The term “inflammation” certainly comes with negative connotations, but in reality, it’s your body’s natural and necessary response to injury or infection. At Elevate Wellness Chiropractic, we are dedicated to supporting your body’s complex healing processes and ensuring inflammation doesn’t decrease your quality of life. Keep reading to learn the basics of your body’s inflammatory response, treatment options, prevention strategies, and the role of chiropractic care.
The Basics of Inflammation
Inflammation, at its core, is your body’s defense mechanism. When tissues are damaged, whether through injury, illness, or other trauma, the body initiates a complex response designed to heal and protect the wounded area. This process involves releasing various chemicals and immune cells that eliminate pathogens, clear away damaged cells, and initiate tissue repair. Symptoms include pain, tenderness, swelling, heat, and flushed skin at the site of the injury.
Excessive or chronic inflammation occurs when the body sends inflammatory cells even when there’s no outside danger. Over time, this condition can cause severe damage and contribute to various health issues.
Conditions associated with chronic inflammation include Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, mental health conditions, neurogenerative conditions, cardiovascular diseases, and gastrointestinal conditions. Autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus are especially inflammatory, causing the immune system to mistakenly attack healthy tissues. Chronic inflammation can also be caused by a sedentary lifestyle, inadequate sleep, unhealthy diet, poor posture, and excessive stress.
Finding Relief
Relief can come in many different forms. For acute inflammation, getting plenty of rest, intermittently applying ice to the area, and taking proper care of the wounds are usually enough to relieve discomfort after a few days.
Chronic inflammation is more challenging to treat. Supplements such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, and fish oil have anti-inflammatory properties, along with foods like tomatoes, nuts, leafy green vegetables, olive oil, fatty fish, and fruit. Avoid foods known to be inflammatory, including refined carbs, processed meats, fried foods, sweetened beverages, and lard.
Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen can reduce inflammation throughout the body. Corticosteroid shots provide targeted relief in specific areas; however, you shouldn’t have more than four steroid injections in the same part of your body within a year.
The Role of Chiropractic Care
As an alternative to medication or injections, many people turn to chiropractic care to treat chronic inflammation. As holistic healthcare practitioners, chiropractors can support your body’s healing processes and help you achieve enhanced wellness through targeted spinal adjustments, expert lifestyle guidance, massage therapy, and nutritional support.
Spinal Adjustments
The basis of chiropractic care is spinal adjustments, which aim to correct misalignments in the musculoskeletal system. This promotes proper nerve function and allows the different parts of your body to communicate effectively with each other. By reducing interference in the nervous system, chiropractic care can help alleviate inflammation associated with nerve irritation.
Massage Therapy
In addition to spinal adjustments, many chiropractors utilize massage therapy to reduce tension in the muscles, improve blood circulation, and further support the body’s natural healing processes. In turn, this soft tissue manipulation can contribute to the reduction of inflammation in affected areas.
Lifestyle Guidance
Chiropractors play a crucial role in educating patients about lifestyle choices that may be contributing to their inflammation. To empower you to take control of your health, your chiropractor can provide guidance on stress management, nutrition, proper ergonomics, and stress management.
Nutritional Support
An essential component of lifestyle guidance is nutritional support. Your chiropractor can recommend specific dietary changes to complement chiropractic care and reduce inflammation. Turmeric, ginger, and omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to be especially effective anti-inflammatory agents.
Preventative Strategies
When it comes to managing inflammation, prevention is one of the most effective strategies. To address potential issues before they have a chance to escalate and prevent chronic issues, it’s important to visit your chiropractor for regular check-ups, even when you’re not currently experiencing pain.
It’s also important to ensure proper ergonomics, both at work and at home. Simple adjustments to your workstation setup and daily habits can make a significant difference in your overall spinal health and inflammation response by preventing postural issues.
Find Relief at Elevate Wellness Chiropractic
Your body’s healing process is multifaceted and complex. At Elevate Wellness Chiropractic, our role goes beyond addressing pain and inflammation; it extends to helping our patients obtain optimal overall health. To take the first steps toward achieving your health goals, contact us or schedule an appointment today.