What Causes Inflammation?

Inflammation is one of those things that can be both good for you and not so good.  

On the positive side, inflammation is how your body’s white blood cells fight infections and repair injuries. Acute, short-term inflammation is critical to healing your body. While it can cause pain, swelling, and redness, it usually goes away on its own within a few hours or days. 

On the negative side, your body’s immune system can trigger inflammation when it has no reason to do so. Your immune system acts like your normal tissue is damaging your body and fights it with white blood cells that cause inflammation. 

In diagnosing the cause of inflammation, your chiropractor will help you determine if inflammation is just doing its job, or if there is another cause. 

Causes of Inflammation

Acute inflammation can be caused by trauma, injury, or bacterial or viral infection. Your body releases white blood cells to protect and repair the damaged area.

Chronic, long-term inflammation is also caused by your body’s white blood cells. They attack healthy tissue because of an immune system imbalance or autoimmune disease. There are several different conditions that can be related to chronic inflammation. These include: 

• Lupus 
• Anemia 
• Asthma 
• Cancer
• Psoriasis
• Heart disease
• Celiac disease
• Type 1 diabetes 
• Crohn’s disease 
• Graves’ disease 
• Multiple sclerosis 
• Addison’s disease 
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Metabolic syndrome
• Chronic kidney disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

 Inflammation Symptoms

Acute inflammation can help to improve the flow of blood to the injury. Increased blood flow to the area causes redness and warmth. Chemicals made by white blood cells can leak into nearby tissue and cause swelling. Pain can result if nerves are triggered during this process. It can also cause joint stiffness or a joint that doesn’t feel like it’s working normally. 

Acute inflammation usually starts rapidly, becomes severe in a short time, but only lasts for a few days. 

Severe inflammation can make you feel like you have influenza and includes:

• Fever
• Chills
• Muscle stiffness and aches
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Loss of appetite

Subacute inflammation is the level of inflammation between acute and chronic. It can last two to six weeks. 

Chronic inflammation, or inflammation that doesn’t go away because of an underlying condition, can have these symptoms:

• Chronic body pain
• Chronic low-grade fever
• Chronic fatigue
• Trouble concentrating
• Hair loss
• Skin rash
• Numbness and tingling in hands and feet
• Depression or anxiety
• Frequent infections
• Weight gain or loss
• Gut problems like constipation, diarrhea, bloating, or acid reflux

  Your internal organs can be affected by serious inflammation symptoms. Examples that are caused by an autoimmune disorder include:

• Heart inflammation (myocarditis) can cause fluid buildup in the heart and shortness of breath
• Inflammation in the lungs can cause shortness of breath
• Kidney inflammation (nephritis) can cause high blood pressure or kidney failure

In addition to the above symptoms, if your chronic inflammation is caused by type 1 diabetes, you’ll have extreme thirst. COPD will cause long-term breathing problems. The inflammation of Alzheimer’s disease can cause cognitive decline and dementia. 

Treatment for Inflammation

It’s best to let acute inflammation do its job of fighting infection and repairing injury. Try over-the-counter pain relievers and cold compresses to reduce swelling. 

However, the underlying cause of inflammation needs to be evaluated by your doctor. You may need antibiotics, for example, if it’s caused by a bacterial infection. Contact your doctor if you have a fever, severe pain, or shortness of breath. 

To treat chronic inflammation successfully, you’ll need medical attention to diagnose it. The doctor will review your symptoms, perform an exam if you have not been diagnosed yet, and check for signs of inflammation on an MRI or other imaging. It’s best to have a plan in place to manage the condition you may be diagnosed with. This is often a combination of seeing your medical doctor, eating foods that will help reduce inflammation, and seeing your chiropractor for help with reducing inflammation in problem areas. 

The goals of treatment for chronic inflammation are to: 

• Stop or slow the progression of the disease that’s causing inflammation.
• Reduce pain and inflammation. This can be done in a variety of ways including medications, chiropractic care, and other tactics depending on what is inflamed.
• Strengthen joints and muscles to better support your body  
• Reduce stress on joints by using a splint, brace, cane, or walker

Chiropractic treatment can help manage the symptoms of chronic inflammation. When your spine is properly aligned after a chiropractic adjustment, it reduces pressure on your nerves so they can function properly. It also stops the production of substances that cause inflammation. 

There are additional things you can do to reduce the pain and stiffness of chronic inflammation:

• Maintain a healthy weight. The fat around your internal organs (visceral fat) can be attacked by your immune system. Obesity puts you in a constant state of inflammation.
• Modify activities that make pain or inflammation worse
• Eat a healthy diet of anti-inflammatory foods: almonds, walnuts, tomatoes, olive oil, leafy green vegetables, berries, plums, grapes, cherries, citrus fruits, onions, both green and black tea, and fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines. 
• Avoid foods that can trigger inflammation: fried food, sugary drinks, red and processed meats, refined carbohydrates, trans fats (high fructose corn syrup), and shortening, lard, and margarine.
• Get regular physical activity to keep joints strong and flexible and reduce inflammation; it’s also a good stress reducer.
• Reduce stress.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Quit smoking because of its direct link to inflammation.
• Limit or avoid alcohol.
• Monitor your cholesterol. Too much LDL cholesterol can produce inflammation in arteries and reduce blood flow.
• Talk with your doctor about taking these supplements: Inflammatone, Curcum-Evail, Cal/Mag 1:1, Baxaprine, and C3 Curcumine Complex. Our customers have seen some of the most substantial improvements when taking these supplements. Additionally, you may also consider omega-3 fatty acids, white willow bark, green tea, turmeric, selenium, and capsaicin. Ask if these vitamins would help your condition: magnesium, B6, C, D, E, and zinc.

• Talk to your chiropractor. Chiropractic care is specifically designed to help the joints function properly. Your chiropractor can help get you on the right path to healing so that you can return to your normal activities. 

If you are suffering from swelling or inflammation of your joints, call or request an appointment online. Our caring staff can help you in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammation to avoid further injury and get you back on the road to healing now!