Throughout my schooling and clinical experience, I have found that there are 5 specific reasons that your body may not be healing the way it should. Your body is self-healing and self-regulating. That means that each one of us has all of the built in (innate) miraculous abilities we need to heal ourselves. Let’s say you’re chopping up some fresh garden veggies and you slice your finger. What happens to the cut? Your body sends out special signals and many cells work together to clot the blood and eventually heal the wound. This is the same for anything going on inside your body as well. There are instances where you may need medications and/or surgery, but these instances may be less than we think. We have gotten so used to covering up our body’s warning signals (pain for example) with a quick fix medication, that we lose track of the fact that our body’s can and do heal as long as the right nutrients are available and there is nothing in the way of the healing process. We now know that there are instances where the body’s ability to heal is inhibited. If you see an alternative health care provider, they may look specifically for these reasons you are not healing and help you resolve that so your body is once again able to perform its proper functions. Here are the top 5 reasons you may not be healing properly.

Healing Barrier (HB) #1: Foods. If you have dark circles under your eyes, chronic stomach pains or digestive issues, or tend to wake up with a stuffy nose after your evening ice-cream bowl, chances are you have a sensitivity to a certain food. The main foods found to be an issue are wheat and many other grains, sugars, and dairy. If you get any of these symptoms, do a trial period for two weeks eliminating all three and feel the stress, fatigue, and pain float away. To get thorough healing, you may need some additional digestive enzymes and the food(s) would have to be eliminated for at least 90 days.

HB #2: Immune Challenges. This group includes bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungus. This group is very sneaky. Sometimes you can tell when you have a virus for example, but often times you have an underlying immune challenge where you really don’t feel ill. These “bugs” bog down your body just enough to keep you feeling fatigued, sluggish, or maybe just “not yourself”. Interestingly enough you will often see people who grind their teeth or have TMJ type issues in this category.

HB #3: Heavy Metals. This is a group that myself and many other natural health care practitioners believe is pandemic, meaning MOST people have some level of metal in their body. Those that have higher amounts are probably suffering some degree of nervous system destruction. From severe chronic headaches to ringing in the ears, these metals can cause many underlying health concerns. The most common metals we find are Mercury and Aluminum.

HB #4: Chemicals. There are toxic chemicals everywhere from under your kitchen sink to the actual water you drink. The trouble is that if your body is unable to eliminate them properly, you may start to build them up inside your cells. The most common here are Formaldehyde and Chlorine. Formaldehyde is a very toxic chemical found in things like new carpet, or Diet Soda. If you are or have been a Diet Soda drinker for some time, you must know that the Aspartame in it changes to Formaldehyde at about 98 degrees. Remember, a normal body temperature is about 98.6-get the picture? Great. Then please stop poisoning yourself. Chlorine is found in all municipal water supplies. It’s not their fault though; they are just trying to protect you from other Immune Challenges (see above). Just make sure you are at least using a filtration system at your home.

HB #5: Scars. There are many studies going on involving scars (especially surgical ones) that cause your nervous system to be “confused”. Germany seems to be the most advanced in this area. Many hospitals there now use cold laser therapy after every surgery as a healing requirement. As a result there are much fewer complications and much faster healing times. Understand that 80 percent of your nervous system actually runs in the surface of your skin. All these very intricate message pathways going from your brain, to all your body parts and back to your brain are designed to flow in an uninhibited manner. When there is a scar running through these pathways, it’s like putting a roadblock in the middle of a busy highway. Eventually it’s a major problem. The ones we find most issues with are any that are on the midline of the body. Cesarean sections, episiotomies (when they have to cut your perineum for the baby to come out), and belly rings are all potential problems. The treatment that most alternative providers use is a high quality vitamin E oil rubbed on the scar daily to help soften and regenerate the skin as well as cold laser therapy to enhance the nerve pathways.

Remember that keeping a clean, fresh diet and exercising will continue to keep you healthy, but if you suspect one of these Healing Barriers, don’t hesitate to have it checked out.