Rotator Cuff Inflamation

[cloud recluse]

Are their any dietary modifications or herbal supplements that would assist in the alleiviation of an inflamed rotator cuff ?

 

Currently receiving Bowen therapy & using hot & cold compress alternation . Not taking any anti-inflammatories or other medications ( Bowen therapist discouraged it ) .

[karen]

Hi,

 

I agree with your therapist! The main idea is that inflammation is the healing process, and you want to support natural inflammation as well as natural anti-inflammation - in other words, avoid suppressing, but you can take the edge off the inflammation to manage pain. Here are some suggestions:

 

1. Incease omega-3 fatty acids in the diet (fish oils, not flax).

2. X-factor butter oil can be great, although expensive (www.4radiantlife.com)

3. Eliminate gluten foods and individualize the diet so you're not causing inflammatory immune reactions unknowingly

4. Wobenzym, which is a combination of enzymes including bromelain that break down excess proteins and help the body move through the inflammation process without suppressing it.

5. Homeopathic Arnica for trauma in general, Rhus for muscle injury, Ruta for tendons/ligaments (the 3 remedies combined)

6. And/or the product "Traumeel" used topically.

7. CMO cream used topically in small amounts might be useful, although I've never used it

 

Heat is good, more heat than cold, although alternating is fine.

Examining any emotional issues that may be related to this, is good. (What do shoulders represent to you - responsibilities falling on your shoulders, that sort of thing).

 

Take care,

Karen

Edited March 29, 2008 by karen

[thaddeus]

Are their any dietary modifications or herbal supplements that would assist in the alleiviation of an inflamed rotator cuff ?

 

Currently receiving Bowen therapy & using hot & cold compress alternation . Not taking any anti-inflammatories or other medications ( Bowen therapist discouraged it ) .

hey cloud, did you get an MRI to confirm the inflammation? Could you have a partial tear? Make sure you start physical therapy as soon as possible to build strength back.

I think the systemic enzymes hold promise, but don't really know for sure.

Good luck.

T

[cloud recluse]

All good stuff Karen & Thad.

 

Karen, none of these options were known to me , definetly will do something with your info.

 

Thad, MRI hadnt occured to me . Wonder why quacks didnt recommend it. Will look into this.

 

BIG thankyou, Cloud

Edited March 30, 2008 by cloud recluse

[karen]

Cloud, re. tests like MRI, the question that should be asked is, would the test results give you any more information that would change your therapeutic strategy? In other words, if you knew you had a small tear instead of just an inflammatory situation, would you do anything differently? And if not, why expose yourself to high doses of magnetic fields?

 

It's a good question to ask practitioners who recommend such tests. Also your physical therapists. A good cranial osteopath, for one, usually can rely on feel.

 

MRI equipment is very expensive, and the tests are recommended much more often than necessary. But if knowing the test results gives a person peace of mind, and they'd be anxious otherwise, that's also something to factor into the decision.

 

-Karen

[thaddeus]

Cloud, re. tests like MRI, the question that should be asked is, would the test results give you any more information that would change your therapeutic strategy? In other words, if you knew you had a small tear instead of just an inflammatory situation, would you do anything differently? And if not, why expose yourself to high doses of magnetic fields?

Hey Karen, you're right about the treatment strategy..but only for the first 4-6 weeks. The problem arises when or if the anti-inflammatories and physical therapy don't work. Then, I think you want to know what

you're dealing with and how extensive it is.

Prolotherapy looks interesting. Do you know anything about it?

T

[karen]

Hey Karen, you're right about the treatment strategy..but only for the first 4-6 weeks. The problem arises when or if the anti-inflammatories and physical therapy don't work. Then, I think you want to know what

you're dealing with and how extensive it is.

Prolotherapy looks interesting. Do you know anything about it?

T

 

Glad you mentioned prolotherapy - it's on the right track, as it's actually stimulating inflammation to promote the healing. The reservations I have are that it's more invasive than other ways of accomplishing the same thing (homeopathy, for example), and if you don't have a prolotherapist locally, it's not practical to travel distances for repeated treatments.

 

When you say "the problem arises when or if the anti-inflammatories and physical therapy don't work", I think you're assuming that successful treatment means that the symptom (inflammation) needs to go away in a certain amount of time.. I know that's what the chiropractors and many other practitioners will say, but there's more to the story..

 

Considering that the symptom in this case is really the healing process, not the disease process, you only want the symptom to go away when it's finished doing the healing job it's there to do. The inflammation helps dissolve endogenous toxins that the injury produces, and helps in a lot of tissue repair functions. In other words, it's important to understand the function of inflammation and not just focus on making it go away, as most practitioners do.

 

When it's an injury, the homeopathic remedies would destroy the energetic disturbances caused by the injury, and then all you need to do is support the healing process which is doing all the restorative work after that. That's the most natural way of resolving the problem.

 

Sometimes it's not an injury, but the body is producing inflammation to try to heal something - the warmth produced by inflammation has the capacity to reshape and mould things - think of how you heat something to make it more pliable. Disease processes often are characterized by hardening (sclerosis), and then inflammation is what you want to break up these patterns through warmth. Fever is a great example of this.

 

And it depends on the larger context. Say you're exposed to toxins, whether generated within the body or from outside - the healthiest way to handle them is to excrete them from the getgo. Pee them out, sweat them out, etc. But say those avenues are blocked or are being suppressed in some way. Then the body tries the next phase - inflammation. If that's suppressed too, then the body deposits the toxins somewhere and that might be kidney stones or lymph gland swelling, just for example. So you see how this is going in the direction of a disease process.

 

Now, if you treat that condition properly and help the body move in the other direction of the healing process, you will actually have to go back into the inflammation phase! That's actually the mechanism the body is using to break up the deposits.

 

This is from the work of Dr. Reckeweg called Homotoxicology, and there's a wonderful chart showing how these phases work. It's really helpful to see what's going on in the larger context of where you were before and where you're going.

 

Very often when we have inflammation that's not an injury, it's the body trying to move back in the healing direction from some sclerotic process. Then you want to treat the underlying diseases and help the healing process along so you're not just spinning your wheels.

 

I don't know if cloud's case is a more acute injury, but I thought I'd go into the larger issue of inflammation since it seems to come up a lot.

 

-Karen

[thaddeus]

Interesting ideas! Thanks..

T

[steve]

Are their any dietary modifications or herbal supplements that would assist in the alleiviation of an inflamed rotator cuff ?

 

Currently receiving Bowen therapy & using hot & cold compress alternation . Not taking any anti-inflammatories or other medications ( Bowen therapist discouraged it ) .

Strengthening the internal and external rotators of the shoulder is valuable as they are often weak and out of balance, leading to cuff inflammation. Avoiding any sustained or repetetive overhead reaching is also important until the pain subsides.

 

Glad you mentioned prolotherapy - it's on the right track, as it's actually stimulating inflammation to promote the healing. The reservations I have are that it's more invasive than other ways of accomplishing the same thing (homeopathy, for example), and if you don't have a prolotherapist locally, it's not practical to travel distances for repeated treatments.

 

When you say "the problem arises when or if the anti-inflammatories and physical therapy don't work", I think you're assuming that successful treatment means that the symptom (inflammation) needs to go away in a certain amount of time.. I know that's what the chiropractors and many other practitioners will say, but there's more to the story..

....edited for brevity.....

 

Very often when we have inflammation that's not an injury, it's the body trying to move back in the healing direction from some sclerotic process. Then you want to treat the underlying diseases and help the healing process along so you're not just spinning your wheels.

 

I don't know if cloud's case is a more acute injury, but I thought I'd go into the larger issue of inflammation since it seems to come up a lot.

 

-Karen

Acute inflammation is a healing response.

Chronic inflammation is a desperate and sometimes maladaptive attempt to correct a problem that the acute inflammation was unable to handle.

Unfortunately, chronic inflammation can cause secondary, irreparable harm when left unattended for long enough. If the pain continues for more than several weeks or a few months, further investigation is a good idea. In cases of untreated large rotator cuff tears, a terrible destructive process in the shoulder can develop called rotator cuff arthropathy. It takes a long time to develop but is extremely difficult to deal with when established.

[karen]

Acute inflammation is a healing response.

Chronic inflammation is a desperate and sometimes maladaptive attempt to correct a problem that the acute inflammation was unable to handle.

 

Yes - and I would still put the second situation in the broader category of "healing," as this is the body's counter-action and an "attempt" at healing. It's like the wind-up toys that hit a blockage and keep spinning their wheels - they're going in the right direction but can't go any further. That's where we need to remove the blockage so that the healing can continue, not just support the healing.

 

Unfortunately, chronic inflammation can cause secondary, irreparable harm when left unattended for long enough. If the pain continues for more than several weeks or a few months, further investigation is a good idea. In cases of untreated large rotator cuff tears, a terrible destructive process in the shoulder can develop called rotator cuff arthropathy. It takes a long time to develop but is extremely difficult to deal with when established.

 

It can happen, when the blockage isn't being removed, and the natural healing process is overstimulated and starts to be damaging itself. The best solution is to remove the blockage, but mostly people are suppressing the inflammation.

 

-Karen

[Lozen]

The butter oil is about $30 cheaper here: http://www.greenpasture.org/products/butter-oil

 

I have some but have never used it... I can't figure out how to eat it. Should've gotten the capsules.

[Guest winpro07]

jarrow formulas: sam e, and glucosamine, and silicon

[karen]

Re. butter oil, I put it on food, anything that's already buttery or oily, and well seasoned, to disguise the weird taste. Like cod liver oil, it makes sense to just use the oil unless you like swallowing loads of capsules to get the equivalent amount.

[Taiji Bum]

Great topic! I have my own shoulder issues and it never occured to me to do anything dietary.

[Lozen]

I'm taking CLO pills--two a day--and find it much more palatable than trying to make myself do the oil.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

The bodybuilding community seems to be getting great results from the use of Cissus Quadrangularis, do a search for it and check various bodybuilding suppliers. BulkNutrition's website also has a forum, as well as user's product evaluations. Definitely worth a try, can order it from various suppliers.

[Rosalia Juarez]

Re. butter oil, I put it on food, anything that's already buttery or oily, and well seasoned, to disguise the weird taste. Like cod liver oil, it makes sense to just use the oil unless you like swallowing loads of capsules to get the equivalent amount.

 

 

LOL! Just stop wanking or fingering the thing and most likely it'll go away dude!

 

Failing that, just go Trigger Point Massage Therapy you fuckers!

 

How boring!!!

 

xoxoxo bye sweetie

rosie

 

PS: sorry karen i was meaning to quote the fat bald fucker below you ah!

Edited April 28, 2008 by Rosalia Juarez

[yuanqi]

Are their any dietary modifications or herbal supplements that would assist in the alleiviation of an inflamed rotator cuff ?

 

Currently receiving Bowen therapy & using hot & cold compress alternation . Not taking any anti-inflammatories or other medications ( Bowen therapist discouraged it ) .

 

 

some good advice from the rest. for pain, traumeel that was mentioned before is good, its made in pill form as well as in ointment (although i dont know if you can order the pill form unless a practioner), works well from all the people i know and recommended it to, especially using both at the same time, also available to different types of practioners in injectable form, which is by far the best method to take care of the pain immediately. i dont know if acupuncture injection therapy is available in austrailia but if so that would help alot, usually a cocktail of guna shoulder with vit b 12 and traumeel seems to work well in injections for that.

 

herbs are one thing that will help as well especially combined with acupuncture. there are a multitude of chinese herbs that can take care of the pain and help heal the shoulder, maybe you can find an acupuncturist/herbalist to consider getting treatments from.

 

laser therapy is also great provided the person has a adequate laser and not a pen light. LOL

 

good luck

Edited April 29, 2008 by yuanqi

[Guest winpro07]

http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/coconut_milk.htm

young coconut water

 

http://bikramyogaunionsquare.com/blog/2007...ation-symptoms/

 

In WWII, coconut water was used as a natural saline drip saving the lives of many allied soldiers.

 

http://www.tandurust.com/natural-home-reme.../arthritis.html

 

Warm coconut oil or mustard oil mixed with camphor should be massaged in case of stiff and aching joints.

 

http://www.tandurust.com/natural-home-reme.../arthritis.html

Edited April 29, 2008 by winpro07

[karen]

some good advice from the rest. for pain, traumeel that was mentioned before is good, its made in pill form as well as in ointment (although i dont know if you can order the pill form unless a practioner),

 

Yes, and if not available locally, anyone can mail order Traumeel ointment or pellets from many homeopathic pharmacies. One good one is in New Jersey, Homeopathy Overnight, www.homeopathyovernight.com, 1-800-ARNICA-30.

 

If any injections are used, best to take Arnica and Ledum as well!

 

-Karen

[karen]

I'm taking CLO pills--two a day--and find it much more palatable than trying to make myself do the oil.

 

You may need quite a bit more than that.. if you open a capsule and see what it measures, I think it might be about a third of a teaspoon. And the oil is so easy to disguise, has such a mild taste, really, I kid you not . The butter oil is so much stronger tasting compared to that.

[Lozen]

I can't stand the oil, even when I get Cinnamon tingle flavor, which is the only kind that doesn't make me gag.

 

I think I take about a teaspoon of oil in the pills.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

Google CISSUS QUADRANGULARIS and 'shoulder' or 'rotator cuff' and read up on some of the Bodybuilding Forums. Get some Bulk Cissus from BulkNutrition.com or S.AN. BoneBoost, or USPLabs SuperCissus Rx.

 

I'm tellin' you all, TRY this before coco butter oil pancha karma. Those bodybuilders have some creative researchers and they come up with stuff and it either sinks or swims.

 

I've personally had GREAT results with Cissus, and another friend has too.

[dirtypunk]

Have you maybe seen a medical professional?

 

I know a lot of people put a lot of stock in herbs, tinctures, oils, and who knows what, but your local family physician and a physical therapist could probably fix things up pretty quickly.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

DirtyPunk,

A regular physician knows precious little about musculoskeletal dysfunction,WAY less than a good

physical theapist, a doc few MIGHT offer 1 or 2 cortisone injections (you choose if that seems right),

PT has less than 50% chance of helping, and rotator cuff problem will probably return when activity starts

again. And an Orthopedic SURGEON operates, that's how he makes his living, so his world-view is scalpel-oriented. Try the Cissus, a good accupiuncturist a good PT, get an MRI to see if you actually have a complete tear (the only situation in which I would visit the surgeon). Most regular FP's will throw an antiinflammatory at it, mis diagnosis it as anything or 'shoulder strain' and give muscle relaxants, even though there is no spasm present. A wise one will at least prescribe PT.

 

A GOOD Chiropractor or a good Osteopath who specializes in manipulation can also be the ticket.