Speedy Recovery: Healing From Injury, Surgery, or Other Trauma

"Want to feel better? Participate in your healing."  ~Jennifer Kruse

This subject is near and dear to my heart after both a recent injury and surgery that affected my back, abdomen and nervous system. It was a true test of my knowledge of how to repair the body, my willingness to get the help I needed, and my patience (with which I am not that blessed)! I admit that I had moments that I thought I would never get better and had pain so severe that I had to use prescription painkillers. Given my natural aversion to drugs, this was a big deal for me! The good news is that I am feeling much better and nutrition and supplements were a crucial part of my healing process. After my own experience I want to pass on what I have learned. If you have experienced any trauma to the body, including surgery, an injury, or just prolonged stress that has affected your physical health, there is something here for you.

The most surprising part of this whole process has been all of the ancillary issues I had to deal with due to the surgery. First there was the pain in my throat from the trache tube-slippery elm lozenges got rid of that in a snap. Then there was the pain from the catheter-the perfect job for marshmallow root. For laparoscopic surgery they pump you full of CO2 gas. You can suffer the discomfort of that for a week or you can take fennel tincture to get rid of it in a couple days. The brain fog was the worst. I couldn't call up words, forgot what I was saying mid-sentence, and was overall just dull-witted! Needless to say that was kind of frightening and was aggravated by the pain meds. No loss, though, because I was able to try PQQ, a nutrient from which three recent studies have shown positive effects on the brain. I used 60 mg of CoQ10 and 20 mg of PQQ with great results! It took about a month, but definitely got my marbles back!

I would love to say that there is an herb or combination of herbs that will alleviate severe pain but if there is I don't know about it. Before I had the surgery I was in so much pain that I had to take the pain meds. The goal, of course, is to use them as little as possible and get off of them as quickly as possible. The brain fog, damage to the stomach lining, and potential for addiction argue for using them wisely.

The Acute Phase

Immediately after trauma, the body responds with inflammation. The homeopathic remedy arnica, 200 CK or above, works really well to minimize inflammation and swelling at the time of the injury or surgery. I took arnica 200 ck the day before and the morning of my surgery, as well as for 4-5 days after. This works amazingly well for pain too. After my surgery, I only had to use the pain meds a couple of times. If the injury or surgery affects any area that is nerve-rich such as the back, the eyes, the hands or feet, then alternate the arnica with hypericum. Hypericum will assist in nerve healing. Healing of the nerves can also be accomplished with the B vitamins, particularly B12 and benfotiamine (B1). When bone is involved, use the cell salts Calc Phos, Calc Flor and Silica internally to heal the bone. Read more