Somewhere along the way the term inflammation got a bad name. Inflammation can’t be good, right? At least this is what most people think.
Inflammation is actually an essential part of every reparative process. It is how our bodies heal and fight back. It is how we recover from trauma, surgery (organized trauma), cuts, broken bones, infections, etc. Inflammation is a good thing.
You have to admit that when you hear the word “inflammation” you think bad thoughts. “Oh God, did I hear you say I have inflammation?” Next time you hear this, stop and be grateful that your body orchestrates such a beautiful response to all the abuses we bring upon it!
Generally speaking, when the inflammatory process is pressed into action and it is permitted to “fix” the insult (cut, blunt trauma, sprain, etc.), things get repaired and your boo boo gets better: problem solved and you move on.
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Not all inflammatory responses are created equal
That said, too little or too much inflammatory response can be a bad thing, indeed.
1) If you don’t mount an effective inflammatory response when needed, you are potentially at risk of more serious consequences. Just ask anyone who is or has been on chemotherapy, or anyone with an immune deficiency disorder such as advanced AIDS. This is really scary stuff indeed.
2) On the other hand there are plenty of very ugly disorders, e.g. autoimmune diseases, where our bodies over do the inflammatory response and our immune system attacks the host (us): rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn’s disease to name just a couple.
3) Let’s not forget the normal inflammatory response that accompanies a viral or bacterial infection or one traumatic event. Did you know that most of the symptoms, such as fever, malaise, muscle aches, etc., that you encounter when you have an infection, a cold or the flu are a direct result of the inflammatory response, not the infection itself? This is a good and necessary response to have, but it is what creates the symptoms. It also fixes the problem. This is what we would call acute inflammation.
So, what am I all angry about now?
When it comes to those athletic or mechanical type inflammatory orthopaedic problems like plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendinitis, your doctor may be treating the WRONG thing. Stay tuned for part 2, to find out more and the Orthopaedic Groundhog Day.
I have an unusual problem and in a very sticky situation. After driving my 2013 Lexus RX350 SUV since new, I finally bought a new Shiny White 2010 AudiQ3! History: About 4 years ago we took my husbands Lincoln SUV on a long road trip and he had asked me to drive a little. I never drove his SUV before. After about 1 minute of pressing on the gas pedal I noticed my ankle started hurting bad! I immediatly told him I can’t drive this as I don’t want to screw up my ankle as it was getting inflamed from his car! Shoot ahead to now….I thought when I test drove this new AudiQ3 that the gas pedal seemed ok for my foot so I bought one. I traded in my old faithful 2013 Lexus and payed outright for the new AudiQ3. No sooner do I leave the dealers lot with the new car tthe same thing started happening with my ankle as did with my husbands Lincoln! After a very short drive home my ankle was all inflamed! My foot took 2 days to calm down! After it calmed I tried again and the same thing but now creeping up by my shin and outer calf. I went to the poditrist and told him my problem and asked him to adjust me in the car seat for this and he had me put the seat as low as it could go and as far back. It helped a decent amount but still bothers me unless I ice and advil and I can’t do that everytime I drive! A n old 2019 vascular report of ultrasound on my legs noted in the the comments there was Non obstructive Peripheral artery disease of bilateral SFA and mild Infrapopliteal PAD. The big question is what do I do about this new car?? Will the pain go away or just get worse with each drive? I am a pickleball player and neither that or my old lexus ever bothered my ankle! I would stretch a little before I played but what to do now with this car?? My old car is gone!!
Hi Holly,
I am speechless! This is way out of my wheelhouse. You are talking to the owner of a 14 year old Prius. Best of luck.
Stay healthy my friends,
AO
Wow just saw your answer years later as I came back to your sight for answers on my new ankle sprains. So now here I am 2022 and fell on the pickleball court. I wasn’t even running. Just fell over! I fell on my left butt and bottom of my wrists and sprained hurt my ankles minimally (a level 1/2 sprain accordiing to my PT who just looked at it 10 days later). Anyway i”m still in my old Lexus SUV and now i’m feeling my right ankle when pressing the gas pedal again! It’s minimially puffy on both ankles and zero black and blue. I’m wearing ankle supports and I can walk but now 2.5 weeks later the circumfrence around my ankle just aches. I want to start playing again with more substantial lace up type of supports I bought. Poditrist says getting back to sports is actually better than non movement. My sport is Pickleball. I just started stretching my calves today in hopes to relieve the achiness. Hopefully you are not speechless as would love your advice this time lol!
Hi Holly,
There is a lot here. First, your podiatrist is right- keep moving. The rest of your problem is complicated, but calf stretching won’t hurt, so get with it.
Looking forward, if your problem require further study, one test that is done too infrequently is the Tc99 bone scan. Just keep that in mind. I will not answer more about this as it can be answered by your doc.
Stay healthy, my friends,
AO