Inflammation – Is it a Friend or a Foe?

Inflammation in a nutshell is blood flow being directed to a specific site. It does this as the body requires additional help to repair damage from an injury or stress, or to assist the body in killing an invader that has taken over. This is good as it is here to help. The problem lies when inflammation begins to back up and become congested in the tissue. Like milk gone bad, it sours and can lead to additional damage to the surrounding cells.

If caught in this cycle, the body continues to send more blood to this area as it still is reading the tissue as needing additional support. This increases the pressure, which increases the pain. This is why inflammation has been given a bad rap.

So why if inflammation is sent to heal, can this backup occur, thereby causing more damage and potential long-term suffering?

The answer lies in the body’s ability to keep its fluids in motion. When there is a lack of energy to keep the flow optimal, it becomes sluggish. Think of a fast-flowing river with solid banks. If you had a fishnet, held it in place in the river and then took it out after a month, there may be some gunk and a few leaves or debris trapped on the material, but it would still be relatively clean. Now imagine that same fishnet sitting in a bog for a month. When you pull it out, it would be covered with a sticky, gooey layer, become a breeding ground for bacteria, and be anything but clean.

Along with this, if the diaphragm is weak, there is a lack of oxygen in the cells, causing them to deflate and become heavy and wrinkled. As the cells begin to collapse, due to the downward pull of gravity, they are drawn away from their natural resting place. As the body doesn’t want the cells to leave their home, adhesions develop to hold them in place The issue is that the more adhesions to develop, the weaker the breath, the slower the flow, the heavier the cells, the more they migrate, the more the body reads that the cell needs additional support, the more the area inflames . . . it’s a vicious cycle.

The answer lies in improving the flow. The first step would be to engage proper diaphragmatic breathing, however, for this to happen, the adhesions that have blocked the diaphragms’ ability to work properly need to be melted from the ribcage so to access this powerful plate of muscle. When there is a collapse of the cage into the core, adhesions develop in this space to attempt to hold it from migrating further away from correct alignment. The collapse isn’t linear, due to our asymmetrical nature from being dominant on one side, we spiral down in a forward, rotational direction. Adhesions continue developing as the descent continues.

So, it is the adhesions that are really the culprit when it comes to issues with inflammation. With Block Therapy, that is why we always focus first on the core and ribcage: to release the adhesions that are blocking the diaphragms’ ability to move up and down freely in the core so as to optimize this muscle's performance. Once we do and focus on strengthening this muscle, change happens quickly. As flow begins to improve overall temperature increases, the stagnant inflammation awakens to its’ initial intention to heal. 

This before and after picture is a thermography image taken by Tammy Kohlschmidt from a client before blocking, and the follow up image was taken 2 months later, after she began blocking. Listen to Tammy’s amazing explanation of what inflammation does in the gut.

I want to thank Tammy and her client for sharing these incredible images. To learn more about Tammy, including her on-line program, 8 Secrets to optimal Breast Health, listen to our discussion here.

Breathe & Believe,

Deanna

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