OUCH! Pain Gotcha Down? Inflammation May Be to Blame

Here’s what you can do about it!

Pain. Swelling. Warmth. All signs of inflammation. Acute inflammation. These are a normal responses to an injury or foreign invader (think splinter). When your skin gets warm or you feel pain, you can be assured that your body is having a typical and healthy response by your immune system.

But what if you don’t seem to have an acute trigger and are experiencing the above?

There is another type of inflammation that is plaguing most of us.

Chronic inflammation.

This is a relatively new phenomenon, becoming more prevalent in the last 50 years. The context in which we live our lives has changed dramatically during that time. How we grow our food has changed. How we parent and raise children has changed. How much we work has changed. The amount of activities we are involved in has changed. We don’t rest. Rest? What is that anyway?

We live in a go, go, go society that rewards working hard, faster, and resting less. While I think (and hope!) that this mentality is beginning to shift, the damage is done. The results of our behaviors have created a hyper-inflamed state in our bodies.

And inflammation drives most if not all chronic disease.

If you knew that, would you change how you live?

Your body will always try to protect you.

We sometimes feel like our bodies “fail” us. I have felt that way. Battling multiple stress fractures in my youth, chronic knee pain, bunions, joint dysfunction, I’m often heard mumbling under my breath, “ugh, if only my body would work the way it is supposed to!” or “I’m too young to have this kind of pain!”

Have you been there?

Our body will always try to do what it thinks is right.

In the case of chronic pain, and the inflammation behind it, our body is sending messages to your brain, via pain pathways and immune responses, that something isn’t right. This is not only a warning system but also part of how the immune system works. It heals tissue by sending immune mediators to send nutrition by increasing blood flow and mobilizing the area of injury.

Over time, if this isn’t healed, chronic inflammation begins to take a toll on the body. Your immune system can only do so much. It is incredible but is limited in how hard it can work without a reprieve. This is when the disease process begins to take over: diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, fibromyalgia and chronic pain disorders, migraines…you name it.

Stopping Inflammation in its Tracts

Once you are on the rollercoaster that is chronic inflammation, it can seem difficult to get off.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it: it is hard. It takes work. Consistency. Patience. A commitment to yourself in a way you never have before.

3 Ways to Tackle Inflammation Head On

1. Food, food, food. How you nourish your body has a direct and immediate effect on inflammation. An anti-inflammatory approach is the best way to start and will help many of you. What is an anti-inflammatory diet? Well, it’s different for everyone. You need to spend time noticing how foods make you feel. I will tell you that based on research and personal experience, looking first at gluten and dairy and how they cause inflammation in the body is a great place to start. Particularly if you are experiencing chronic illness, these two need to go. Give yourself at LEAST 30 days off gluten and 6 months off of dairy before you make decisions on how they may or may not be affecting you. Do your research on where gluten hides, because it’s lurking EVERYWHERE (yes, even in “gluten-free” processed foods!). After that, you can experiment with the next big culprits: eggs, nuts, corn. This is when having a holistic nutritionist in your back pocket is handy. It can get tricky navigating this alone and a team can help keep you on track and motivated.

2. Supplements. When you are in the cycle of chronic inflammation and disease, sometimes food is just not enough, fast enough. Powerful supports for inflammation include ginger and turmeric which have strong antioxidant capabilities as well. The research to support these two ingredients together with black pepper is beyond impressive. They are powerful immune supports and inflammation reducers. In turn, this decreases pain. When researching for this post (and the recipe at the bottom), I was blown away by how many studies show the efficacy of turmeric in improving function/decreasing pain in arthritic conditions, osteoarthritis, and ankle breaks/sprains. Curcumin has even been shown to be more potent than cortisone! Additionally, one of the most devastating inflammation-related diseases, Alzheimer’s, for which there is considerable research on the protection that curcumin offers the brain as it ages. Ginger also shows similar effects on inflammation. In a study with rheumatoid arthritis patients, those that consumed ginger daily in moderate doses had significant improvements in pain, joint mobility, and decreased morning stiffness and swelling. These studies have all been done compared to a placebo or traditional treatment. Not to be taken lightly is that there are no side effects from turmeric and ginger as a treatment whereas standard protocols come with all sorts of side effects.

3. Sleep and Stress Management. This may feel like a broken record on this blog. Adequate and high-quality sleep and stress reduction will naturally improve the inflammation load on your body and cannot be omitted here.

Recipe Time!

Supplements get expensive and I wanted to give you a favorite recipe from my kitchen that will hopefully someday make it into the KHH shop. For now, making your own glycerite is an easy way to support your body's inflammation process. I swear by this for my knee pain (it’s becoming an arthritic condition as I age) and my husband swears this helps his headaches faster and as effectively as his beloved ibuprofen (stay tuned for a post on why my focus has been to get him off of that drug).

1. Cut up raw turmeric into small pieces (wear gloves, this stuff stains!)

2. Cut up raw ginger

3. Mix together in a 2:1 ratio and add some whole black peppers

4. Place into a glass mason jar (don’t overfill!)

5. Add organic food-grade glycerin to the top

6. Warm in a hot water bath for 2-3 hours

7. Strain using cheesecloth or a nut milk bag (again with the gloves!)

8. Bottle in amber glasses with droppers

9. Lasts 1-2 years on the shelf, longer in the fridge

Voila! Now you can start fighting your own inflammation and start feeling better! Take a few drops to start and build up as needed. You can’t really overdo it, but you also shouldn’t need more than 1-2 droppers at a time.

You can also bypass all this work and order yours via email at [email protected]!

Here’s to your health!

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