June 10, 2008

Summer injuries

I went hiking on Sunday and came upon a scene where a mountain biker fell 30 feet down an embankment, crashing through trees, over logs and rocks into the creek below. Whew!  As we passed the paramedics we heard the words, "broken collerbone, mild concussion".  This got me to thinking about past injuries sustained by myself and my family that were treated both medically and herbally with great results.

I fell and broke my wrist two summers ago, with subsequent surgery to pin the bones back into place.  Right after the accident, I began taking homeopathic Arnica to help with the inflammation, and then while the cast was on, I added homeopathic Symphytum (comfrey) and WhiteDove Herbals Hair and Nails formula (which is high in minerals and silica) to speed bone healing. My surgeon was impressed with how quickly he was able to remove the cast, but this is when the real challenge began.  Immediately after the pins were removed, I felt a numbness in my hand, especially in the index, middle, and ring fingers. I was diagnosed with moderate to severe carpal tunnel syndrome (and it was in my right hand, my mouse hand!) The surgeon recommended surgery to release the nerve, but I wanted to try herbs first.  I began sleeping at night with a washcloth soaked in tincture strapped to the wrist with an ace bandage. I started with Arnica tincture to bring down the inflammation, then switched to comfrey tincture to help regenerate the tissue, but when I switched to St. Johnswort tincture, the carpel tunnel released and the numbness went away! St. Johnswort is used traditionally externally as an anti-inflammatory and nerve regenerative.  Now, when I'm on the computer too long or use the wrist to much, I use WhiteDove Herbals Trauma Response Oil which is a combination of Arnica, St. Johnswort, Lobelia and Cayenne oils with essential oils of Camphor and Cajeput.  This relieves any swelling, inflammation and pain quickly.