Inflammation

Inflammation

is part of your body’s natural immune response to injury. Without an inflammatory response your body can’t heal itself.

However, when this response is out of control—as in rheumatoid arthritis—it can damage the body and cause pain.

I’m sure if you have visited either of Lake View’s osteopaths for help with an injury, you will have heard one of us explain about inflammation, how it causes pain / discomfort and what you can do at home to help decrease it.

Where does Osteopathy come in?

Most of the time, when you visit your osteopath, they will correct any joint dysfunctions that are triggering this inflammatory response, thus reducing your pain and allowing you to return to your normal activities.

If your condition is more chronic (long term), (i.e. an arthritic knee, repetitive strain injury, chronic back or neck pain with disc pathology), your osteopath will help to keep the “problem” joint as “happy” as possible by keeping it and it’s surrounding joints and muscles supple and able to cope with day to day strains. This in itself will stop the joint inflaming as much.

You can also make a few small changes with your diet to help reduce inflammation levels in your body and aid treatment.

For example; foods high in sugar and saturated fat can spur inflammation.

There are also a large number of foods that help decrease inflammation in the body, I’ll be sharing some of these with you over the next few days.

Please note: This is not intended to replace treatment or medication for your condition, simply to help your body cope alongside your chosen treatment. There will still be an underlying cause for your high inflammation levels and you need to address this where you can.