There are plenty of social media gurus telling anyone who will listen that all the problems in your life are down to toxic inflammation and your lifestyle is the cause of all the inflammation in your body. The question is, are they right? And is this inflammation bad?

They’re partly right and partly wrong.

Inflammation is our body’s response to stress it encounters. The gurus on social media have this part right. But not all inflammation is harmful. In fact, the body’s inflammatory response is not only helpful in some situations, it’s actually vital to our survival. This is the part the poorly qualified influencers on Instagram have gotten wrong.

We’re experts in the injury and exercise world so we are going to stick to talking about inflammation in these situations for the most part, but when thinking about whether inflammation is harmful or helpful, consider how the body recovers from a cold or the flu, or when you cut your finger when making dinner.

The body’s response to a cold or the flu is to increase the production of various cells in body, like white blood cells, to fight off the infection. This inflammatory response kills the infection and prevents us from dying. When you cut your finger, the body sends an army of cells to repair the cut and restore your finger back to normal. This occurs because of an inflammatory response, which is needed for repair.

In the exercise and injury world, the previous best practice and immediate management of acute injuries was RICE – rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

It was believed that ice stops the inflammatory response and prevents further damage occurring after the acute injury. While we know that prolonged icing does reduce the inflammatory response, we now know this is a vital response to allowing the injury to heal.

Inflammation in response to an injury like rolling your ankle is a key part of recovery. The increased blood flow that causes the swelling occurs because your body is sending an army of healing properties and extra nutrients to the injured area to kickstart the healing process. Prolonged icing reduces the number of good soldiers coming to help you.

Ice is no longer recommended as a key part of the initial response to injuries but it can play its part. Ice is incredibly good at numbing the area it’s applied to, which can help reduce the pain associated with acute injury. After this pain is under control though, there is little role for ice to play.

When you exercise, your muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and other tissues in your body undergo stress. This stress results in an inflammatory response that increases blood flow to the area, along with increased nutrients and oxygen that help repair the small amount of damage that occurs. The inflammation and associated repair help build muscle, strengthen tendons and bones, and reduce the baseline level of inflammation in our body.

In longer term injuries, inflammation can help kickstart and aid in your recovery. The small amount of inflammation in response to exercise assists in repairing damage and improving the ability of your injury to become stronger. Over time, this results in successful recovery and rehabilitation from your injury.

This is why, as physiotherapists, we are not necessarily concerned if you experience a small amount of pain while exercising, but this shouldn’t be a large amount of pain that persists for an extended period of time after you finish exercising.

In short, the inflammatory response to small amounts of stress helps to reduce our overall level of inflammation and build our body’s tolerance to stress.

If the body is exposed to longer periods of inflammation, or chronic inflammation, there is the risk of conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer developing. But this is a topic for another time and other experts.

You shouldn’t be concerned at a small amount of pain or inflammation, particularly when recovering from an injury. Inflammation exists as the body’s defence mechanism and recovery process.