How to Heal Inflammation and a Broken Bone
*Updated February 22, 2020
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When I unexpectedly fractured my wrist, of course I immediately went into healer mode and started a regime to promote bone growth and healing and to reduce local inflammation caused by the trauma.
Even if you don't have a broken bone (which I hope you never do!), these pointers can help you strengthen your bones and combat any inflammation in your body due to injury, trauma or overuse.
Recovery from an injury does take time (and patience!) but I truly believe that I have recovered faster because I was proactive from the start.
Healing While Casted
Supplements To Take
Even though my hand, wrist and forearm were covered in a cast for 6 weeks, I knew that I could help heal my bones and reduce the swelling and inflammation even if I could not directly treat the area.
I started taking the following supplements daily to strengthen my bone healing matrix and to begin to heal any ligament damage:
To reduce the swelling and inflammation, I also took a tumeric supplement daily.
I also elevated my arm whenever possible to help my lymph system drain to reduce swelling and moved my fingers throughout the day to improve circulation.
*Update: After having broken another bone (this time a broken big toe) I added a few things to my healing regime.
Homeopathic Remedies
When you break a bone and/or severely injure the tissue and muscle surrounding the break, you want to immediately work on combating the pain and promote healing.
To do this I now keep various homeopathic remedies on hand.
Homeopathic remedies come in various strengths (6c, 30c, 200ck). Though I am not a trained homeopathic practitioner, I have experienced first hand how these remedies work.
The remedies are basically tiny sugar pellets that you place under your tongue.
Once you select a remedy, you take the recommended dosage. If improvement follows then you continue with that remedy as directed.
Arnica Montana is a fantastic homeopathic remedy to take for the first few days after the injury and break to decrease pain, swelling, bruising and trauma. I started with 200ck when I first broke my big toe but then continued with 30c.
Hypericum Perforatum is another remedy that I used to address pain, specifically nerve related pain which can accompany broken bones, especially fingers and toes.
Symphytum Officinale is the homeopathic remedy that can actually help with bone healing specifically with the formation of the callus. It can help alleviate pain as well. Only start this remedy once you know that your break has been properly set.
These are just the three homeopathic remedies that I used for my broken bone but there are others that you can investigate depending on your symptoms as well.
Phototherapy Patches
I also now use phototherapy patches for my own healing and for my acupuncture patients, and began using them after I broke my big toe.
Phototherapy (low level light therapy) uses the power of your body’s own infrared light combined with the power of acupressure to initiate a specific biological response in the body without the use of chemicals or medications.
The phototherapy patches are about the size of a quarter and contain a solution of nano-sized crystals that act as antennae, reflecting your body’s infrared light to trigger a response in the body such as reducing pain and inflammation.
When you have a broken bone and inflammation, there are several phototherapy patches that you could use.
They don’t have to be put directly on the place of pain or the break so they can easily be worn as soon as injury occurs and when you are in a cast.
You simply place a patch on the recommended location for 12 hours and then replace with another.
Phototherapy patches that I recommend for a broken bone and inflammation include the following:
Icewave Patch: The Icewave patch was Lifewave’s first patch for pain relief as it eases pain and reduces inflammation. This is a great patch for any pain condition, including a broken bone and pulled muscles.
Lifewave X39 Patch is the latest in phototherapy technology as it stimulates stem cell production. It can not only help with the pain and possible bone repair but it also reduces inflammation and helps with sleep which is often disrupted when we are in pain.
Aeon Patch is another patch that is specifically designed to reduce inflammation. It also helps reduce stress which is a normal occurance when you break a bone!
Carnosine Patch is another option as it is terrific for bruising, tissue repair and healing.
You can check out all the phototherapy patch options here.
Healing After Cast Removal
After 6 weeks of atrophy in a cast, my arm looked like some other life form after my cast was removed.
A deep bruise that ran the length of my inner forearm became apparent as well, so in addition to the above supplements which I continued, I also added the following self-care measures:
Zheng Gu Shui: This is a topical Chinese herbal liniment that I rubbed directly into my wrist and forearm to promote blood circulation, to disperse blood stasis, to relax tendons and muscles, and to reduce swelling and pain.
Arnica gel: I used this homeopathic topical gel to heal the deep bruise on my forearm.
Heating pad: I used heat A LOT in my recovery to increase healthy blood flow to the area to promote healing, to reduce swelling and pain and to warm up my muscles before stretching to increase my range of motion.
Water: Making sure I drank enough water each day became a focus to remove toxins, reduce swelling and help circulation.
Epsom salt soaks: I took frequent baths with epsom salts to soak my arm so that the warm water could help with circulation and blood flow. The magnesium in the epsom salts also helped reduce muscle tension and ligament tightness.
Massage: In addition to physical therapy, I turned to my orthopedic massage therapist to help increase my range of motion.
Unlike PT, he brought a larger view to my healing, working on my shoulder, triceps and other peripheral muscles that were holding tension and limiting my wrist movement as well as helping to mobilize all the carpal bones that had become "stuck" as a result of the cast.
Acupuncture: Of course I turned to acupuncture as well as my go-to healing method, treating my wrist and arm on an almost daily basis.
The acupuncture helped to reduce the pain and swelling as well as improve blood flow and circulation to heal the bone, muscles, tendons and ligaments.
*Update: After cast removal I would also continue with any homeopathic remedies for bone healing and growth. I would also continue with the phototherapy patches to continue tissue healing and any pain relief that was needed.
So as you can see, it was a full on effort (and continues to be) to recover from my fractured wrist. But, if you put in the time and effort, you do reap the rewards.
List your go-to items for healing inflammation below in the comments