Herbal Actions : Anti-inflammatory
What does the anti-inflammatory action mean?
Herbs that are considered anti-inflammatories (as the name suggests) help the body (you guessed it) control inflammation.
Pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories often alleviate the symptoms but these act very differently to herbal anti-inflammatories.
Inflammation is a normal and healthy response to infection or pathogens etc.
There are physical signs of inflammation that you could physically see like swelling, redness, heat, loss of function or pain which all serve a purpose (elimination).
This is a good sign that there is a normal immune response.
In due time this normal inflammatory response should lead to the healing stage to to the injured/damaged area.
Pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories often rectify the symptoms of inflammation not the root cause. Modern medicine looks at pain/inflammation as something that should be quickly dealt with.
Herbal anti-inflammatories aim to achieve a balance between the complex chemical mediators involved and work with the body with minimal side effects to both reduce pain and decrease inflammation as well.
How Anti-inflammatories Work
Herbs can reduce inflammation by many different methods of application and use.
A great benefit to using herbal anti-inflammatories is that they will rarely inhibit the natural inflammation process, instead they support and encourage the chemical mediators involved.
This aids the body with the work it’s already doing, thereby speeding the healing process without just masking it.
Inflammatory Conditions
Inflammation is understood today to be present in most diseases and illness.
Inflammatory diseases include a vast array of disorders and conditions that are characterised by inflammation. Examples include allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, coeliac disease, hepatitis, Inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis etc.
Examples of anti-inflammatory herbs
Ginger
Turmeric
Devil's Claw
Celery Seed
Willow Bark
Chamomile
Calendula
Licorice
Rosemary
Withania