping meat to a minimum. Fill your plate with veggies and fruit instead. These are also very hydrating due to their high-water count.
In addition, you probably want to completely avoid foods that raise your blood uric acid levels like:
- Organ Meat
- Pork
- Beef
- Game
- Anchovies
- Sardines
- Herring
- Mackerel
- Scallops
- Gravy
- Beer
However, don’t worry because you can still enjoy a couple cups of coffee each day, but you should mostly drink water because it’s the beverage that’s going to help the most with inflammation.
Anti-Inflammation Smoothie
One thing you can try is to add an anti-inflammation smoothie to your daily regimen. This is a basic recipe that you can use to make many other smoothies.
Ingredients
1 Cup Ripe Pineapple, chopped
1 Cup Ripe Tart Cherries, pitted & stemmed
1 Cup Baby Spinach, washed
½ TSP Turmeric Powder
1.5 Ounces Tart Cherry Juice
½ TSP Ginger, grated
1 Cup Filtered Water or Green Tea
Blend together in a high-speed blender. You can add ice if you want it thicker and frozen. You can also freeze the fresh fruit first instead of adding ice. It’ll be more like an anti-inflammatory sorbet.
By adding turmeric, tart cherries, ginger, berries, chia seeds, pineapple, leafy greens, and even green tea to your smoothies you get a lot of anti-inflammatory foods plus a boost of nutrition.
Get creative and add what you think you’d like. The trick is to only use food that lowers inflammation and avoid foods that cause it. When you do that you can create your own anti-inflammatory smoothies.
Dealing with and making sense of inflammation might be a lifelong issue for some people. But, there are so many things you can do to help. Drink plenty of water, eat anti-inflammatory foods, and follow your doctor’s orders regarding caring for your health. But, think twice about some medications, such as opiates and steroids, as they have terrible side effects of their own. Always try a natural way first, unless your condition is life threatening.
Conclusion
Remember that diet does play a significant role with inflammation. If you can change your diet so that you’re eating an anti-inflammatory diet, it will help reduce your pain and symptoms. However, like everything, it may take time to notice any remarkable results.
Physical activity also plays a role in helping with inflammation, although this can be a tricky area. Too little or too much physical activity can lead to the same discomfort and stiff achy joints. It may take a while to find your sweet spot of how much activity is beneficial. You should always strive to increase those amounts, even if it’s only a very small amount every few weeks. If you try to do too much, too soon, you’ll likely end up stiff and achy. That will lead to you taking too many days off from activity.
