What is inflammation?

“I don’t really know what inflammation is.  It’s thrown about in so many different ways, and so many different versions of it, that I don’t really know what they’re talking about.” 

Dr Allegra says….

“Inflammation” is one of those words that covers so much and used in many different ways and that gets really confusing.  I want to make sure we clear this up.

What is inflammation? 

First off, inflammation is not bad.  Inflammation is your body’s attempt to heal itself.  It is doing its job.  It is trying to help you heal and repair, but when things get out of hand and that inflammation is pushed too far for too long, that’s when it creates those deeper problems that create the deeper chronic inflammations like arthritis, ulcerative colitis, or diabetes, to name a few of the many diseases are caused by out of control inflammation. 

We don’t think of these diseases as inflammation, but that is where they all start.  Issues such as chronic migraines, hormonal issues, low back pain, hip pain, joint pain, and degenerative diseases.  All of these diseases start with inflammation that hasn’t been able to complete its job in the right time frame, clean itself up and be done.

So, what’s happening here?  With inflammation, you have pain, redness, heat, and swelling.  Those are the tenets of inflammation that tell us inflammation is present. These, in and of itself, are not a bad thing, but when they are there for too long, then they become really problematic.

Pain is the initial flag.  This is your body’s going, “Wait a second.  Something’s wrong here.  Something’s off.”  The redness is your body sending a bunch of blood to the injured area to help get more nutrients there, to help get your immune cells there, and to help get things moving through the area so it can get resources there quickly, which then leads to the heat.  Because you’ve got a lot of blood flow in one place, you’re going to have the tissue heat up.  Then, that, of course, is going to swell because your body wants to cordon things off so it can work in that area and keep you protected.

One of the easiest ways to explain inflammation in action is by talking about a bee sting.  Have you been stung by a bee, or seen someone get stung?  First, the pain where you get stung.  You’re like, “Oh, my gosh.  What is that?”  Then, you have heat, redness, and swelling come in.  Typically, it’s a little bump in that area where you were bitten.  Now, of course, if you’re allergic to bees, that’s a whole other ballgame, and that is inflammation then engaging fully because it really thinks this is going to kill you, and your body will respond accordingly trying to shut everything down and block the venom from moving through your body. 

The swelling is basically like putting bumpers around the bite so that venom doesn’t get further into your body.  Your body’s going, “Okay, we’re going to cordon this stuff off.  We’re going to send in the troops.  They’re going to deal with it.  They’re going to break down the tissue that was damaged so that we can get that rebuilt.  And, then, we’ll open those bumpers again.” 

Yet, if you don’t have the nutrients to run your immune cells properly, you’re sending in troops that are not prepared.  If you, have already had inflammation there, and your immune system has not been able to break down that tissue, they’re trying to work in a very stuffy environment, in a very closed-in environment.  It would be like the entire room was filled with balloons.  It would be really hard to move around or use the room, right?  So, it’s no longer a functional area.  We want to help inflammation do its job – pick itself up, respond, cordon off, address it, break it down, heal it, remove those barriers, so you can go on about your life.

But, if you just kept having that bee sting you again and again and again and again, your body doesn’t have a chance to go through this healing process.  It doesn’t have a chance to get in there and do any repair because it’s just trying to deal with the inflammation, and the cordoned off area just gets bigger and bigger.  And that’s when the problem becomes chronic. 

Of course, this process happens inside our body, as well.  This happens for many different reasons, and these are the things that we really need to explore here. We need to look at this bigger picture.  Because if we carry this high level of chronic inflammation on a consistent basis, that’s when our tissues begin to degrade.  That’s when we have tissue break down.  Our bones begin to break down.  Our joints begin to break down.  Our ligaments break down.  Because we just aren’t built to function in this irritated environment forever.  The inflammation process is meant to be short term.

Everyone needs to learn how to manage inflammation. 

In our modern world, we all have far more inflammation than we used to, and in many more different ways. We have mental, physical, and emotional inflammation with which to contend. We need to make sure we’re really mindful about this issue. Inflammation is not something we can stop completely. We need to ask ourselves, “How do I cultivate this awareness so I can consciously manage my inflammation?”

We have many tools to help you manage inflammation from all angles. The question remains…

Are you consistently implementing the tools you have?

Do you need more support?

Start here with Dr. Allegra’s Self-Care Starter Pack!
This pack includes the tools you need to amplify your health!
1.  Dry Skin Brush,
2.  Organic Cotton Cloth for a castor oil pack
3. Organic Castor Oil to apply to your pack.
4. Dr. Allegra’s bestselling book, Nourishing Space Within: Essentials of Self-Care, to teach you how to use these tools easily and effectively!

Need a great anti-inflammatory supplement?
Get Dr. Allegra’s clinically proven bestselling anti-inflammatory supplement, Advanced Anti-Inflammatory Complex, here.

We all can use healthier options.

Where will you start?

In Health,

If you have a question for Dr. Allegra you would like considered, please submit it to info@naturaeclinic.com with the subject “The Doctor Is In Question”.