Q & A with The Good Witch
Question:
Do you have any other suggestions for an anti-inflammatory? I’ve heard oils can help, but that’s all I could think of. My back isn’t aligned because of a horseback riding accident when I was 14, so it occasionally causes some inflammation in my legs (I’m currently battling a shin splint and tender knee).
Answer:
If you are lucky enough to find a comfrey plant, you can use the large prickly leaves to heal your knee joint and shin splint. I love this plant and have four huge bunches in my gardens. To relieve the pain and inflammation in joints, or damaged areas you can blend the leaves with a tiny amount of water, to make a thick, gloppy paste. Pour over affected area. You can use long pieces of cut up flannel to wrap the area. It’s messy and it’s effective. Very pain relieving.
In the fall, dig up the root, peel it, slice it, then lay out to dry. Once dry, store it in glass jars in the dark. During the winter months, when no fresh leaves are available, grind the root into powder, mix with water or olive oil and apply topically and wrap with a bandage or tensor to hold in place. The root is stronger in healing properties than the leaves.
Comfrey is used on race horses, to quickly heal torn ligaments and damaged joints. It is also known as Knitbone because of its incredible bone healing properties. Comfrey heals wounds so quickly that you must make sure the wound is completely clean before applying the leaves, or the dirt will be healed inside your skin. You may be able to purchase Comfrey root from an herbalist.
Some people think its not safe to take Comfrey internally as there have been reported problems. Most Master Herbalists will take Comfrey internally, when needed, in tiny amounts and they claim it is very effective in its healing action.
One thing that will help with inflammation inside your body is to reduce your intake of toxins and cleanse your tissues and organs. You have already begun to reduce inflammation inside your body by reducing your intake of dairy products as you said in your email. The cooked saturated fats and acids produced by excess proteins in dairy products, can accumulate inside your cells and around your organs, causing weight gain, arterial build up and joint irritation. Acids and toxins damage cell walls, now pathogens like yeasts and bacterias can begin to colonize. Your immune cells move in, fluid and heat build as they fight the building infection and tissue damage. Now you have chronic inflammation.
Toxins that cause inflammation include excess protein and the acids produced by their metabolism, hydrogenated and semi-hydrogenated fats, excess saturated fats, damaged and heated fats, chemicals and additives from foods and from the environment around you including air pollution, chemical cleaners, and a plethora of chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products. Reduce your intake of cooked animal proteins, dairy, fried foods and foods with chemicals and altered fats.
Take a day, make yourself a delicious drink and go through your cupboards in the kitchen, bathroom and anywhere else you find foods with additives, cleaners, pesticides, etc. If you must keep paints and solvents, etc., be sure to put them far enough away from your living area that their off-gassing isn’t adding to your toxin load. If you don’t believe this can be a problem, put a couple of cans in a closed container and lift the lid in a week ~ you’ll be shocked at how much chemical residue is in the air inside the container.
Try the gentle brown rice cleanse to remove irritating toxins and nourish your tissues. You’ll be better able to fight off infection and heal tissue damage, both a result of inflammation. This cleanse is included in Cleanse Your Body!, which you received when you signed up here.
Increase inflammation fighting, sulphur rich foods like raw garlic, onions and shallots, mineral rich greens, sea vegetables, aromatic herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage, (these make great teas, but go easy, they’re strong), and highly unsaturated natural oils such as flax, hemp, sesame, olive and sunflower oils. It is no coincidence that these foods fight infection causing organisms too, like yeasts, bacterias and viruses.
Hope this information helps, let us know by commenting here on the blog.
