Inflammation: The Body’s Cleanup Crew in Fast Action!
by David Klein, Healthful Living Educator

When injured or invaded by toxic matter, gases or microorganisms, or when a buildup of internal toxic debris, fluids and/or microorganisms (commonly called an “infection”) reaches a crucial level, the body enacts a health-restorative purification process called inflammation. In this process, the body is working at a “feverish” pace to heal you! It sends elements of the immune system to the threatened area: phagocytes, including monocyte/macrophages and leukocytes, also known as white blood cells or T cells, which produce antibodies, binding toxins to the killer/neutralizing T cells.

In addition to the T cell action, the body sends antibody-producing B cells, more blood and more lymphatic fluid for removal of toxic debris to the threatened area. Also, the permeability of the small blood vessels is increased to permit the delivery of large molecules from the bloodstream to the damaged area for use in the body’s repair work. The extra blood and lymphatic fluid causes the inflamed area to swell, redden, feel hot and, sometimes, painful. These are all normal and positive signs of the body’s magnificent self-healing powers in action.

Would you ever purposely do anything to hinder your body’s healing processes? Only if you did not know why all of this was happening!

Inflammation is vigorous self-healing action intelligently conducted by the body. The intelligence of bodily healing action is supreme, and it is foolish to mess with the process! No matter what we do, only the body can heal itself, and, in each case, it heals in spite of, not because of our interference. Only the body can heal itself, and there is no force in our lives which is more powerful than those self-healing powers. Therefore, it is prudent to simply clean the affected area (if it’s external) with water, then leave it alone and get plenty of rest and sleep to allow the body to shunt all the self-healing energy it can muster for its restorative job. Inflammation will run its course if we support the self-healing process. Only then will health will be restored. Remember: self-healing energy is only generated when we sleep–it does not come from food or remedies or anything else. There are no exceptions to this physiological process of life.

Taking anti-inflammatory medicines and herbs works against the body’s restorative action, since all "medicinal" anti-inflammatory agents are toxic and enervating–they have no healing intelligence and do not act on the body; rather, the body works to eliminate them. Thus, their use is counterproductive, decreasing the amount of bodily energy available for self-healing, and in some cases, making us sicker. Overdosing on medicines and herbs can weaken the body so greatly that it has no energy for keeping the inflammation process going, and thus the inflammation stops prematurely, fooling people into believing that the agent “worked”–that does not “cure” us; rather, that stops the self-healing action, keeping us toxic! Icing a wound chills out our life-force, slowing down the healing process. The self-healing life-force needs to rage on, unimpeded, to complete its job!

Empower yourself to heal by deeply delving into these simple yet mind-challenging teachings. Then, let go and allow your body to heal on its own terms. Self-healing and rejuvenating can be a wonderfully ecstatic experience, and as easy as doing nothing–intelligently!

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