Traumeel, a natural way to tend sore muscles and minor sports injuries

Do you regularly get sore after pushing it in the gym? Do you have a chronic achilles tendonitis or plantar fasciitis that is taking the fun out of walking let alone jumping about in a fitness class?

Over the last few weeks I have had several people ask me what to do about their various muscle and joint pains which I suspect have  developed due to over exercising. If this is you you might find the How to use an app to track overtraining and state of health post and the How to get better results from your fitness training by incorporating adequate recovery post helpful.

Apart from resting and injured muscle until is is happy to participate again I would suggest you try Taumeel ointment, it helped me tremendously on various occasions as I will explain below.

Treating heel bursa inflammation

I had a heel bursa inflammation for probably longer than a year, sorry I can’t remember, like most of us I just accepted that it didn’t get better while I could not cut teaching classes. I knew that it came from spending too much time on the balls of my feel when teaching Body Combat.

I originally tried a lot of stretching but that did not make it better, maybe it even made it worse since the achilles tendon runs straight into the heel bursa and tugging on it during stretching was probably not helpfull. I had bought Traumeel cream for my Japan trip to help my back incase it would not get on with the long flight.

When I got back I started treating my heel every night and after a few days the pain was gone.

When I over did the teaching again if would come back a tiny little bit but as soon as I noticed I’d put Traumeel on again and the pain would resolve over night. I have not had heel pain for a while now.

Because Traumeel resolved a chronic problem that I did not address with any other methods I know that it is not a placebo effect.

Treating IT band and Quad injury

I recently had a IT band Quad injury from over teaching/ training, I ensured I would take the load off by resting during teaching and resting at home. I added Traumeel to the healing regime and over 2 weeks the leg was back to normal without any manual therapy intervention such as massage. I had tried massaging it at the beginning but for me personally when a muscles is not happy it does not want to be prodded, it want’s to be rested.

The only way to find out what works for you is to try different approaches when soreness or injury occurs. I still believe that most people do not take the adequate rest that the injury requires and with that hinder a quick recovery making the injury into a chronic problem.

Treating or avoiding sore muscles

Traumeel also helped me avoid getting sore during my Body Pump weight lifting challenge that I set myself. When I had finally recovered from the Quad/ IT band injury I upped the squat weight to 30kg and  what happened? – nothing! Yes it was harder but it did not give me the expected soreness.

Body Pump 89 lends itself well to going very heavy in the squat and back track so I have been pushing my weights up and up.

I took a week off for some DIY work at home and when I got back I felt full of beans so I just lifted the same as before the break, I was worried that it would actually make me sore this time because that is what usually happens after a short break. Nothing again, just applied Traumeel in anticipation and the soreness never came.

Treating ankylosing spondylitis (AS)  related spinal and SI joint aches

When my thigh muscle was not well I noticed that I moved and stood differently to take the weight of the leg and avoid further tightening of the muscle. As always when we distort our posture on a regular basis due to pain or bad habits it has an effect some where else in the body.

My lower thoracic spine and SI joint had a little hick up, more an ache than an pain.

I just applied Traumeel every night and stopped the ache from developing into a pain. Of cause Traumeel is not the only thing I do avoid AS pain to take over my life.

I have written about Magnesium, Tai chi and Zone exercises as well as meditation and positive thinking and LDN in previous posts. Without those lifestyle habits I’d be unable to do my job or enjoy life.

Other joint and muscle injuries and pains you could try traumeel on:

• hallux valgus 
• hamstring muscle strains
• rectus abdominis overuse injury
• tibialis posterio/ anterior strain (ankle strain)
• shoulder pain
• runners knee
• lower back pain  

Why does Traumeel work? 

It is amazing and I do not have a proper explanation why it works so well, but I am not complaining. I am not an avid Homeopathy lover at all, I am not dissing it but apart from Traumeel I have not had any life changing effects from treatments in the past. What I am trying to say is don’t cut off you nose to spite your face if you are not convince about the effects of Homeopathy. You may prevent yourself from finding solutions if you close yourself to options.

In one study they conclude:

Traumeel has shown comparable effectiveness to NSAIDs in terms of reducing symptoms of inflammation, accelerating recovery, and improving mobility, with a favorable safety profile.

Traumeel is a fixed combination of biological and mineral extracts, which aims to apply stimuli to multiple targets to restore normal functioning of regulatory mechanisms. While continued research and development is ongoing to broaden the clinical evidence of Traumeel in acute musculoskeletal injury and to further establish its benefits, current information suggests that Traumeel may be considered as an anti-inflammatory agent that is at least as effective and appears to be better tolerated than NSAIDs.

The anti-inflammatory effect of Traumeel results from the activity of the various components on the different phases of the inflammatory response:

• reduction of pain associated with inflammation (ingredients involved: Aconitum napellus, matricaria recutita, Hamamelis virginiana, and Hypericum)
• anti-inflammatory (ingredients involved: Mercurius solubilis)
• accelerated wound healing (ingredients involved: Arnica montana, Calendula officinalis, Echinacea, and Symphytum)
• considerable inhibitory effect on edema -swelling (ingredients involved: Arnica montana, Hamamelis virginiana, Achillea millefolium, Aconitum napellus, Atropa belladonna, and Mercurius solubilus)
• speeding up the healing process 
• modulating effects on immune cell function in human T-cells, monocytes, and gut epithelial cells, modulating the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators IL-1β, TNFα, IL-8
• appears to stabilise /regulate immune cells, by the orchestration of the overall process of acute local inflammation rather than by interacting with a specific cell type or biochemical mechanism
• reduces microvascular leakiness

To see full Table 2 of Traumeel components and related actions read the study here.

Not a pain killer but a body healer

Note, that Traumeel is not a numbing agent, it works on the injured tissue and aids repair rather than switching the pain sensation off. Traumeel is marketed to treat sports injuries, inflammation, and pain. Conventional treatments, like anti-inflammatories, might feel effective at first but they can have multiple serious side effects.

Animal studies have demonstrated that NSAIDs anti-inflammatory treatment may not promote healing rather  NSAIDs have been shown to impair the return to full strength and function following acute injury to bone, ligament, and tendon.

I used to use common over the counter creams and gels such as ibuprofen, the dumb thing is it stops you feeling the pain and then you think you are ok and make the situation worse by continuing what gave you the pain in the first place.

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Here Table 1 of typical adverse events of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory  NSAIDs from the study mentioned above:

As you can see there is quiet a few possible side effects you can experience from taking meds such as diclofenac, ibuprofen or naproxen.

Studies have shown that NSAIDs may cause gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding which poses a particular risk for patients with existing diseases who are on co-medications or who are elderly.

There is a growing agreement amongst international experts on “muscle strains”, they recently concluded against automatic prescription of a NSAID for all muscle strains, as they may predispose the patient to recurrences of the same injury by masking pain. (studies: 1), 2), 3), 4))

I know how stressful it is to be in pain but taking pain killers on a regular basis is undermining your future health opening you up to further problems that will take the joy out of living.

Pain is a message and that is why I like Traumeel, you can use it over night to support the natural healing process.

You use the pain signals the body sends you to adjust what you do until they are gone, that way you will get back to normal more quickly and avoid long term complications both in the muscle and joints as well as in your organs that have to deal with the toxicity of over the counter drugs.

If you suffer with a chronic pain condition of any kind, go and seek help be it from the conventional medical system or the natural alternative medical community.

Research which specialists have experience with your condition and understand the underlying reasons, always explore all avenues and never give up, there is a solution to pretty much all problems sometimes we just have to learn some lessons first. You are not a victim of your health problem, take charge and make a difference. I know you can.

If you feel Traumeel could help you relief pain you can get it as ointment, gel, tablets, injection, and drops.

I still have to try the drops, it will be interesting to see how they will help when my body gets upset next time.

Have you tried Taumeel, what do you think?

If you decide to try Traumeel tell me about it, drop me a note and let me know what you find, or leave a comment below.

I personally read every email and message I get.