Inflammation and Tissue Healing:

New studies are finding more and more connections between chronic inflammation and chronic disease. For example, arteriosclerosis is now believed to be closely correlated to the presence of inflammatory chemicals in the blood. Some researchers believe that preventing heart attacks will be achieved more by controlling arterial inflammation than by controlling LDL cholesterol. Diabetes and Altheimer's disease have also been linked to chronic inflammation. The devastating effects of autoimmune diseases are caused by inflammation.

The result of these findings has been to cause a (wholly appropriate) frenzy of measures aimed at controlling inflammation. The low-carb craze is all about controlling insulin levels and the inflammation that hyperinsulinemia causes. Fish-oil supplements are aimed at providing our bodies with the biochemical building-blocks to short-circuit the production of inflammatory hormones. Medical doctors are prescribing aspirin and statin drugs that provide anti-inflammatory effects as well as cholesterol-lowering effects. I completely agree that controlling systemic inflammation is a key to controlling many degenerative diseases associated with aging.

All that being said, it is very important to recognize the purpose for which inflammation exists. Inflammation is healing. Conversely, there is no healing without inflammation. The inflammatory response to injury or infection is inextricably intertwined with the process of tissue repair. For instance, the swelling that follows an injury is not some sort of additional insult that it would be best to completely eradicate. Rather, it is the result of blood vessels becoming permeable, so that all of the healing elements which are found in blood can make their way to the injured tissue to begin the process of healing.

This fact is now used to promote post-surgical wound healing. Before the surgery, the patient¹s blood is drawn and the red blood cells are centrifuged out. The plasma that remains contains kinins, immunoglobulins, the immune complement system, the chemicals and proteins involved in the coagulation/fibrinolysis system, fibroblasts, growth factors, and lots of other stuff that is essential for repair and remodeling. After surgery, this fluid is painted on the wound, resulting in dramatically shortened healing time and increased strength of the healing tissue. This process uses the body¹s healing system to its best effect.

Unfortunately, the standard medical treatment for chronic strain and sprain injuries is completely different. Typically a doctor will treat a tendon or ligament problem with corticosteroid injections. Steroids work by reducing inflammation. But since there is no healing without inflammation, this treatment also prevents healing. The injury (which is the cause of the inflammation,) therefore, is not eliminated. As long as the body has the ability to create inflammation, and as long as there is a stimulus for inflammation, the body will continue to create inflammation. The lucky fact is that many such injuries do heal despite the treatment.

The goal of many of the therapies that I do, is to promote healing by stimulating the proliferation of fibroblasts and other healing elements from the blood and the "matrix" surrounding the cells. This is done by carefully INCREASING inflammation where the body needs it, through the use of various "Deep-Tissue" therapies such as Graston Technique and others.