You’ve Healed, but Your Body Doesn’t Act Like It

By Tim Barker, Editorial Contributor

Anyone who’s ever twisted an ankle while running, cut their finger while slicing vegetables or managed to hurt themselves any number of ways knows about inflammation. It’s the body’s response to injury that causes the damaged area to become red, swollen, warm and painful.

“Inflammation is the body’s way of protecting itself from harmful things, such as bacteria, viruses, toxic chemicals and injuries,” says Dr. Steven Jeffrey Seltzer, an internal medicine physician at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg Medical Group Internal & Family Medicine. “It is essential to the body’s healing process.”

When you get sick or injured, your body releases chemicals that tell your immune system to launch a surge of white blood cells and to increase blood flow to protect the part of you that’s hurting. That’s what causes the redness and swelling – tell-tale signs of inflammation.

Good or Bad?

In that sense, inflammation is a good thing, since it’s helping your body get better. But potential troubles arise when inflammation sticks around too long. In fact, research increasingly suggests that chronic inflammation may be the root of many illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, asthma and cancer.

There are two types of inflammation:

• Acute inflammation intensifies quickly. It’s generally short-lived and is an important part of your body’s healing process.
• Chronic inflammation occurs when that initial response doesn’t go away. Your body remains in a constant state of inflammation for months or even years, long after the trigger is gone. The body mistakenly believes it’s still under attack, with those protective white blood cells targeting healthy tissues around the site of the original injury. Rheumatoid arthritis is an example of a condition associated with chronic inflammation.

Finding Relief

If you have inflammation anywhere in the body, your doctor may recommend medication to help relieve your symptoms and reduce the risk of chronic inflammation. Options include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These common pain relievers are available over the counter at the drug store. They include ibuprofen and naproxen.
• Steroids. Corticosteroids suppress the immune system response and reduce inflammation.
• Dietary supplements. Some supplements, such as omega-3s, curcumin and lipoic acid, can help decrease inflammation associated with illnesses like heart disease and cancer.
• Biologics. These prescription medications reduce inflammation, suppress the immune response and decrease disease progression of some autoimmune conditions.

Lifestyle Changes

Exercise is particularly important when it comes to managing chronic inflammation. It will help you maintain a healthy weight, get better sleep and cut your stress levels. Consider these lifestyle changes:

• Exercise: Aim for 30 minutes of aerobic exercise and 10 to 25 minutes of weight/resistance training four or five days a week. This is particularly valuable against obesity and heart disease.
• Lose weight: People who are overweight tend to have higher levels of inflammation.
• Keep your stress under control: Consider yoga, meditation, guided imagery and other calming activities.
• Quit smoking: Smokers often seek short-term relief from nicotine, but it has been linked to more significant problems, including rheumatoid arthritis, down the road.
• Watch the alcohol: Drinking too much can contribute to chronic inflammation. Intake should be limited to two drinks a day for men and one drink for women.

What You Eat

Research points to diet to help keep your body’s overactive immune response in check. When attempting to manage inflammation through diet, you should understand that some foods could hurt, while others could make things better.

Foods that fall into the inflammatory category tend to be the ones that aren’t all that healthy to begin with. If you can’t make it at home (because of all those unpronounceable chemicals on the ingredients list) – it’s probably best not to eat it. Avoid consuming:

• Fried and processed food
• Sugary drinks
• Refined carbohydrates
• Red meat
• Margarine and shortening

More helpful are those foods we typically associate with healthier diets, including:

• Green tea and ginger
• Berries, apples, cherries and tomato-based dishes
• Leafy green vegetables, which are high in natural antioxidants
• Fatty fish like salmon, tuna and sardines 
• Nuts
• Whole grains
• Olive oil