Naturopathic Remedies for Acute Injuries

by Dr. Jessica Corbeille Harris, ND

Many people deal with chronic pain (and I have a lot of remedies both at-home and in-office for helping with that), but what about those recent injuries (i.e. acute injuries)?

What do you do if you sprain your ankle playing soccer tomorrow? Or how about if you tweak your back doing some gardening this evening?

Many people have heard of the R-I-C-E acronym for injuries which promotes the use of rest, ice, compression, and elevation. What if I told you those were the exact opposite of what is actually needed for proper healing of the tissue? Instead, when people are injured, I always say, “Ask for your M-A-M-A” – which promotes the use of massage, alternating hot and cold, movement, and arnica to encourage a healthy inflammatory response to allow for proper tissue healing. Generally speaking, most of these are safe for most people, but as for any of my recommendations, if you have any questions or concerns about the safety of the remedies for you, it’s always best to consult your physician. 

1. Massage:  I’m not talking about deep tissue massage here but rather a light massage (how you might rub a baby’s head or back) to promote lymphatic movement and drainage. Not familiar with lymphatic tissue? The lymph system is another vessel system in the body that helps to move toxins and inflammatory modulators. The lymph system is very important for detox and also for healing. With a light touch massage moving from the furthest part of the injury or just past the injury (“distal”) to the more central part of the body (“proximal”), you can help to clear inflammation and swelling and promote the movement of the right molecules to the area for healing of the injured tissue. 
2. Alternating hot and cold:  Sometimes we call this “Contrast Hydrotherapy” and it traditionally involves alternating between hot and cold baths of water. This can be modified to include only an affected limb in a tub of water or even the use of hot and cold compresses if the affected area is on the core of the body. Generally speaking, the rule of thumb is 3 min of hot/warm followed by 30 seconds of cold, repeated 3 times. This whole process should be repeated several times a day initially (at least 3-5 times on the first day or two after an injury) but can be decreased as the swelling declines and the injury/pain improve. The idea here is to promote “exercise for the blood vessels” – which helps to decrease swelling and encourage good lymphatic movement.   
3. Movement:  While it is best to take it easy after an initial injury, it is NOT best to completely immobilize the affected area (in most cases). For example, an ankle sprain should not be wrapped, elevated, and not moved for 3 days. A better solution is to include light movement (non-weight bearing usually) such as ankle circles in the air to continue to encourage movement of the lymph and blood to the area. Again, the idea here is to draw the proper inflammatory components to the affected area to promote proper healing of the connective tissues. 
4. Arnica:  A popular and long-time used home remedy for acute injuries, Arnica seems to never let us down! With a recent injury, oral Arnica 6X and up to Arnica 30C can be used every 3-4 hours for days 1-3 of the injury. After that, usually dosing 1-2x/day is enough, depending on the pain and severity of the injury. Arnica also is available as a cream or gel application which can safely be used topically over any injury as long as the skin is fully intact.  Along with the M-A-M-A tactics above, I always promote healthy intake of water and proper nutrition (lots of fruits, vegetables, and protein) after an injury, so your body has the fuel it needs to heal. Trauma to your body is no small thing, and treating your body well in the acute (initial) phase of an injury is in investment into the health of your tissue for the long term! 

 
On the other hand, if your injury is not improving after a day or two or seems to be getting worse over that period, it’s always best to seek medical attention either at the emergency department or with your primary physician. Similarly, if your injury initially improves but you are left with pain or inflammation weeks or months after the injury occurs, it’s also a good time to seek attention from a trained physician to help with this situation. (This may be a good time for some of the prolotherapy treatments I write about as well - check them out here!) 
 
Questions? Would you like to discuss your acute or chronic pain/injury? I’d love to connect with you! Check out the Contact page on our site or send me an email at [email protected]. 

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