The top herbs and supplements for wound healing and post-surgical recovery

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Is it any wonder everyone wants to get out of the hospital as soon as they’ve arrived? Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are dangerously common; new viruses surface with frightening regularity. Horror stories of Staph infections and amputations can make the hospital stay after surgery scarier than the procedure itself.

Post-surgery recovery can be another time of great concern. Did the staff sterilize the medical equipment carefully? Did they follow guidelines to prepare properly for the surgery? Even when medical staff follow procedures by the book, something as simple as your doctor's necktie - which an Israeli study found to be an unknown source of contamination in hospitals - can derail your recovery.

Even if you decide to undergo surgery (and there are many surgical procedures that have been proven to be largely unjustified, such as coronary bypass surgery, so make your decision carefully), you can take steps to speed your recovery even before you go under the knife. Good nutrition and supplementation helps ensure that small wounds heal quickly. Healthy immune systems also protect you from infection. In addition, the following herbs and supplements are well known for helping the body heal more quickly following surgery or trauma.

• Zinc: Best taken prior to surgery, zinc reduces wound healing time, rapidly reduces wound size, and bolsters immune function to help ward off infection. Topical zinc, such as calamine lotion, also inhibits bacteria growth on the surface of skin, helping to prevent infection. As zinc deficiency is common in the United States, most doctors recommend 30 mg/day, taken orally for four to six weeks, to bring your levels up to par before surgery. If you undergo surgery in a zinc deficient state, your recovery time will be lengthened, so be sure to test and supplement your zinc levels, if necessary, well before any planned surgical procedures.

A good resource for getting a comprehensive blood test that may help highlight nutritional deficiencies is the Life Extension Foundation (www.LEF.org)

• Vitamin C: Another important component for full post-operative recovery is vitamin C. According to the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, levels of this vital compound actually drop in burn victims, post-op patients, and other victims of physical trauma. The minimum required intake of vitamin C to maintain healthy bodily function is about 300mg to 1g per day following surgery or other procedures.

Vitamin C is required to make collagen, the connective tissue in the skin that helps healing and prevents blistering. Vitamin C strengthens scar tissue and also helps reduce tissue death after burns. It also helps to strengthen the immune system and fight off infection.

But don't take processed, synthetic forms of the vitamin. Ascorbic acid is not the same thing as full-spectrum vitamin C. Get your vitamin C from nutritional supplements or superfoods made from plants. Good sources are rose hips and Pure Camu -- a product from the Amazon Herb Company that's made from camu camu berries (the highest natural source of vitamin C in the world). (See http://amazondreams.amazonherb.net/... )

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