Understanding Inflammation Post Injury

The term “inflammation” originates from the Latin word “inflammare”, meaning “to set on fire” or “to ignite”. And this is why it may sound scary, and sounds like a bad thing to go through, but in the initial phase of an injury, the inflammation is actually a necessary part of healing. Indeed, this initial step is how your body signals that something is wrong and starts the repair process. On the other hand, if the injury is not looked after, especially when we talk about major injury, the inflammatory process can become problematic. In this blog, we are going to look into what the steps are to take when going through an injury, which can be a sprained ankle, recovering from surgery, or managing chronic pain, in order to have the best recovery.

The 0–72 Hour Rule: Respect the Acute Phase

When going through the initial phase of an inflammation, which is the first 72 hours post-injury, the body enters the acute inflammatory phase, and this is absolutely normal and necessary for the body to start taking action towards safe healing. In this process, the immune system rushes white blood cells and inflammatory mediators to the area to begin cleanup and repair.

Things to avoid:

• Avoid anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs or corticosteroids): As this process is needed from the body to understand what has happened and to clear up the area from eventual pathogens, taking something that suppresses the process is not ideal.

• Avoid ice: Ice is a vessel restrictor, which means it would slow the amount of blood that is sent to the area. Yes, it may reduce the swelling, but that swelling is innoquos compare to the consequence of not having blood rushing to the area with the nutrience and substance needed to start the healing process.

Things you can do: 

• Protect and rest the area. Avoid using the injured area and place weight on it. Rest it and where possible do really some minimal movement that may not cause pain or disconfort.

• Compression and elevation help reduce fluid buildup. If your goal is to reduce swelling, you can apply compression and keep the area elevated.

After 72 Hours: Shift to Recovery Support

Past the first 72 hours, the inflammatory response was meant to be settled. If that’s not the case, that’s when it ok to take anti-inflammatories. That would help manage the pain in the long term and allow you to start moving freely. That said, before you take any medication, always consult your GP or pharmacist.

Moving forward, this second phase of the injury recovery is called remodelling and repair.

In this phase, it is the time to:

• Introduce gentle movement and rehabilitation exercises – most often isometric hold, which we spoke about in another blog.

• Use anti-inflammatory agents (if needed) under professional guidance.

• Massage therapy and heat packs become helpful — they promote circulation, lymphatic drainage, and tissue flexibility.

While the remodelling and repair phase starts past the 72h post injury, the recovery itself may last weeks or months, depends on the type of injury. For more details about the healing process of different tissues, read this blog.

What Are The Symptoms of Inflammation Post-Injury

You may notice that soon after an injury the body has a really specific way to respond to what just happened.

This response include:

• Swelling – more blood is sent to the area;
• Skin redness
• Pain to touch or movement

Those are some of the visible or more noticeable aspects of an inflammatory response post injury, but on the macroscopic level, there is more happening, such as the rush of white cells to the injured area, and the increase of blood clotting cells, if the skin is cracked.

Food, Fats, and Chronic Inflammation: The Lymphatic Link

An inflammation is not a process that comes only from an injury. The food and drinks that we intake are a significant source of chronic, low-grade inflammation, especially when they include excessive amounts of long-chain fatty acids found in ultra-processed foods, deep-fried items, and fast food.

Given the chemical structure of those fats, which are made from a chain of 16 carbon atoms (therefore long-chain), they can be absorbed directly by the capillary of the bloodstream, due to the narrow passage at the capillary end. Indeed, those fats would get absorbed by the lymphatic system, which capillaries have a wider aperture. That said, once the fat is travelling along the lymphatic system, it would be recognised as an external element and attacked by immune cells such as macrophages, and this is an inflammatory response. Now, when the lymphatic system becomes overburdened with inflammatory fats, it can lead to chronic inflammation. This is also why some people feel bloated, puffy, or in pain even without any injury.

This also explains why, when seeing people with Lymphoedema, we refer them to a GP to discuss an anti-inflammatory diet. Given the excess load of the lymphatic system along this presentation, it is better not aggravating it.

And to loop back on the topic of this blog, even when you hurt yourself badly with a major injury, or you may be suffering from chronic pain, a balanced diet rich in veggies and fruit, grain and fresh food, is recommended over junk food and inflammatory meals.

Top Pro-Inflammatory Foods to Watch Out For:

• Highly refined vegetable oils

• Fried foods

• High-sugar snacks and drinks

• Ultra-Processed meats

How Massage Therapy Helps (and Why Sometimes Hurts)

Many forms of massage, especially those where you may experience discomfort and pain, like Remedial Massage or Thai Massage, or even technique like Dry Needling, aim to reproduce microinflammatory response, and that’s why they are effective in helping you with recovery. Indeed, that pain response, is an alarm for your nervous system, which is pushed to send nutrience to the area affected by the pain.

Now, what is important is to understand the time frame of healing, the subjective history of the patient we are working with and the level of injury they are presenting with.

Massage helps by:

• Stimulating the lymphatic system to drain inflammatory by-products

• Improving blood flow to assist with the healing (stimulation of nervous system response)

• Improving joint movement

• Reducing the stress response

Should you get a massage within the first 72 hours after an injury?

The short answer to this question is, yes, you can.

What you may want to be aware of is:

• Explain to your therapist what happened and where you are in pain.
• Beware of your symptoms – any numbness? Any paralysis? Pins and needles? Can you move the joint?
• Communicate with the therapist during the treatment if the area of pain is getting to painful, like more than 7 out of 10 or more (where 0 is no pain and 10 worst pain ever)
• Make sure to have time to rest after the massage.
• Drink plenty of water after the massage to replace the liquid that may have been moved and expelled.

And if you happen to need a treatment, feel free to check my availability and book yourself in for a treatment now. At Melbourne Massage and Treatment, I am specialised in helping people like you recover from injuries, via hands-on treatment and exercises.

In fact, not only can I help by flushing out excess liquid that is stagnating in the injury area via hands-on treatment, but with the aid of weights and resistance bands, I can teach you exercises that would support your recovery for the long term, leaving you strong and more resilient.

On the other hand, if you have any questions, please reach out to me via the form below:

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FAQ: Inflammation and Recovery