About ten days ago I spilled hot bacon grease over my left hand. It was an accident. I can’t remember exactly what happened. One second everything is fine. The next second I had hot grease over my hand, the stove, and the floor. The initial redness was an area about six square inches.
I’ve had various injuries in the past. I understand the relationship between the two cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes. COX-1 is constantly working. It protects the stomach and intestinal lining and activates platelets. COX-2 is dormant, so to speak, until the body has a trauma. It then springs into action and protects the injured site. Protection comes immediately in the form of swelling. Additionally, you will feel heat, see redness and the intensity of the pain around the site is ramped up due to the swelling and the injury itself.
My first thought was to control the swelling. I guzzled half a bottle of whole fruit mangosteen juice. Mangosteen is a fruit unrelated to the mango. It contains natural healing compounds called xanthones. It has over forty different xanthones. Gamma mangostin is one of the xanthones. Research has shown that it can inhibit COX-2 without affecting COX-1. That is a big deal! Curcumin is the only other compound that I’ve found in my research to act like gamma mangostin.
I was in pain for about two hours. I slathered coconut oil over my burn and iced my hand. The pain subsided. After six hours I could feel no pain unless I tried to make a fist. I kept ice and coconut oil on my hand until I went to bed.
I slept well with no problems. The next day, my hand was fully functional and remained that way every since. There was no swelling, no redness, no pain after the initial six hours. My hand was fully functional except for grip strength. Full grip strength returned after two days. I’ve had similar injuries in the past that I’ve treated with whole fruit mangosteen juice, but nothing to this extent. I use the term whole fruit because it includes the entire fruit, not just the center.
Today my hand is peeling – like the peeling I experience after a severe sunburn. I treated the cause of my problem. Well, maybe not exactly. I don’t know the cause of the spilled bacon grease. But, I treated the cause inside my body to reduce the impending swelling. I knew what was going to happen and how to inhibit the bad things and help the good things.
What would have happened if I had gone to a hospital? I can only imagine. I don’t think it would have been treated the same way. I don’t think I would have been fully functional six hours after the accident. Regardless, knowing what to do is important. Learn how your body works. Take proactive action to maintain and improve your health.
