Naturopathic Support for Healing Breaks & Post-Surgery? You bet!
There are 3 areas that clients come to me to consult about what they can do to help a bone heal or to support healing post-surgery:
1. Help with inflammation: we look at natural medicine options including homeopathics, topicals and food ideas to help with the inflammation so they can decrease the load of anti-inflammatory meds they need. That might look like adding in some Wobenzyme PS/Plus and Curcumin - both of which are known to be effective for decreasing inflammation. Most clients are already on some form of Essential Fatty Acids such as Fish oils which are anti-inflammatory in nature and should be continued or added in as part of the healing plan.
If you are wanting to decrease dosing/switch to something non-pharmaceutical for pain post surgery talk to your surgeon about any recommendations/strategies around doing this she/he may have. Pain can be like a runaway train so I usually recommend that whatever is recommended for pain by the surgeon be done in the initial acute stage and just adding in some natural support that is compatible like homeopathic Arnica which helps with inflammation and helps the body deal with the shock of not only unexpected accidents but surgery too.
Arnica 200 CH - 2 pellets am and pm for 2 - 3 days
Arnica 30K/200K (4 CH) - 2 pellets am and pm and as needed during recovery - do this after the initial higher dose Arnica 200 CH days.
2. Help with nutritional pieces needed for healing: Making sure the process of healing is supported nutritionally with a focus on bone health and minerals so the body can easily draw on what it needs and that the healing happens optimally. Colloidal Minerals, Essential Fatty Acids, Vit D and a high quality Cal Mag are some key go to’s for this and some plant based medicines like Genestra's Bone-gen support the regeneration in a different but complementary way.
If ligaments/tendons are involved we want to make sure that the particular nutrition that the body needs is available to the body. Manganese is a key one and the specific ligament repair formulas from Douglas Labs often test well and have worked well when a client has ligament involvement.
Summary of Typically Supplements I Consider With My Clients:
Wobenzyme PS - 2-3, 3 times per day away from food - 45 minutes minimum before eating and 3 hours after if possible. Do closest to that as you can. It is a proteolytic enzyme (breaks down protein) so we want it to be as away from food as possible so it can work on the breakdown of the products of inflammation and not on breaking down your meal.
Bone-gen - 5 -10 drops 2 times a day (easy to take for kids to support the healing of broken bones)
Colloidal Minerals - 2 capfuls/day (another kids favourite - tastes yummy!)
Cal Mag Vanilla Liquid - 1 Tbsp before bed (key ingredients for bone health and supports sleep so nice to take this before bed)
High quality Multi vitamin - Active Multi-Vitamin by Genestra has the Bs in their bioactive methylated forms and when I am looking for a good quality I look for this.
Essential Fatty Acids - Super EFA Capsules are one brand I like that I find kids don’t mind to chew the capsule with - 1-2, 2x/day (2/day enough for kids)
Vit D - 2 - 5 drops/day (this depends on where the individuals levels are normally but it gives you a ballpark)
3. Other considerations: Detox support and rest are both key considerations. To help the body deal with any meds/narcotics/anesthetics that are used we might add in some specific liver support initially or do that after a few weeks to help clean things up. When I see clients we customize based on what I find in my assessments with the REBA device. Generally I love the undas for this and therapies like acupuncture and guided yoga nidra meditations are helpful in getting the body into an optimal state of healing and repair.
May this time be restorative for you on all levels and may you heal well so you can enjoy the physical activities you so love!
xo, Dr. Monika
* To book a consultation/acupuncture with Dr. Monika call the office at (403) 609-8385.
