How to set the stage for healing & 8 ways to help speed up the healing process

Within my acupuncture practice I treat many patients dealing with intense acute or long-term injuries and conditions. It can be incredibly daunting to suddenly realise that you do not trust your body, that it is not indestructible, or that you will just have to accept or deal with your back pain, arthritic knee, anxiety or heart burn. Patients who are suffering need to have hope, direction and more importantly the confidence that their body is programmed to heal.

Disaster and plaster management – but then what?
Modern health care tends to focus on disaster management. In an acute emergency this is excellent however for chronic disorders or for achieving true health, this mentality does not do us any good. Instead plaster management follows such as a medication plaster to mask pain rather than uncover the root cause as to why it occurred. Our generation is used to having solutions to hand with a click of a button, long-term problems are either solved with taking a short-term pill or smothered with a British stiff upper lip. There is no quick fix to healing, you cannot negotiate with or deny pain and ultimately sometimes you have to slow down to go faster.

Having a body is a big responsibility. A lot of things can go wrong with it of the eighty or ninety years it is in our possession. Medical treatment in an emergency can often provide a stopgap, leaving you with the responsibility and often without any direction of cleaning up the long-term mess left behind. This is where acupuncture can really help – it can help to strengthen your body, deal with problems before they become disasters, and it can help to rebuild the body after an emergency medical situation.

8 ways to help speed up the healing process:

1. Get out of pain - Whether you have a back spasm or recent surgery, it is difficult for your body to heal when you are ringing the pain bell. This is because pain is incredibly stressful and zaps your energy. It is important to do what it takes to get comfortable, whether that is acupuncture or analgesics – it is the first step to healing.
2. Get a grip on your stress - Being sick, incapacitated, or in pain is incredibly stressful, especially if it is a chronic condition. Remember that stress affects everything in your body, and high stress only aggravates any condition that you already have. In addition stress slows down digestion, immunity, and any other systems that are not needed for flight or fight response. Deep breathing, exercise (if you are able), acupuncture, massage, and even reading a favourite book are a few ways to help reduce stress. Trust that your body wants to heal – it is programmed to heal. Many patients become anxious because they perceive that they are not getting better and assume that they never will. Anxiety is the bigger brother to stress, and being anxious only gets in the way of the healing process.
3. Rest - Your body needs energy to heal. If you are using your energy trying to maintain normalcy, you are not giving your body the energy it needs. Understand that your body rejuvenates and heals while you are resting - that is why we go to sleep every night. You are healing, so you just need a little more.
4. Your energy and nutrients come from the food you eat and water you drink - If you are trying to recover and heal, this is not the time to eat from a chocolate box or take-away, go on a diet, or skimp on the good stuff. This is plaster management with short-term satisfaction. Think lean proteins, whole grains, and lots of deeply colored plant-based foods.
5. Ask for help - If it is going to completely wipe you out to get the food shop ask a friend or family member to go for you. Many people think that by asking for help they are imposing on others or admitting to being weak. The reality is that most of your friends and family members are looking for ways to help you get better.
6. Resist the urge to test yourself - I have seen several patients completely negate any healing by pushing it to test their progress. It is human nature to want to see if you can still do a back flip, “gentle stretch”, or unload the dishwasher, but resist until you are completely healed.
7. Understand that it takes time to heal - We tend to lose sight of this when we can relieve our symptoms in hours with a prescription medication. Masking your symptoms is not the same thing as healing, for many illnesses and injuries healing just takes time.
8. Enlist professional help - in the form of acupuncture, massage, physical therapy, or other healing modalities. Depending on the nature of your illness or injury, any one of these practitioners can help you through treatment, education, and instructions for home care.

At Health Point Clinic we are passionate about preventative care. A strong emphasis is placed upon maintainable lifestyle changes that will help you to take back control of your health and prevent further injury. 
The average treatment is 1 hour into your week this is only 1.68% of your week, our goal is to provide you with the tools and support to navigate the 98.32% of your week with the confidence that you are on the right path.

I wish you all the best on your journey to good health.