Surgery is common not only as a medical emergency, but as an elective surgery in the case of plastic surgery. From a Western stand point surgery causes trauma to the body and then manipulations are made inside the body. Afterwards your body has to deal with removing anesthetics from the body and the trauma made to the body. In the case of many surgeries it is the incisions that need attention, but in the case of cosmetic surgery, like cheek implants, the trauma can include manipulations of skin, muscle and bone.

First your body goes into an inflammatory response and swelling and inflammation need to be dealt with. Afterwards, scar tissue continues to lay and secure the areas that are cut. Common practice is rest and proper care of the wound. From a Chinese Medicine perspective there is a little more going on here. The cut is viewed as a block of proper Qi flow in the body and the trauma is a stagnation of Qi and blood. In Chinese Medicine it is important to restore proper flow and get rid of the stagnant blood. The scar also needs attention to make sure scar tissue is only superficial and not rooted down into the body (continuing to block flow). Chinese Medicine recommends herbs, tui na, and acupuncture post surgery to quicken healing.

What Herbs Can Help?

A popular Western herb that is often recommended is Arnica /  Arnica Montana. Arnica is poisonous and should only be used externally or from an experienced practitioner. Externally Arnica is used as a liniment for the inflammation and bruising. Coming from someone with Chinese Medicine training this is a far inferior liniment method than Chinese herbal liniment that use complex herbal formulas and traditional techniques to make. Since liniment is very penetrating, poultices should be used externally first as strong teas. Try:

Comfrey Leaf

Dandelion Leaf / Pu Gong Ying

Myrrh Gum / Mo Yao

Goldenseal / Huang Lian

Apply this directly over the wound (when it is allowed to get wet, usually a few days after surgery). After a few days of waiting and a few days of a poultice, you should go to a good liniment.

Internally you can start on herbs almost immediately. You can start yourself on a ‘trauma’ type formula or a formula that is specific for post surgery as both a healing AND a supplementing formula. A good combination for post trauma would be:

San Qi / Tien Qi – Heal wounds, remove blood stagnation

Dang Gui / Tien Quei – Tonify blood, reduce swelling, remove blood stagnation

Comfrey Leaf – heal wounds

Huang Qi / Astragalus – Supplement Qi, increase fluids, avoid exhaustion

Chi Shao / Red Peony – clear inflammation, remove blood stasis, tonify blood

Mo Yao / Myrrh Gum – heal wounds, remove blood stasis

Yu Jin or Huang Jing / Tumeric Tuber – clear inflammation, heal wounds

A good tincture of this combination would be great and easily assimilated after surgery. Pills or tea would work fine as well.

Some prefer to use a single formula for a few weeks post surgery that will remove stasis, heal wounds, and supplement the body all at the same time. A basic combination of this would be:

Ren Shen / Ginseng – The number one herb for this. Build original Qi

Di Huang / Foxglove / Rhemania Root – Fresh or prepared can be used to support the blood with will, in the long run, heal the wound and supplement the body

Dang Gui / Tien Quei – Tonify blood, reduce swelling, remove blood stasis

San Qi / Tien Qi – Remove blood stasis, heal wounds

Bai Shao / White Peony – tonify the blood and relax spasms

Chuan Xiong – Correct the movement of qi and blood

Again a tincture or elixir would be preferred, but a tea or pills can be used as well.

There is a growing number of doctors and surgeons that are well aware of holistic medicine and can give you a good referral of someone to see or even some products. A good place to find out information of these elective cosmetic surgeries and recommendations of doctors, I would recommend you find some forums to chat with others about. There are numerous forums with a wealth of information on health, including popular cheek, breast augmentation, and tummy tuck forum. Always do as much research as you can from many sources, from many sides!

Pains are without a doubt the #1 complaint of all the patients seeking care. Unfortunately most pains are very difficult to treat in Western medicine. Most pains are treated with NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) over the counter such as Asprins, Ibuprofen, or a similar drug of action Tylenol. More severe pains are treated with Opiates that are addictive, dangerous, have bad side-effects, and are almost completely unsuccessful at treating nerve related pain. NSAIDs have much less side-effects, but long term use WILL lead to G.I. tract issues and ulcers. There are of course many reasons and needs for such Western pain relievers. It is important to know such side-effects and weigh risks with rewards to know if you should seek alternative treatments.

Luckily many modalities have become more mainstream in helping deal with pain. Some alternatives can be used in conjunction with medications and many times they can replace or rid the need for pills. Chiropractic care uses manual manipulation, electric therapy, and exercises to treat pains. Chiropractors utilize manual manipulation with the concentration on the spine to not only align the body to bring correct mechanics, but also manipulate the spinal nerve roots of the spine to also help with pain. Acupuncture uses techniques that have the longest record of empirical use than ANY other modality. Through the use of Chinese medicine theory,  needles and other manipulation are used to bring balances and help stop pain. These energy techniques seem to give commands to your body, your body takes these direction and seems to make changes or initiates healing processes. Massage started at the dawn of man although written techniques aren’t as old as Acupuncture. Massage has become widely diverse with many many modalities and very effective with many different kinds of pain especially musculo-skeletal pain. Massage can also be used in conjunction with almost any other modality. Lastly lets talk about some herbs.

Since upper back pain and neck pain is very popular I will cover some recommendations for treating this area. Other common problems like lower back pain will be covered later. A formula modification that is now used for neck pain and things such as a whiplash claim from an auto accident are prescribed a formula containing:

Bo He / Mint

Chuan Xiong / Chuanxiong Rhizoma

Bai Zhi / Angelica Dahurica

Qiang Huo / Notopterygium Rhizoma

Jing Jie / Schizonepeta

Ge Gen / Kudzu

Gao Ben / Ligusti

Yan Hu Suo / Corydalis

Of course there are many options to choose, but this is an excellent formula for such neck pains, including headaches! This herbal combination includes a very general but strong pain herb called Yan Hu Suo or Corydalis. Chuan Xiong, Bai Zhi, Bo He and Gao Ben are specific pain relievers for the head, upper back and neck. Ge Gen and Jing Jie help with the pain but are used in formulas, including this one, to direct the herbs effects to the upper part of the body. Qiang Huo is a very important upper body pain herb. In this formula for our example of neck pain and whiplash it is the most important herb in formula. Qiang Huo has a profound effect on the upper spine and occipital area. In fact if you look at the cut and prepared version of the herb you will see it looks a bit like a spinal cord.

6grams of each of the herbs can be combined in 4 cups of water and simmered down for 20 minutes. Simply split that up into 2-3 portions to take a day. For headache you can even use less, perhaps half, that dosage but keep a higher dosage of Bo He / Mint.

There is a reason that proteins, carbohydrates AND fats are considered macromolecules because all three of them are essential to us. No fat and low fat diets rarely work because your body is acting against you.

Because fats are essential if your body isn’t getting any fat in the diet it starts to conserve the fat supplies it has in the body. Inevitably this is not going to lead to weight gain. Taking in a proper ratio and healthy fat actually help aid in weight loss. Healthy fats like olive oil will stimulate bile flow to improve digestion and break down fats properly. Good fats also contain HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) that circulates through the body and helps get rid of plaque deposits on blood vessels.

Your body also depends on vitamins and minerals to survive. Fat soluble vitamins use fats and oils in your food to get transported through the body to its destination, or to be stored. Without these good fats to carry and store certain vitamins you are leading yourself to a possible nutritional deficiency. Fat soluble vitamins are A, E, D, and K. Also such essential nutrients we need are found in fats such as Omega 3, 6, 9 fatty acids.

Quality ways of getting quality and healthy fats are through Olive Oil, Flax Seed, Fish or through Fish Oil. Fish oil has the dual benefit of providing you the Omega fatty acids. Flax Seed has the dual benefit of providing an excellent source of fiber.

Remember to keep fats in your diet in a good ratio. Fat is a long term source of energy so it can be used in higher ratios for certain athletes. Fat is where a lot of flavor comes from, so know that ‘convenient’ meals whether bought or fast food usually have a higher ratio of fats in them. Look for non-hydrogenated oils, non trans fats, and non saturated fats. This will keep your lipid intake in range and limited to quality and essential fats.