One of the keys to staying healthy is preventing or reversing chronic inflammatory conditions. Our staff at NovaCare Health Services, Home Health Care in Kissimmee are highly skilled experts in healing chronic inflammation. We are the leaders of treatment in Central Florida.
Chronic inflammation can occur if your immune system is unsuccessfully trying to fight an infection if your immune system becomes confused, or when your immune system senses that something isn’t right.
Top 5 symptoms of chronic inflammation
1. Body pain
Body pain, such as joint stiffness and muscle aches, is an indicator of increased systemic inflammation. When inflammatory cytokines – proteins that affect the interactions between cells – are elevated, they can attack muscle and joints resulting in redness, swelling, and pain.
2. Skin rashes
Skin rashes such as eczema or psoriasis are inflammatory skin issues that are characterized by red, rough, and flaky skin. Hyper-sensitivity of the immune system is linked to both eczema and psoriasis.
3. Excessive mucus production
Are you always needing to clear your throat or blow your nose? Chances are your mucous membranes are inflamed. When this happens, they produce thick phlegm in an attempt to protect the lining of the respiratory system, which causes coughing, sneezing, and a runny nose.
4. Low energy
Constantly tired despite getting enough sleep is another clue that your body is battling chronic inflammation. Just like you feel fatigued when you’re sick, when your body is chronically inflamed, your immune system works overtime to regulate its response. Consequently, chronic inflammation uses more cellular fuel for faster regeneration of immune cells and further depletes you of your energy.
5. Poor digestion
Abdominal pain, bloating, loose stool, and constipation may indicate an issue with inflammation. Chronic inflammation throughout the body can lead to leaky gut syndrome, which causes bacteria and toxins to leak through the intestinal wall and spread throughout the body. A leaky gut can trigger ongoing systemic inflammation and lead to digestive issues such as irregular bowel movements and abdominal distention.
NovaCare Home Health guidelines for healing chronic inflammation
- Eliminate foods that cause inflammation, like dairy, sugar, and simple carbohydrates
- Don’t eat foods to which you are sensitive. We can test for this with an elimination diet
- Exercise regularly to improve immune function and decrease inflammation.
- Minimize stress and learn how to best respond to it.
- Check with your doctor regarding supplements such as turmeric, resveratrol and fish oil, all known to combat inflammation
Inflammation is associated with most chronic diseases, so if you want to optimize your health now and for the future, note if you have any symptoms. If so, see your doctor for testing, and try to adopt an anti-inflammatory lifestyle and diet.