If inflammation is a normal healing process, why stop it?
#spacer{clear:left}#abc #sidebar{margin-top:1.5em}zSB(3,3) I received an interesting question by email about inflammation after acute injuries. The question asked: Why would I recommend applying ice to an acute injury to lessen the inflammation? Isn’t inflammation is a normal physiologic response to injury? I agree that inflammation is a normal response to injury, but I do not think that means that inflammation needs to be left uncontrolled. In fact, studies have shown many negative effects of inflammation on surrounding tissues. The healing process is generally broken into three stages: inflammation, proliferation, and repair. By controlling the inflammation, you allow the body to enter the later stages of healing. Recent studies have demonstrated some significant negative impacts of inflammation in a variety of physiologic functions. For example,
