May 7, 2023 • 21 mins
After discussion the mechanism of healing and how we tend to interfere with those mechanisms, this episode we get to the sought after techniques we can employ to improve our healing.
Show Notes:
1:10 Massage - The scientific basis of an ancient art: part 2. Physiological and therapeutic effects - https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/28/3/153.full.pdf
4:34 - Evidence for sensory nerve involvement in cutaneous reactive hyperemia in humans - https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/01.RES.73.1.147
7:12 - Nutrition, Anabolism, and the Wound Healing Process: An Overview - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2642618/?fbclid=IwAR2438WHHmO5ewuRTIbupIKAOcGNT-INnH36FHFSCuxBxzJglZAeQSoXVIY
12:24 - Omega-3 fatty acids effect on wound healing - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2967211/
16:46 - The Impact of Turmeric Cream on Healing of Caesarean Scar - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4909076/
18:27 - FDA's Testing of Cosmetics for Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Cobalt, Lead, Mercury, and Nickel Content - https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/potential-contaminants-cosmetics/fdas-testing-cosmetics-arsenic-cadmium-chromium-cobalt-lead-mercury-and-nickel-content
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
welcome to Primedy where we find simple techniques to help address modern problems for our primitive
bodies my name is Andrew Pafford and I'm a health and wellness professional with over a decade of
experience helping Olympic level athletes desk jockeys and seniors achieving their goals and
improving their quality of life thank you for coming back from our exciting Cliffhanger from
last episode where we discussed injury as you will recall we discuss the mechanisms of healing
(00:26):
and ways that we tend to interfere with that this episode we're looking to pick up where we
left off and discuss techniques that will speed up healing we'll be referencing the healing processes
from last episode and translating them into actionable steps we can take with simple tools
likely already at our disposal so since we've mostly destroyed rice that acronym for rest ice
(00:50):
compression and elevation let's talk about what we can do to help facilitate the healing process
seeing as how compression was the only thing that made sense from our rice acronym let's hone in on
that for a moment depression can be done around the injury site so as to not cause further harm
but actually provide benefit to Healing I've linked an article in the show notes full of
(01:14):
fun facts about massage regarding healing so definitely worth a peek but we'll be discussing
some of those finer points here so for example if I stubbed my toe massaging the bottom of my
foot near the toe will help promote circulation in and out pressing on the skin pushes what's
(01:34):
known as interstitial fluid out of the area so for example if you lean against something for
a period of time and then come off you'll notice that you now have the pattern of whatever you were
leaning against seemingly imprinted in your skin albeit briefly this is simply the act of pushing
interstitial fluid out of the tissues because our bodies are predominantly made out of water
(01:59):
including ourselves if you were to squeeze them like a sponge that fluid would leave those cells
but if you then let go or stop squeezing the sponge over time that fluid will creep back in
so that creeping back in is because of negative pressure so fluid from the surrounding area will
(02:20):
be drawn back into the negative pressure space or filling those cells back up
in our case lymph from the site of swelling will be drawn out towards the negative space and out of
the side of swelling so if you create a negative space adjacent to an injury site that will
(02:41):
encourage the swelling to leave from the side of injury and towards the side of negative pressure
further are lymphatic vessels are similar to our veins and that they contain one-way vowels
lymph in the vessels cannot travel backwards so to speak because of these vowels so when we're
(03:02):
massaging near an area of injury say our toe to continue the previous example we aren't running
the risk of trapping or pushing swelling into the side of injury and just kind of passing it
back and forth it can only be encouraged along its course in this case out of the injury site
this is also how ice May contribute to Healing by using temperature to manipulate the blood vessels
(03:31):
say if we were to apply and remove and apply and remove ice every couple of minutes or so
what we would be doing is causing the blood vessels to dilate and constrict repeatedly
which in turn creates a pumping mechanism using the blood vessels themselves so when the
(03:51):
blood vessels constrict they're pushing what fluid is currently in out and then when they
dilate they're drawing fluid back into that now negative space created in the larger blood vessel
so leaving ice on an area for extended period of time not so good does that restricts
circulation however using it intermittently for shorter periods of time could be beneficial
(04:16):
Additionally the massage can help create increased blood flow to the area massaging or
applying physical pressure can temporarily create occlusion or blockage of blood flow to an area
and at face value that would seem bad if not for a fun little reflex in the body called
post-occlusion reactive hyperemia in layman's terms after a blockage of blood flow the body
(04:42):
will compensate by dilating the blood vessels in that area to over inundate those tissues with
blood flow as if to try and make up for lost time without circulation this means by tapping into the
reflex we can use the massage to increase blood flow to certain areas albeit transiently this
(05:04):
would sound quite useful to an area undergoing healing and needing good blood supply no finally
massage can help in turn can help in returning to normal function for surrounding tissues
because of swelling coddling and altered use of a limb it's not uncommon to create other
aches or pains that may not be a direct cause of the injury but rather from the altered lifestyle
(05:28):
involving that injury if I stubbed my toe you can be darn sure that I'll be altering my gate
to try and baby that toe so that I don't step on it walking in an unusual fashion can mean
stressing other parts of my leg that aren't used to walking in that manner or working that hard
this can lead to the surrounding musculature to getting aches and pains and possibly feel like
(05:52):
they're seizing up due to the increase in abnormal use it would be unfortunate if just as my toe
were starting to feel better I strained my calf and was right back in the infirmary so to speak
so in many regards using self massage or even a professional massage for that matter
can help reduce swelling increase blood flow which in turn speeds up recovery time and potentially
(06:16):
Stave off further loosely associated injuries now of course all the while healing still needs to
take place as one may also surmise wound healing is extra work for the body it's already energy
intensive just keeping us up and running on a daily basis it's an added stress to be active and
(06:39):
patching ourselves up at the same time like trying to build the plane and fly it at the same time
this means our bodies require more resources than normal most of our tissues are composed of protein
or at the very least the building blocks of protein amino acids on top of the energetic demand
of the immune system to help clean out damage from the injury our bodies need to go through
(07:03):
the lengthy process of rebuilding healthy tissue which means utilizing more amino acids as well
for this next bit I will now reference a nice piece of literature called nutrition anabolism and
the wound healing process an overview by Dr Robert H demling aside from covering different responses
to stressors starvation versus the fight-or-flight response Dr demling discusses how during wound
(07:28):
healing our need for proteins is increased and as such we tend to pull from our protein stores
we all know that fat is stored as fat in the body but do you know where protein is stored
aside from being functional at moving us around our muscles also double as protein stores
(07:51):
this means in times of great protein need our bodies will actually catabolize or break
down our own muscles in order to fulfill protein needs elsewhere of a higher order
this means if your nutrition is lacking in protein while you are recovering from an
injury then your body will cannibalize its own muscle tissue for the sake of self-preservation
(08:16):
this can also explain why when enough people undergo surgeries they're not just weaker from
sitting in a hospital bed for a couple days on end and succumbing to atrophy but if they're not
eating adequately their body is also cannibalizing their muscles even faster leading to much greater
muscle loss and strength loss after a surgery Dr dimling further elaborates by providing some
(08:39):
formula to help determine your nutritional intake based on severity of injury protein I'll quote
him by saying quote increase protein intake to two times the recommended daily allowance
which currently is approximately 0.8 grams per kilogram a day increasing it to 1.5 grams per
(09:02):
kilogram per day to allow for the restoration of wound healing in any lost lean body mass
now for those of us not on the metric system that would mean increasing from approximately
0.36 grams per pound of body mass per day to 0.72 grams per pound of body mass per day
(09:27):
for example if yours truly is 180 pounds which at the time of this recording I certainly am my
daily protein intake would be 65 grams of protein and I would need to increase that to 130 grams
of protein a day now someone who's trying to gain lean mass that's not a tough pill to swallow and I
(09:49):
at least strive for that on a daily basis already so the numbers certainly make sense for someone
who is undergoing anabolism or trying to create tissue in this case trying to repair a wound for
those steeped in the bodybuilding Community I've seen and heard numbers as aggressive as one gram
per pound of lean mass which would be slightly higher than the 130 number that I said for myself
(10:15):
I know personally that's a tall order to accomplish without drinking seven protein
chicks a day or eating half a cow but I digress additionally Dr demling goes on to
discuss how energy intake could increase based on the severity of the wound he proposes that
the energy and requirement would equal BMR your basal metabolic rate times your activity Factor
(10:43):
times your stress factor in this case the severity of your injury and provides a table to give an
idea of what that stress factor should be based on the severity of the injury minor versus bone
fracture versus infection versus major trauma like being burned all over Etc the long and short is if
(11:04):
your body is going to be working harder you need to be fueling it adequately if you want to bounce
back as fast as your body is physically capable of then you'll need to be feeding the machine
you can't expect a construction project to finish on time if the materials don't arrive when needed
while on the topic of nutrition let's talk about another fantastic supplement
(11:26):
that might not be so good in this particular instance and that is Omega-3s by and large
Omega-3s have become a bit of a go-to for supplementation plenty of literature out
there that shows Omega-3s anti-inflammatory properties can be just as effective as NSAIDs
like ibuprofen or Tylenol without the nasty side effects like destroying your kidneys and liver
(11:52):
Omega-3s prevalence in our diet or rather their diminishing presence has led to an increase in
popularity of its supplementation and for good reason for those consuming way more
omega-6s than Omega-3s than your incidence of all cause mortality tends to increase
so supplementing with Omega-3s is not a bad idea given the current state of our food
(12:15):
however supplementing with it during injury might not be a great idea and not for obvious
reasons I'll reference another study omega-3 fatty acids effects on wound healing by Jody
McDaniel and others aimed to see this to see the effects in a traditional randomized double-blind
(12:35):
study format which gives the study good power two groups of participants were given soft gels
with one containing omega-3 EPA and DHA which are the crucial active Omega-3s that our bodies need
while the other group was given a placebo for four weeks both groups one with the omega-3 one with a
(12:58):
placebo for four weeks blood of the omega-3 and omega-6s were measured in both groups to indeed
demonstrate that the supplements did create a statistically significant effect in the patients
so the patients who received the supplement their omega-3 levels jumped like crazy and their
omega-6s were slightly suppressed while the placebos showed no change to their omega-3 and 6
(13:23):
levels further a suction device was then used to create blisters on the forms of both groups and
fluid from each blister was then extracted and its contents studied at two different points in time
five hours after blister creation and 24 hours after three inflammatory markers were
(13:48):
then measured il1 beta il-6 and tnf Alpha all of which are inflammatory markers that are big
big indicators that there is an injury what was surprising was 24 hours after blister creation
il-1 beta was staggeringly higher in the group with the fish oil so in spite of its
(14:14):
anti-inflammatory properties the group taking the fish oil had higher inflammatory markers
involved in the wound site then those on the placebo what's more the total time for complete
wound healing ended up taking one entire day longer in the omega-3 group as opposed to the
(14:38):
placebo group while it may not sound like much the authors did point out that these blisters
were not very large so a whole day variation for such a small injury could be extrapolated to a
number of days in regards to a larger insult so if you're supplementing with Omega-3s and most of us
(14:58):
ought to given the current situation of our food sourcing be cognizant that you may want
to suspend that if you sustain an injury or are getting prepared to undergo a surgery I know most
doctors already recommend people to Halt omega-3 supplementation because it also acts as a blood
thinner so they don't need you bleeding out on the operating table but in this case another
(15:19):
reason might be that it would take you longer to bounce back from the surgery while we're on
the topic of supplements and injury I want to pull out one more at home use that could have potential
turmeric or more precisely curcumin has also been bandied about for its anti-inflammatory properties
among other benefits while some recommended supplementation to control inflammation through
(15:45):
oral ingestion others may want to be weary of its effects on testosterone levels turmeric inhibits
the enzymatic steroid five Alpha reductase which is big words but all you need to know is that it
has a huge role in converting testosterone to dihydrogen or excuse me dihydrotestosterone the
more active and potent form of testosterone so in some cases that could be good in others bad
(16:13):
so be sure to have a conversation with your doctor before supplementing with that however
back in injury land turmeric actually has a long history with wound healing in India and China
the Western science appears to be catching up or at least validity excuse me at least validating
these claims by exploring how turmeric or more precisely curcumin interacts with the body at
(16:37):
various stages of the healing process however in a classic example of putting your money where
your mouth is one study used turmeric cream for women who had just undergone a Caesarean operation
participants were placed in three groups an intervention group that used the tumor
cream a placebo group so they received a cream but there was really nothing
(16:58):
in it and a control group where they just healed up like everyone else does normally
measurements were taken 7 and 14 days after the operation after just one week the mean score
between the intervention group those who got the cream and the placebo group who got the fake cream
(17:20):
the mean score of swelling was three times less and the mean score difference between
the intervention and the control group was nine times less so those who receive the
turmeric cream had nine times less the amount of swelling than those who received nothing at all
(17:43):
of course those findings were found to be clinically significant they further go on
to cite other studies that corroborate their findings as well so other studies that found
that turmeric had a clinically significant impact on healing so I would suggest taking
a closer look at those studies to see what other additional benefits turmeric can have on healing
(18:06):
now if that alone got you excited and you're looking to quickly jump into obtaining some cream
and lathering up let me Curb Your Enthusiasm a little bit and preface that with a little warning
that most turmeric creams are sold as aesthetic products on the internet which are not held to the
same stringent standards as medicine there have been plenty of incidents of heavy metals being
(18:29):
used in beauty products and the FDA does not need to provide approval before products hit the market
before you go slapping some Salve you acquired from some Unknown Origin from the internet on
an open wound think for a moment if you could be doing more harm than good I've included a link
to the FDA website about a survey done on beauty products and their findings to help provide some
(18:53):
more background and education especially if you are a user of beauty products it might be a good
idea to give that link a quick peruse that said if you are wanting to try this but want to go about
in a smart manner the best option for a quality product is something you know where every single
ingredient comes from AKA one you make yourself with a cursory search there appear to be ample
(19:17):
recipes online for how to make a turmeric cream or poultice for wound healing typically consisting
of nothing more than turmeric and water and it should go without saying don't rush to
try this if you aren't sure if you're allergic to turmeric or not if you've never consumed it
making your first exposure to it where it can be introduced directly into your bloodstream
(19:39):
wouldn't end well if you do indeed have an allergy so be smart and take the appropriate precautions
and of course finally as a reminder I am not a physician and cannot substitute one so please be a
responsible person and speak with your doctor now recap time for today we discussed the mechanics
(20:00):
of compression and the different physiological effects it can have on speeding up healing time
and the mechanisms through which it acts upon how the metabolic demand of healing increases and why
getting adequate protein and increased injury is crucial to letting the body heal optimally
how some anti-inflammatory supplements like Omega-3s might actually work against quick healing
(20:24):
and exploring how turmeric may have beneficial properties in regards to
healing and ways to explore utilizing DIY turmeric salves and poultices
that should wrap it up for today hopefully you learned a good deal of information that was
not common knowledge possibly debunked some bad conventional wisdom and are now better equipped
(20:45):
to help yourself recover in times of injury we're always curious to hear what you're curious about
so send us your questions comments and feedback to info at primedy.org and as always strength
comes in many forms from within and without so be strong to be useful until next time stay strong
welcome to Primedy where we find simple techniques to help address modern problems for our primitive
bodies my name is Andrew Pafford and I'm a health and wellness professional with over a decade of
experience helping Olympic level athletes desk jockeys and seniors achieving their goals and
improving their quality of life thank you for coming back from our exciting Cliffhanger from
last episode where we discussed injury as you will recall we discuss the mechanisms of healing
(00:26):
and ways that we tend to interfere with that this episode we're looking to pick up where we
left off and discuss techniques that will speed up healing we'll be referencing the healing processes
from last episode and translating them into actionable steps we can take with simple tools
likely already at our disposal so since we've mostly destroyed rice that acronym for rest ice
(00:50):
compression and elevation let's talk about what we can do to help facilitate the healing process
seeing as how compression was the only thing that made sense from our rice acronym let's hone in on
that for a moment depression can be done around the injury site so as to not cause further harm
but actually provide benefit to Healing I've linked an article in the show notes full of
(01:14):
fun facts about massage regarding healing so definitely worth a peek but we'll be discussing
some of those finer points here so for example if I stubbed my toe massaging the bottom of my
foot near the toe will help promote circulation in and out pressing on the skin pushes what's
(01:34):
known as interstitial fluid out of the area so for example if you lean against something for
a period of time and then come off you'll notice that you now have the pattern of whatever you were
leaning against seemingly imprinted in your skin albeit briefly this is simply the act of pushing
interstitial fluid out of the tissues because our bodies are predominantly made out of water
(01:59):
including ourselves if you were to squeeze them like a sponge that fluid would leave those cells
but if you then let go or stop squeezing the sponge over time that fluid will creep back in
so that creeping back in is because of negative pressure so fluid from the surrounding area will
(02:20):
be drawn back into the negative pressure space or filling those cells back up
in our case lymph from the site of swelling will be drawn out towards the negative space and out of
the side of swelling so if you create a negative space adjacent to an injury site that will
(02:41):
encourage the swelling to leave from the side of injury and towards the side of negative pressure
further are lymphatic vessels are similar to our veins and that they contain one-way vowels
lymph in the vessels cannot travel backwards so to speak because of these vowels so when we're
(03:02):
massaging near an area of injury say our toe to continue the previous example we aren't running
the risk of trapping or pushing swelling into the side of injury and just kind of passing it
back and forth it can only be encouraged along its course in this case out of the injury site
this is also how ice May contribute to Healing by using temperature to manipulate the blood vessels
(03:31):
say if we were to apply and remove and apply and remove ice every couple of minutes or so
what we would be doing is causing the blood vessels to dilate and constrict repeatedly
which in turn creates a pumping mechanism using the blood vessels themselves so when the
(03:51):
blood vessels constrict they're pushing what fluid is currently in out and then when they
dilate they're drawing fluid back into that now negative space created in the larger blood vessel
so leaving ice on an area for extended period of time not so good does that restricts
circulation however using it intermittently for shorter periods of time could be beneficial
(04:16):
Additionally the massage can help create increased blood flow to the area massaging or
applying physical pressure can temporarily create occlusion or blockage of blood flow to an area
and at face value that would seem bad if not for a fun little reflex in the body called
post-occlusion reactive hyperemia in layman's terms after a blockage of blood flow the body
(04:42):
will compensate by dilating the blood vessels in that area to over inundate those tissues with
blood flow as if to try and make up for lost time without circulation this means by tapping into the
reflex we can use the massage to increase blood flow to certain areas albeit transiently this
(05:04):
would sound quite useful to an area undergoing healing and needing good blood supply no finally
massage can help in turn can help in returning to normal function for surrounding tissues
because of swelling coddling and altered use of a limb it's not uncommon to create other
aches or pains that may not be a direct cause of the injury but rather from the altered lifestyle
(05:28):
involving that injury if I stubbed my toe you can be darn sure that I'll be altering my gate
to try and baby that toe so that I don't step on it walking in an unusual fashion can mean
stressing other parts of my leg that aren't used to walking in that manner or working that hard
this can lead to the surrounding musculature to getting aches and pains and possibly feel like
(05:52):
they're seizing up due to the increase in abnormal use it would be unfortunate if just as my toe
were starting to feel better I strained my calf and was right back in the infirmary so to speak
so in many regards using self massage or even a professional massage for that matter
can help reduce swelling increase blood flow which in turn speeds up recovery time and potentially
(06:16):
Stave off further loosely associated injuries now of course all the while healing still needs to
take place as one may also surmise wound healing is extra work for the body it's already energy
intensive just keeping us up and running on a daily basis it's an added stress to be active and
(06:39):
patching ourselves up at the same time like trying to build the plane and fly it at the same time
this means our bodies require more resources than normal most of our tissues are composed of protein
or at the very least the building blocks of protein amino acids on top of the energetic demand
of the immune system to help clean out damage from the injury our bodies need to go through
(07:03):
the lengthy process of rebuilding healthy tissue which means utilizing more amino acids as well
for this next bit I will now reference a nice piece of literature called nutrition anabolism and
the wound healing process an overview by Dr Robert H demling aside from covering different responses
to stressors starvation versus the fight-or-flight response Dr demling discusses how during wound
(07:28):
healing our need for proteins is increased and as such we tend to pull from our protein stores
we all know that fat is stored as fat in the body but do you know where protein is stored
aside from being functional at moving us around our muscles also double as protein stores
(07:51):
this means in times of great protein need our bodies will actually catabolize or break
down our own muscles in order to fulfill protein needs elsewhere of a higher order
this means if your nutrition is lacking in protein while you are recovering from an
injury then your body will cannibalize its own muscle tissue for the sake of self-preservation
(08:16):
this can also explain why when enough people undergo surgeries they're not just weaker from
sitting in a hospital bed for a couple days on end and succumbing to atrophy but if they're not
eating adequately their body is also cannibalizing their muscles even faster leading to much greater
muscle loss and strength loss after a surgery Dr dimling further elaborates by providing some
(08:39):
formula to help determine your nutritional intake based on severity of injury protein I'll quote
him by saying quote increase protein intake to two times the recommended daily allowance
which currently is approximately 0.8 grams per kilogram a day increasing it to 1.5 grams per
(09:02):
kilogram per day to allow for the restoration of wound healing in any lost lean body mass
now for those of us not on the metric system that would mean increasing from approximately
0.36 grams per pound of body mass per day to 0.72 grams per pound of body mass per day
(09:27):
for example if yours truly is 180 pounds which at the time of this recording I certainly am my
daily protein intake would be 65 grams of protein and I would need to increase that to 130 grams
of protein a day now someone who's trying to gain lean mass that's not a tough pill to swallow and I
(09:49):
at least strive for that on a daily basis already so the numbers certainly make sense for someone
who is undergoing anabolism or trying to create tissue in this case trying to repair a wound for
those steeped in the bodybuilding Community I've seen and heard numbers as aggressive as one gram
per pound of lean mass which would be slightly higher than the 130 number that I said for myself
(10:15):
I know personally that's a tall order to accomplish without drinking seven protein
chicks a day or eating half a cow but I digress additionally Dr demling goes on to
discuss how energy intake could increase based on the severity of the wound he proposes that
the energy and requirement would equal BMR your basal metabolic rate times your activity Factor
(10:43):
times your stress factor in this case the severity of your injury and provides a table to give an
idea of what that stress factor should be based on the severity of the injury minor versus bone
fracture versus infection versus major trauma like being burned all over Etc the long and short is if
(11:04):
your body is going to be working harder you need to be fueling it adequately if you want to bounce
back as fast as your body is physically capable of then you'll need to be feeding the machine
you can't expect a construction project to finish on time if the materials don't arrive when needed
while on the topic of nutrition let's talk about another fantastic supplement
(11:26):
that might not be so good in this particular instance and that is Omega-3s by and large
Omega-3s have become a bit of a go-to for supplementation plenty of literature out
there that shows Omega-3s anti-inflammatory properties can be just as effective as NSAIDs
like ibuprofen or Tylenol without the nasty side effects like destroying your kidneys and liver
(11:52):
Omega-3s prevalence in our diet or rather their diminishing presence has led to an increase in
popularity of its supplementation and for good reason for those consuming way more
omega-6s than Omega-3s than your incidence of all cause mortality tends to increase
so supplementing with Omega-3s is not a bad idea given the current state of our food
(12:15):
however supplementing with it during injury might not be a great idea and not for obvious
reasons I'll reference another study omega-3 fatty acids effects on wound healing by Jody
McDaniel and others aimed to see this to see the effects in a traditional randomized double-blind
(12:35):
study format which gives the study good power two groups of participants were given soft gels
with one containing omega-3 EPA and DHA which are the crucial active Omega-3s that our bodies need
while the other group was given a placebo for four weeks both groups one with the omega-3 one with a
(12:58):
placebo for four weeks blood of the omega-3 and omega-6s were measured in both groups to indeed
demonstrate that the supplements did create a statistically significant effect in the patients
so the patients who received the supplement their omega-3 levels jumped like crazy and their
omega-6s were slightly suppressed while the placebos showed no change to their omega-3 and 6
(13:23):
levels further a suction device was then used to create blisters on the forms of both groups and
fluid from each blister was then extracted and its contents studied at two different points in time
five hours after blister creation and 24 hours after three inflammatory markers were
(13:48):
then measured il1 beta il-6 and tnf Alpha all of which are inflammatory markers that are big
big indicators that there is an injury what was surprising was 24 hours after blister creation
il-1 beta was staggeringly higher in the group with the fish oil so in spite of its
(14:14):
anti-inflammatory properties the group taking the fish oil had higher inflammatory markers
involved in the wound site then those on the placebo what's more the total time for complete
wound healing ended up taking one entire day longer in the omega-3 group as opposed to the
(14:38):
placebo group while it may not sound like much the authors did point out that these blisters
were not very large so a whole day variation for such a small injury could be extrapolated to a
number of days in regards to a larger insult so if you're supplementing with Omega-3s and most of us
(14:58):
ought to given the current situation of our food sourcing be cognizant that you may want
to suspend that if you sustain an injury or are getting prepared to undergo a surgery I know most
doctors already recommend people to Halt omega-3 supplementation because it also acts as a blood
thinner so they don't need you bleeding out on the operating table but in this case another
(15:19):
reason might be that it would take you longer to bounce back from the surgery while we're on
the topic of supplements and injury I want to pull out one more at home use that could have potential
turmeric or more precisely curcumin has also been bandied about for its anti-inflammatory properties
among other benefits while some recommended supplementation to control inflammation through
(15:45):
oral ingestion others may want to be weary of its effects on testosterone levels turmeric inhibits
the enzymatic steroid five Alpha reductase which is big words but all you need to know is that it
has a huge role in converting testosterone to dihydrogen or excuse me dihydrotestosterone the
more active and potent form of testosterone so in some cases that could be good in others bad
(16:13):
so be sure to have a conversation with your doctor before supplementing with that however
back in injury land turmeric actually has a long history with wound healing in India and China
the Western science appears to be catching up or at least validity excuse me at least validating
these claims by exploring how turmeric or more precisely curcumin interacts with the body at
(16:37):
various stages of the healing process however in a classic example of putting your money where
your mouth is one study used turmeric cream for women who had just undergone a Caesarean operation
participants were placed in three groups an intervention group that used the tumor
cream a placebo group so they received a cream but there was really nothing
(16:58):
in it and a control group where they just healed up like everyone else does normally
measurements were taken 7 and 14 days after the operation after just one week the mean score
between the intervention group those who got the cream and the placebo group who got the fake cream
(17:20):
the mean score of swelling was three times less and the mean score difference between
the intervention and the control group was nine times less so those who receive the
turmeric cream had nine times less the amount of swelling than those who received nothing at all
(17:43):
of course those findings were found to be clinically significant they further go on
to cite other studies that corroborate their findings as well so other studies that found
that turmeric had a clinically significant impact on healing so I would suggest taking
a closer look at those studies to see what other additional benefits turmeric can have on healing
(18:06):
now if that alone got you excited and you're looking to quickly jump into obtaining some cream
and lathering up let me Curb Your Enthusiasm a little bit and preface that with a little warning
that most turmeric creams are sold as aesthetic products on the internet which are not held to the
same stringent standards as medicine there have been plenty of incidents of heavy metals being
(18:29):
used in beauty products and the FDA does not need to provide approval before products hit the market
before you go slapping some Salve you acquired from some Unknown Origin from the internet on
an open wound think for a moment if you could be doing more harm than good I've included a link
to the FDA website about a survey done on beauty products and their findings to help provide some
(18:53):
more background and education especially if you are a user of beauty products it might be a good
idea to give that link a quick peruse that said if you are wanting to try this but want to go about
in a smart manner the best option for a quality product is something you know where every single
ingredient comes from AKA one you make yourself with a cursory search there appear to be ample
(19:17):
recipes online for how to make a turmeric cream or poultice for wound healing typically consisting
of nothing more than turmeric and water and it should go without saying don't rush to
try this if you aren't sure if you're allergic to turmeric or not if you've never consumed it
making your first exposure to it where it can be introduced directly into your bloodstream
(19:39):
wouldn't end well if you do indeed have an allergy so be smart and take the appropriate precautions
and of course finally as a reminder I am not a physician and cannot substitute one so please be a
responsible person and speak with your doctor now recap time for today we discussed the mechanics
(20:00):
of compression and the different physiological effects it can have on speeding up healing time
and the mechanisms through which it acts upon how the metabolic demand of healing increases and why
getting adequate protein and increased injury is crucial to letting the body heal optimally
how some anti-inflammatory supplements like Omega-3s might actually work against quick healing
(20:24):
and exploring how turmeric may have beneficial properties in regards to
healing and ways to explore utilizing DIY turmeric salves and poultices
that should wrap it up for today hopefully you learned a good deal of information that was
not common knowledge possibly debunked some bad conventional wisdom and are now better equipped
(20:45):
to help yourself recover in times of injury we're always curious to hear what you're curious about
so send us your questions comments and feedback to info at primedy.org and as always strength
comes in many forms from within and without so be strong to be useful until next time stay strong
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