When you’re injured or unwell, you might find yourself feeling that your body is its own worst enemy – but it has an incredible ability to heal itself if you take the right steps to allow it to do so. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t obey your doctor’s orders. You absolutely should. But there are many ways that you can help the healing process along. Try these tips.
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Consider Alternative Therapies
While pills and potions have their role to play, your doctor might be among the first to recommend that you try an integrated approach to healing. Therapies like acupuncture and massage have scientifically proven benefits.
Just look at Integrated Therapies Massage & Wellness to see the wide range of conditions they can help with. While natural healing does take time, getting some help can fast-track your results.
Eat a Healthy Diet
In order to heal itself, your body needs the right building blocks, and the food you eat is the source of those. If allergies or illnesses mean that you have to exclude certain types of food, search for alternatives that can replace them as a source of nutrition. Try to change things up. Eating a varied diet allows you to get the full range of nutrients your body needs.
It isn’t rocket science, but you may want to be careful with foods that may aggravate your condition. For example, if you’re dealing with inflammation, you should cut down on red meat, sugar, refined grains, and processed foods.
If you’re able to eat a healthy diet, you probably won’t need supplements, but if you have an existing nutrient deficiency or eat a nutrient-poor diet, they offer a second-prize alternative.
Get Moving
You don’t have to work out like an athlete, but movement gets the blood circulating and can speed up the healing process. If your condition limits your mobility, ask your doctor about how and when you can exercise. Listen to your body and don’t overtax yourself, but do get moving while taking your current set of limitations into account.
Exercise is recommended for people living with Type 2 diabetes, those recovering from a stroke, people undergoing post-operative healing, those with high blood pressure, anxiety and depression, and even to ease the pain and discomfort of arthritis. In short, whatever your health issue is, the right type and amount of exercise can be helpful.
De-Stress
Stress limits your body’s ability to heal. For example, researchers have found that high stress levels have a negative effect on wound healing. And, as we know, stress has been implicated in a great many other illnesses too. Returning to our previous point, exercise helps to reduce stress, but there are many more ways to tackle the problem. Spend time doing things you love.
Enjoy time with friends and family. Tackle a creative project. Make time to spend relaxing and meditating, and be sure to get enough good-quality sleep. While stress can be healthy up to a point, too much stress has the opposite effect, so make some time for yourself and consider consulting a therapist if you can’t rid yourself of that feeling of being constantly on edge.
A healthy mind and a healthy body work together to speed your natural healing. Follow our tips and get well sooner!
