Tuesday, April 24, 2012

To the rescue - Inner Defense

As mentioned here's my experience using Inner Defense while on holiday in Cambodia two weeks ago.

I decided to take the Inner Defense capsules on an as-needed basis while on vacation; fortunately, I seemed to be pretty healthy for the entire trip until the second-to-last day when I ate some rotten pineapple.  I was outside, hungry and thirsty, and had just bought some pineapple from a food vendor.  I was so hungry that I ate the whole thing without thinking despite the horrible fermented taste at the bottom of one of the pieces.  I had no doubt that the thing was rotten and immediately regretted not spitting the fruit out.

Anyway that evening, a few hours later, I began to develop a slight sore throat.  At first I brushed this off and didn't pay it much attention.  But when I woke up in the middle of the night with the signs of a real sore throat developing, I decided it was time to take an Inner Defense capsule.  I took one, and then took another the following morning.  I continued to take one capsule probably every 6 hours, and within about 24 hours my sore throat was pretty much gone.  By 48 hours it was definitely completely gone.

Needless to say I was quite happy with how things turned out in this case.  Typically when I feel a sore throat coming on I know that I'm in for a week-long affair of annoying throat pain. But this experience was mild by comparison and was completely resolved in under 2 days

Eliot
Apr 24 2012

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Using oils to aid recovery of pulled tendon

It is already 18 days since I pulled the tendon in my left leg.

Most people experience sprained ankle but it is a different matter when the tendon shifted or you feel like something hitting the calf and exploding. Swelling in the calf was immediate and the pain was excruciating. The swelling in the ankle did not look so bad initially. However, if you walk around unaided, the swelling gets worst. A huge bruise below the ankle stretchs along the foot.

From general knowledge, we know that soft tissues (muscles, tendons or ligaments) are injured, they often become swollen and may possibly bleed internally. This swelling causes pain.

There were days that my foot was so swollen and I felt the pressure against the skin. In between treatments, I used various oils to reduce tension, minimize the pain and to reduce the inflammation. Panaway is designed to relieve muscle soreness and tension. It contains Helichrysum, Wintergreen, Clove, Peppermint. I also use the straight oils Wintergreen, Peppermint on many days. I used Helichrysum mostly on my shin that was in pain.

When I sat on my chair for hours, I noticed the swelling in the foot comes back and it is important to raise the foot up. Last night, my foot was still swollen (though not massive) after the bandage was removed. This time, I used Cypress and Helichrysum on the whole foot (except the sole) including the area 2 inches above the ankle.. When I got up this morning, I was so happy that the swelling had gone down.

The treatment this morning was a lot easier and when the physician pressed my foot and adjusted my ankle, there was substantially less pain. My calf is now so relaxed compared to the tension in the past days.

My experience with Ningxia Red

Here's a brief summary of some of the things I noticed and told you about this past weekend.
I work out regularly at the gym and keep detailed notes on my progress--how heavy of weights I'm using, how many repetitions, etc.  During the month of January I tried my first bottle of NingXia Red over the course of about 20 days.  Though I didn't make the association immediately, in retrospect I can clearly look back at my notes and see that I made considerable progress in terms of strength gains during January.
For instance, on one particular "multi-joint" exercise considered to be a good gauge of "overall strength," during the month of November I went from lifting 28 kg to 32 kg.  During the month of December I went from lifting 32 kg to 40 kg.  But in January I made the most gains, going from lifting 40 kg to 52 kg.
I stopped taking NingXia Red during February and much of March, and I could not surpass the 52 kg mark during those two months.  A few days after resuming NingXia Red at the end of March I suddenly felt as though I had much more energy at the gym, and within days I progressed to lifting 60 kg for the same exercise.
I noticed that during the months of February and March(1st half), when I was off the NingXia Red, I simply felt as though I had less energy and that it was more difficult to recover quickly between sessions at the gym.  I noticed an increase in food cravings, despite feeling as though my body didn't have the energy to process the food I craved to eat.  My complexion became poorer, and wound healing was slower.  It's possible (as we discussed) that I succumbed to some sort of bacterial infection that was adding extra stress to my body.  Throughout these two months I often reflected back to the amazing amount of energy and vitality I had in January and kept wondering "what was it?" that allowed me to progress so easily at the gym and, in general, simply feel so healthy.
Anyway, a few days after starting NingXia Red again at the end of March, not only did I notice more energy at the gym (allowing me to make the big jump from 52 kg to 60 kg), I also noticed improved quality of sleep.
Also, ever since then my food cravings have been gone.  My energy is back up.  My complexion is better.  And my recovery time at the gym is shorter.  I like to think that the NingXia Red gave my immune system the energy it needed to finally shake off a stubborn bacterial infection.
Either way, in summary, here's what I've found now on two occasions taking NingXia Red:
1. Increased energy
2. Quicker recovery times at the gym
3. Greatly improved progress at the gym
4. Better sleep
5. Less overall stress
6. Eliminated food cravings
7. Faster wound healing / stronger immune system

Eliot
April 2nd 2012

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Big foot in town - swelling and pain

Four years ago, when I pulled the tendon in my right leg, I was in such pain that I could not sleep and also fear of what was happening to my leg. That was when I twisted my ankle and at the same time pulled the tendon, the right calf was swollen and hard.

This time I pulled the tendon in my left leg and I had the Wintergreen oil with me when it happened and pour it over my left calf and also ankle, and managed to drive home.

It was wednesday nite and I could only get appointment to see the person who is good at treating this kind of condition on Friday. In the meantime, I used various oils on my leg and still could sleep well. First thing came to my mind, wintergreen, peppermint, balsam fir, panaway. I also used the orthoease massage oil. The bruise at my ankle started to appear and I used Lavender. The dark patch is there but it isn't that painful even if I pressed on it.

Anyway, my left leg was in a condition that the person could adjust the tendon back and was feeling quite good. On Monday night I aggravated the condition when I had to go out to attend to something and I knew it was bad when I could feel the tension and pain when I walked the stairs in a wrong way. My foot became swollen like a hippo or elephant the next day. The tension and swelling against the skin was scary. I searched the raindrop set and used several oils and went to bed Tuesday nite, Wednesday morning, the swelling has come down a lot. My calf and ankle feels softer again. I continued to use PanAway, deep relief, Basil and at times Balsam Fir and Lavender.

Naturally, this type of injury takes time for full recovery. I also realized, when you have difficulty walking and the improper leaning of the body will eventually cause pain to your knee. It is important to release the tension underneath the thigh also.