Sports injuries.

Better Nutrition
Jan, 2000

Author/s: Anthony J. Cichoke

How to "beat up" on them, with enzymes

More than 10 million sports injuries occur in the United States, each year, and their incidence is on the upswing as more and more people try to exercise daily. Strains, fractures, sprains, and back and joint pain can interfere with your activities, and can shorten -- and even end -- a promising athletic career. Whether you're a weekend warrior, high-school athlete, or pro, sports injuries are an unwanted "pain." Doctors usually prescribe ice or heat, rest, and any number of anti-inflammatory drugs to treat most sports injuries. But enzymes can speed recovery and may help keep you stronger (thereby preventing reinjury): without the serious side effects of drugs.

Enzymes are the tools which create life and act as catalysts to speed up the body's biochemical processes. Nothing goes on in the body without enzymes; in fact, life cannot exist without them. In sports medicine, we use a special group of enzymes, the proteases (including bromelain [from pineapple]; papain [from papaya]; pancreatin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin [from animal sources]; and microbial proteases. These enzymes, taken orally, are absorbed from the intestine into the blood and carried throughout the body to fight inflammation and speed your recovery.

Trauma from an injury disrupts the body's balance, causing fluid to collect in the tissues surrounding the injury. This leads to swelling, heat, redness, pain and loss of the ability to function -- the cardinal signs of inflammation. Enzymes can break up the debris in the injured area, decrease the swelling, and therefore, reduce the pain, heat, and redness associated with the swelling. In addition to the enzymes' anti-inflammatory abilities, they also stimulate the body's own natural enzymatic processes without causing the immune system to be suppressed (as occurs when cortisone is used to fight inflammation).

Enzymes and enzyme mixtures help to:

* Break up and remove fibrin (the blood-clotting material that prolongs inflammation) and improve its removal through the blood stream and lymphatic system

* Decrease swelling in the inflamed area

* Strengthen damaged blood vessels

* Improve the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the tissues

* Break up scar tissue formation

Enzyme therapy can help heal specific problems such as: backache, bruises, hematomas, abrasions, lacerations, wounds, bursitis, muscle cramps, bone fractures, sciatica, strains (including pulled muscles), sprains, subluxations, synovitis, tendonitis, and neck trauma from whiplash.

Proteolytic enzymes have no side-effects of long-term duration. Therefore, enzymes are extremely safe, compared to anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs--such as ibuprofen), and corticosteroids. Although these drugs relieve pain and inflammation, extensive and long-term use can cause side-effects such as stomach irritation, ulcers, and microscopic internal bleeding. Further, continued use of cortisone drugs can weaken the immune system's ability to fight disease.

Enzyme therapy is effective in all sports, from contact (such as football, boxing, ice hockey, and karate) to noncontact (such as running and swimming), and also in fighting tennis elbow.

Enzyme therapy is great for treating sports injuries, but the most effective approach to rapid healing is to maintain an overall balanced body by using my "5-Step Jump Start Plus Program," which includes the following:

Step 1: Physical exercise (including stretching, conditioning, and aerobic exercise).

Step 2: Detoxification.

Step 3: Proper diet.

Step 4: Nutritional supplements, including enzymes.

Step 5: Restoring/achieving/and maintaining emotional balance by maintaining a positive mental attitude.

Enzymes, particularly proteolytic enzymes, are effective in combating sports injuries. They can reduce pain, swelling, hematomas, and inflammation, and help rehabilitate the athlete more quickly. Enzymes are the gift of life ... a genie in a bottle?

Dr. Cichoke is the author of over 300 articles and 11 books including The Complete Books of Enzyme Therapy; The Back Pain Bible; and Enzymes: Nature's Energizers. Watch for two new books: FAQs: All About Enzymes and The Secrets of Native American Herbal Formulas.

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