Overview
Inflammation or swelling is a body’s response towards the fight against different kinds of infections or injuries. Here in this blog, we will share some interesting insights on the types, symptoms, causes, and treatment of chronic inflammation.
Summary
- Inflammation is a body’s response towards the fight against different kinds of infections or injuries.
- It is a vital defense mechanism that fastens up the healing process.
- Acute inflammation can occur due to a sports injury, accident, or illness.
- Chronic inflammation is long-lasting; i.e., it stays for a longer duration than usual.
- The most common reasons include a sudden infection, traumatic injury, or an autoimmune disorder.
- Its most common symptoms may include muscle or joint stiffness, severe pain in the joints, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, and headaches.
- A C-reactive protein (CRP) test is mostly recommended for assessing the level of biomarkers in the blood.
- The use of NSAIDs and corticosteroids is most commonly recommended for reducing inflammation.
- Use foods rich in anti-inflammatory properties such as fish oil, olive oil, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, etc.
What is Chronic Inflammation?
Swelling or inflammation is a body’s response towards the fight against different kinds of infections or injuries. In contrast, chronic inflammation happens when this response extends over time and leave your body in constant pain. Damage in your body cells leads to the release of certain chemicals that trigger an immune response.
Inflammation is a vital defense mechanism that fastens up the healing process. But it may negatively affect your body tissues and organs. Several research findings have suggested that chronic inflammation can lead to several other severe conditions such as cancer and asthma.
Types of Inflammation
There are two major types of inflammation; acute and chronic.
- Acute Inflammation: Acute inflammation can occur due to a sports injury, accident, or illness. This type of inflammation is temporary and short-lived. It takes some times several hours and other times a few days to get rid of it. It involves sharp pain, redness, and loss of joint or ligament functioning.
- Chronic Inflammation: This type of inflammation is long-lasting, i.e., stays for a longer duration than usual. As the name suggests, it can stay up to several months or years.
Conditions Associated with Chronic Inflammation
The most common conditions associated with chronic inflammation may include:
- Development of a tumor or cancer.
- Diabetes.
- Cardiovascular diseases.
- Asthma.
- Arthritis.
- Fibromyalgia.
- Lower back pain.
- Muscular neck pain.
Most Common Symptoms of Chronic Inflammation
The symptoms may vary slightly for acute or chronic inflammation. Depending upon the severity level, these symptoms may range from an intermediate to a severe level. The most commonly observed symptoms associated with inflammation are:
- Sharp or radiating pain in joints.
- Joint or muscle stiffness.
- Fevers/chills.
- Chest pain.
- Headaches.
- Abdominal pain.
- Loss of appetite.
- Mouth sores.
- Loss of functioning.
Causes of Chronic Inflammation
This type of inflammation can be caused due to several reasons. The most common reasons include a sudden infection or a traumatic injury. It can also occur as a result of auto-immune disorder. The immune system, in such cases, gets triggered mistakenly as a result of an infection. Usually, It can be a result of an underlying cause.
Other most common factors of it may include obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and chronic stress. Acute inflammation usually occurs in response to an injury or an infection, whereas chronic inflammation happens due to an allergic reaction or an autoimmune disorder.
Diagnosis of Inflammatory Diseases
All the inflammatory diseases are diagnosed after your specialist conducts a physical examination test of your current condition. He may evaluate your pain symptoms at the site of inflammation.
In the case of immunity triggered the response, the production of biomarkers increases. For this reason, your specialist may ask you for the following tests:
- C-reactive protein (CRP) test.
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
Treatment of Chronic Inflammation
Though inflammation is a natural defense mechanism, severe inflammation needs to be controlled to reduce any long-lasting damage and effectively manage it. Some of the most common treatments for reducing inflammation are:
- Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), for instance, aspirin, naproxen, and ibuprofen help reduce inflammation.
- Your specialist may prescribe corticosteroids as they help reduce inflammation. But long-term use of such corticosteroids leads to eye-sight problems in the future.
- Inflammation can also be managed through herbal supplements. Recent research findings have suggested the effectiveness of cannabis oil at the inflammation site.
- Adding supplements naturally to your diet can also help reduce inflammation. These supplements include fish oil, lipoic acid, etc.
- Foods with anti-inflammatory properties also help reduce inflammation. These foods include olive oil, tomatoes, dry nuts, leafy green vegetables, high fiber foods, etc.
- Certain spices such as ginger or garlic can also help reduce chronic inflammation and conditions associated with it.
Foods to Avoid During Inflammation
Some of the most common food products that may increase or boost the inflammation rate include:
- Deep-fried or oily food.
- Food products high in sugar.
- Highly processed food products.
- Unhealthy food with saturated fats.
You are at the edge of getting attacked by several major diseases if you experience severe or chronic inflammation. Your specialist helps diagnose the actual problem by evaluating your blood test reports. Use foods that are rich in anti-inflammatory properties and avoid smoking or alcohol consumption.
Inflammation is a natural healing response, but chronic inflammation can signify a serious disorder or an underlying cause. Consult with our team of top-ranked and highly reputable specialists at Complete Medical Wellness today.