Muscle weakness is most commonly caused by a lack of space for blood flow, lymphatic drainage, cerebral spinal fluid flow, and/or nerve conduction. Inflammation causes swelling. Swelling takes up space and interferes with the appropriate movement of the body’s fluids and energies, thereby contributing to muscle weakness. Quick Self Fixes make weak muscles instantly strong by making space for the movement of life’s fluids and energies.

Sometimes muscles will not become strong until infammation is reduced. Quick Self Fixes may not work when signifcant swelling is present.

The swelling caused by infammation commonly contains proteins with the consistency of gelatin that fll in spaces within living tissue. The infammation is not a liquid; it is the consistency of “Jello.” The swelling is stuck and cannot easily be moved out because of its gel-like consistency

BROMELAIN PROTOCOLS

Bromelain is an enzyme extracted from pineapple that specifically helps breakdown protein. When taken with food, it acts as a digestive enzyme, which helps to protein food. When Bromelain is taken on an empty stomach, it becomes a strong, protein-dissolving enzyme in the bloodstream that melts these gel-like inflammatory proteins, thereby making them liquid and transportable through the body’s excretory systems.

The recommended dose for a medium sized person is three thousand milligrams (mg), three times a day, on an empty stomach. Nature’s Plus is our brand of choice because it can be found at 1500 mg per tablet. Other brands may be 1000 or 500 mg per tablet, which means increasing the number of tablets to equal 3000 mg per dose. Take Bromelain when you frst wake up in the morning, between meals, and/or just before bedtime. It must be taken on an empty stomach, which means two hours afer your last food intake. You may have food 30 minutes afer taking Bromelain. These are the recommendations regarding the timing on what constitutes an empty stomach. It is still efective if the timing is a little less.

Do not use Bromelain if you have a peptic ulcer. Do not use Bromelain if you are on blood thinners such as Aspirin, Warfarin (Coumadin), Heparin, Clopidogrel, or Nonsterodial Anti-Infammatory Drugs (NSAIDs). Bromelain is a blood thinner. Do not mix with ginkgo biloba or garlic, because they may increase bleeding as well. Stop using Bromelain one week prior to any surgical process, including dental work, because Bromelain increases bleeding. Do not start taking Bromelain again for one week afer surgical procedures of any kind.

Bromelain may increase absorption of antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, ACE inhibitors, and medications that cause drowsiness such as narcotics, Valium, Ativan, etc. Tough uncommon, diarrhea and/or nausea may occur in people with allergies to Bromelain. Consult with your Medical Doctor before taking Bromelain.

Note: The chemical pathway that Bromelain uses for resolving infammation is very diferent from how traditional anti-infammatory medications work. If swelling caused by infammation persists, consult with your Medical Doctor. You may actually need anti-infammatory medications to successfully resolve swelling caused by infammation.

ICING PROTOCOLS

One hour afer taking your third dose of Bromelain, ice the infamed area “cold to the bone”. Use a bag with two or three pounds of crushed ice or ice cubes on top of one or two paper towels. Using a sack of frozen peas or a small ice pack does not get the area cold enough. Placing a cloth towel between you and the ice does not work either. The area does not get cold enough.

Every three to four minutes during icing, warm the area to prevent an ice burn to the skin and underlying superfcial tissue. Use rapid hand friction for a few seconds or apply a medium hot, moist towel for two seconds (and only two seconds) to the area. Never cause pain while icing. If you ice “cold to the bone” for too long without intermittent warming of the skin, frostbite may occur; the skin will turn hard like cardboard, causing tissue damage and scarring.

The infamed tissue must become cold enough to trigger a refexive tissue contraction, which in turn squeezes the recently liquifed protein gelatin out of the area. Unless enzymes have been used to liquify the protein gelatin frst, the swelling cannot be squeezed out as efectively.

Once the tissue contraction has occurred, the therapeutic beneft of icing is complete. Any swelling that is going to be squeezed out has been squeezed out. Continued icing afer the initial tissue contraction is not recommended; it slows the healing process. Intermittent icing is recommended with at least six hours between icing. Ice the infamed area once or twice a day.

How long should you apply ice? There are many variables involved.

1. How is your blood circulation? Do you have cold feet in bed at night? If so, icing takes less time for you than someone who has warm feet in bed.

2. People with high body fat can take longer to ice because fat is an insulator and prevents the cold from penetrating through the adipose (fat) tissue.

3. Is the area that you are icing very infamed and physically hot to the touch? If so, then it is going to take much longer for the cold application to cause the tissue contraction response.

4. Is the swelling acute (new) or chronic (old)? Chronic swelling takes longer to reduce when using ice.

5. Are you icing a hand or your low back area? The hand, which is smaller, is going to reach the contraction phase much sooner than the low back, which is larger.

As a guide, stop icing when the tissue feels “cold to the bone”. Some people can actually feel when the tissue contracts. The actual tissue contraction phase takes about two seconds. Icing with intermittent warming episodes, as described above, may take between 20 minutes or up to an 50 minutes.

The initial phase of icing causes increased blood fow to the area. The body is attempting to warm the area. This temporarily causes increased swelling and redness. Be sure to ice “cold to the bone” or you may actually increase swelling to the area!