The Role of Inflammation in the Repair of Injuries
Many people consider inflammation a bad thing. When suffering from aches and pains, they'll reach for the Advil or Motrin, two of the most well known non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. They'll also reach for the ice pack to reduce inflammation. If you've were able to download the ebook, "Come Out of The Cold - Why icing injuries delays recovery and slows healing", you know that is the exact wrong approach. If you don't have that ebook, you can download it here:
Now. What's the deal with inflammation? The confusion comes from three main things;
1. The benefit of inflammation in the healing process
2. The difference between inflammation and swelling
3. The difference between acute and chronic inflammation
4. The pain associated with an injury and the readily available medications you can take.
Let's look at all four of these issues.
First, when you understand the role inflammation plays in the healing of injured tissue, you'll think twice before reaching for the Advil. Inflammation plays a critical role in the beginning stages of an injury and inflammation is essential for tissues to heal normally.
For example, let's consider the case of a twisted ankle. You're out playing basketball with friends and you roll your ankle. Right away, you feel pain and it begins to swell. Understand that the inflammation you're experiencing is actually triggering the body's immune system to clear away the damaged tissues, bring new oxygenation blood to the site and, most importantly, stimulating the area with new collagen fibers. These fibers are the scaffolding for new tissue. That scaffolding will become new tendon and ligament tissue as the body progresses through the phases of healing.
Now, here is an important distinction. Inflammation is the good part. The bad part is the swelling that can occur. Swelling is the build up of fluid in and around the area of injury. That build up will begin to put pressure on the surrounding blood vessels resulting in restricted blood flow to the injury. This is critical;
Clearing the swelling away from the injury is completely dependent on the lymphatic vessels. The lymph vessels require muscle contraction to function properly. Following an injury, if you subscribe to the R.I.C.E. method to treat the injury, and you Rest, you're taking away a critical mechanism that will clear the swelling away from the site of injury. So, the recommendation is light movement. In the case of the rolled ankle, periods of light weight bearing, within pain tolerance, is the best way to contract the exact muscles that will contribute to "pumping" the lymph vessels and clearing the swelling.
What we've described is acute inflammation. This is the good kind as we have discussed. The bad inflammation is chronic inflammation that is caused by chronic states of stress to your system. This overwhelms and suppresses the immune system and can lead to sickness, heart disease, cancers and other more serious conditions. This chronic, systemic inflammation is typically caused by diet, exposure to toxins and other lifestyle factors.
Finally, we've been programmed to believe that pain is bad and we need to eliminate it at all costs. The pharmaceutical industry has reinforced this with the hundreds of pain medications available over the counter as well as by prescription. In fact, there is a whole medical specialty dedicated to treating pain.
Understand, when you have an injury, you're going to have pain. Of course. You're injured! It's alright to take some steps to reduce the pain you're experiencing, but keep this post in mind before you grab the Advil or stick an ice pack on your next injury.
Have more questions? Speak to one of our expert therapists.