Swelling

Swelling has a purpose. When we twist our ankle, it swells. The swelling occurs when the blood vessels dilate to create a superhighway. Then the immune system can work to clean out the torn tissue and send in proteins and other substance to help repair and heal. So basically, swelling has a function. It creates a superhighway that allows the immune system to do its job more efficiently.

Common chronic swelling or inflammation occurs in several conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, sinusitis, or any condition ending in “-itis”, which is defined as  ”inflammation”.  There are plenty of them.   Problems occur when chronic swelling conditions are treated by doctors and drugs.

Now we know that swelling serves a purpose in our body. It’s trying to clear something away, or fix a problem. Yet in all these inflammatory conditions, therapeutics books will often list the cause as “unknown” or “hereditary”.  Doctors cannot figure out what is causing these conditions.

So the obvious route is to provide an anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen or naproxen, to reduce swelling. These are good choices for sprained ankles or other acute conditions to relieve pain as the immune system is still able to get the job done. But for chronic conditions, they will only relieve your pain and make you feel more comfortable.  Unfortunately, it will not solve the problem, and eventually the disease can progress or side effects can occur.

Since the cause is not being addressed, the medication will only provide temporary relief. But when patients take anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen or naproxen long-term, they are susceptible to side effects and complications such as stomach ulcers.

But the real problem is that the anti-inflammatories are merely masking a symptom, not addressing the cause.

For an analogy, in response to extreme cold the body shivers to restore heat. Along the same lines of thinking, if a patient found shivering to be inconvenient or uncomfortable, a western medicine doctor would prescribe a pill that reduces the shivering to make the patient temporarily more comfortable, rather than recommending they staying out of the cold. Then of course the body temperature would continue to drop . . .

So you feel happier since you aren’t shivering, but as the body temperature continues to drop, you’re going to have more problems and complications down the line.

Our body has mechanisms to keep things in balance. When we get so off balance, we get symptoms of disease. They may be uncomfortable, but they serve a purpose.

SO taking anti-inflammatories long-term reduces symptoms but does not solve the problem.

So what’s the alternative? How do you treat the cause of swelling?

But if something is chronically swelling, there’s probably something in there that’s your body wants to heal. Depending on the condition, I would seek the advice of an alternative healthcare practitioner such as a naturopath, or other practitioner that understands cleansing and detoxification, and dealing with emotional issues. Someone who has solutions that don’t include prescribing a drug as their only solution.