Inflammation in the body is how our body responds to illness, injury, or infection. A little bit is a good thing— it is a natural part of the healing process. However, as with most things in life, it’s all about balance. Too much inflammation can be a bad thing– often a really bad thing.
However, inflammation can sometimes turn chronic if the immune response isn’t strong enough to resolve the underlying issue. When inflammation becomes chronic, it can damage the body and lead to further tissue injury and disease.
Inflammation is the cause of many diseases and lifestyle conditions. In fact, there aren’t many ailments that don’t involve inflammation. If you have an autoimmune disease, heart disease, a musculoskeletal disorder, chronic pain, a skin condition, or even a metabolic disorder, chances are the root cause is at least in part due to chronic inflammation.
To make matters worse, illnesses, infections, and lifestyle choices can compromise our immune defenses, triggering even more inflammation.
Inflammation is no doubt a double-edged sword. You need some (but not too much), and it can be both the root cause of disease and a side-effect of a condition. Thankfully, there are holistic approaches you can take to help reduce chronic inflammation.
In this article, we will discuss what can happen when inflammation is chronic, conditions that are often a result of chronic inflammation, and how ozone therapy can help reduce it— leading to healing, symptom relief, boosted immunity, and better overall health.
Inflammation Explained
Before we talk about the best way to reduce inflammation, let’s first dive a little deeper into what inflammation is, how it can be helpful, how it can turn south, and if that happens, how it can negatively affect your health and immune system.
When we get sick, injured, or develop an infection, our body knows that it needs to go into repair mode. It releases specialized molecules and signaling proteins that prompt the immune system to tackle the issue and repair damaged tissues. Inflammation also plays a role in adaptive immunity, which is how the body remembers and responds more effectively to future infections.
However, sometimes, this immune response can become dysregulated and cause that beneficial inflammation to stick around after the initial trigger is resolved. What was once acute and advantageous becomes chronic and potentially dangerous, contributing to tissue damage and the development of various health conditions.
There are several reasons why your immune response can become dysregulated, leading to chronic inflammation:
- Aging
- Persistent Infection
- Genetic Predisposition
- Existing Autoimmune Disorders
- Environmental Factors (environmental pollutants, toxins, or allergens)
- Lifestyle Factors (poor diet, lack of exercise, chronic stress, and inadequate sleep)
Like most things in life, it’s all about balance; inflammation is no different. When inflammation is acute and goes away, it is beneficial and crucial to the body’s immune response. When it is chronic it can lead to issues such as illness, disease, and the inability to fight off future infections.
How to Know if Your Body is Chronically Inflamed
Unfortunately, there isn’t one tell-tale sign. Chronic inflammation can have symptoms, but it can also progress silently.
Sometimes, inflammation can be very obvious. For example, after a really intense workout, you might feel sore as your body repairs muscle tissue. Or, if you have arthritis, your skin might feel hot, and you may have pain and swelling.
In other cases, chronic inflammation is less apparent. For instance, in conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes, the signs of inflammation might not be as obvious.
There isn’t always a definitive way to determine if you’re experiencing chronic inflammation. Typically, if your healthcare professional suspects inflammation is causing your symptoms, they will recommend a blood test that tests inflammatory markers.
The three most commonly used inflammatory markers are C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and plasma viscosity (PV).
Whether you have symptoms or not, if it is believed that you have chronic inflammation, or have already been diagnosed with a condition known to be caused by inflammation – you need to take steps to reduce it.
Conditions Connected to Chronic Inflammation
Almost every disease involves inflammation in some way. Arthritis, cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, skin conditions, and even cancer – have all been linked to chronic inflammation. Inflammation can also be chronic but not related to a severe medical condition.
If you have any of the conditions listed below, you might have chronic inflammation that needs to be addressed:
Autoimmune Diseases
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
- Celiac disease
- Graves disease
- Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
- Ankylosing spondylitis (AS)
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
Musculoskeletal Disorders
- Arthritis
- Gout
- Fibromyalgia
Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
- Heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Atherosclerosis
- Metabolic syndrome
- Obesity-related conditions
Blood Flow Conditions
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- Chronic venous insufficiency
- Atherosclerosis (narrowing and hardening of arteries)
Respiratory and Pulmonary Conditions
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Neurological and Mental Health Conditions
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Depression and mental health disorders
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
Gastrointestinal and Renal Diseases
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Crohn’s disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Peptic ulcer disease
- Chronic kidney disease
Skin Conditions
- Chronic wounds
- Venous leg ulcers
- Psoriasis
- Eczema
- Acne
- Rosacea
Viral Infections
- Hepatitis B and C
- HIV/AIDS
- Herpes viruses
Oral Health Issues
- Periodontal disease
Other Conditions
- Allergies
- Cancer
- Chronic pain conditions
Additionally, inflammation can be triggered by short-term issues such as:
- Colds and viral infections
- Severe muscle damage from very intense workouts or sports
- Acute injuries and wounds that don’t heal properly
- Infections that temporarily stress the immune system
The Best Way to Reduce Inflammation
You don’t always want to stop inflammation. However, if it becomes chronic, you must get it under control. As you just read, chronic inflammation is linked to many serious conditions and can have a domino effect that negatively impacts immunity, leading to even more inflammation.
Reducing inflammation once had different strategies based on the root cause. For example, an ice bath might help severely inflamed muscles and some forms of chronic pain, but it’s not gonna do much for the type of inflammation that causes heart disease, autoimmune disease, or cancer.
But now, there is a natural way to reduce inflammation that, while it might not be for everyone, can help reduce inflammation with a wide variety of root causes– it’s called ozone therapy.
Decades ago, researchers discovered that ozone, which is a molecule composed of three oxygen atoms, had remarkable antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. It was even described as a “chief method” for treating war wounds during World War I.
Since then, ozone research has expanded, and this natural gas has become a very popular way to reduce chronic inflammation and boost immunity – helping lessen the symptoms and treat numerous conditions where inflammation is a key factor.
What is Ozone Therapy
Ozone therapy is a holistic medical treatment that uses medical ozone to promote the body’s natural healing process. The therapy involves a qualified practitioner administering the colorless ozone gas into the body using strict safety protocols.
There are various ways to deliver medical ozone, one of the most common being intravenously through a method called autohemotherapy. During this process a portion of your blood is drained using gravity. Next, the blood is infused with ozone and put back into your body.
The IV ozone infusion process typically takes about 30-45 minutes. The number of treatments needed to reduce inflammation depends on your specific condition and its severity.
How Ozone Therapy Helps Reduce Inflammation
Ozone has many health benefits, one of the most impressive being its ability to reduce inflammation. As ozone circulates through your body, it improves oxygen intake, stimulates the immune system, improves oxygen utilization, neutralizes harmful pathogens, and enhances the body’s natural antioxidant defenses.
The result? Your body’s dysregulated immune response improves, inflammation is brought back into balance, symptoms improve, and your immune system gets a much-needed boost.
Other Benefits of Ozone Therapy
Ozone therapy’s ability to lower chronic inflammation in the body is only one therapeutic benefit. Researchers have discovered (and are still examining) numerous other therapeutic benefits of medical ozone.
- Reduce inflammation
- Boost the immune system
- Detoxify the body
- Enhance wound healing
- Improve circulation
- Support tissue repair and regeneration
- Increase cellular oxygenation
- Provide antioxidant support
For a more in-depth explanation of these benefits, read “Benefits of Ozone Therapy.”
Where to get Ozone Therapy
If you are looking to reduce inflammation, boost immunity, or explore one of the other benefits of ozone therapy, it is vital that you only go to a medical facility that has undergone proper training in ozone therapy protocols and is equipped to provide ozone therapy under the supervision of licensed practitioners that are trained in administering ozone.
Relieve Health is a state-of-the-art clinic that helps extend people’s health spans from the inside out. We proudly offer ozone therapy at our locations across the United States. To benefit from this natural treatment and enhance your well-being, click here to find a Relieve Health clinic near you.
