Bursitis – I never knew what this was until recently when I was diagnosed with it in my right shoulder and right hip!

Basically, it is inflammation in the joints and oh wow, the pain is horrendous! My hip is the worst one, mainly after sitting down for long periods of time, or after certain exercises, and my shoulder flares up when I am stressed or tense (because I tense up in the shoulder areas).

I have seen a specialist (an exercise physiologist – EP) and was diagnosed via ultrasound. My EP has been given some exercises to improve the strength of muscles around these areas, this will help to decrease the strain on the joints, as I am not willing to go down the path of injections. It is my opinion that these injections just mask the issue and don’t actually fix anything, and for me, I would rather fix the root cause instead.

So this is my protocol and what I am doing (btw, this is my personal journey and it might not be right for you, so as always, you do you).

Whilst this blog seems long and complicated, it isn’t. I promise you that. There are only a few key areas to look into, so stick with me and see if these resonate with you as well.

Diet – Foods linked to inflammation!

This is massive. As soon as I discovered that bursitis was inflammation in the body I quickly started researching foods that were inflammatory. Luckily for me, a lot of the things that were coming up I already avoid due to living mostly organic and additive-free, but there was still room for improvement.

Dairy – I thought this would be really hard, but it turns out is isn’t. Reducing and removing dairy from my diet was, all things considered, easy. I don’t have milk in my tea, so that wasn’t an issue, but I do enjoy butter, cheese, sour cream and an ice-cream here or there.

The swaps I have made to enable me to eat mostly dairy free are, I tend to use coconut cream in anything that was asking for cream or yoghurt, like butter chicken, as an example.  I buy dairy free ice-cream and chocolates and love the Pana brands for this (as they are mostly additive-free as well, always check the labels though as ingredients can change).

Sour cream and cheese is a little harder, but for me, I don’t stress it as it is not something I eat every day. Cheese I just tend to avoid, but if making a quiche (or something like that) I don’t stress it as we don’t eat those that often. The same applies to sour cream, 1-2 teaspoons a week, on some nachos is perfectly fine for my body and I don’t notice any flare ups in my bursitis when consuming dairy at this very low rate.

Butter, I will confess, is my nemesis, I am not prepared to give that up, so I have tried to lower my intake to the smallest possible and this seems to be working ok, for now. I will continue to improve on this as time goes on though, so wish me luck.

Gluten – this was something I had to change, big time. I was eating far too much of it. Gluten is highly inflammatory to our body and most of us don’t associate our health issues, or we don’t want to associate our health issues to this ingredient. It seems too hard and too complicated, but honestly, it isn’t.

Did you know a lot of arthritis blogs suggest that rheumatoid arthritis could be caused by gluten consumption and removing gluten from the diet is a great place to start to provide immense relief? When I read that, I knew that removing gluten would be ideal for me and my bursitis as well.

Gluten can be found in a lot of things, of course, bread and doughs, but you’ll also find it in most baked items (think cakes, biscuits, crackers etc), pasta, cereals, salad dressings, sauces, even some soup.

Lucky, I make most things from scratch and I don’t eat a lot of bread, so switching to gluten-free wasn’t as hard as I thought. As I am not celiac I don’t have to be perfect either, so cooking in the same frying pan or eating out is fine for me.

Some of the easiest switches are using cornflour instead of plain flour to thicken gravy or sauces. I buy organic gluten-free pasta (which our entire family prefers now) and I have found a pretty good gluten-free bread at the supermarket that is also free from harmful additives and preservatives.

One of the traps when going gluten-free is buying all the pre-packaged items. But what I have found is these tend to be filled to the brim with artificial additives and preservatives, many of which are also inflammatory to the body.

Speaking of which…

Artificial colours, preservatives and flavours – our body does not know how to recognise these ingredients and classes them as ‘invaders’, which then creates inflammation in the body as part of the immune response. Luckily for me, I don’t eat these at all, so not a biggy to avoid.

I can vouch for the improvements in my health by reducing additives and preservatives, especially in my thyroid health, but that is another blog altogether.

Sugar – I don’t eat or drink a lot of sugary things anymore. I used to, but over the past few years I have really cut back. Don’t get me wrong, if you stick a bit of cake under my nose I probably won’t say no, but mostly I tend to avoid the sugary, highly-processed items.

A few swaps you can make – if you have sugar in your tea or coffee, try and reduce this till you have zero. Eat dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, avoid fizzy drinks and/or cordial and switch to soda water and essential oils. When baking reduce the sugar by half, I promise you, no one will notice and you’ll be eating far less sugar than you used to in no time.

Another swap is, try using whole food sugars like coconut sugar or rapadura sugar instead of highly processed white sugar.

Trans fats and vegetable oils – I have not used these types of cooking oils in years, so again, this wasn’t anything I needed to change personally, but if you are using these types of oil then consider swapping for organic olive oil, coconut oil, or ghee to cook with. These are all amazing to cook with and your food actually has more flavour.

Alcohol – I sound like a broken record, but I don’t drink alcohol so didn’t need to be concerned with this either. I don’t have any swaps for you, other than to reduce or avoid alcohol if you are trying to reduce inflammation in your body.

I am 100% convinced that diet plays a massive part in the health of our bodies, so, it stands to reason that by significantly reducing inflammatory foods I can reduce the severity of inflammation in my joints.

I am now probably 95% gluten and dairy free, and, of course, I am additive-free. I avoid sugar as much as possible and I don’t drink alcohol, so I am on the right path to making improvements… every bit counts!

What else do I do though, as it doesn’t end with food!

Essential oils play a massive part in my bursitis protocol. I use these to help reduce the symptoms that come with it. Inflammation and Pain!

The first thing I did was turn to my research books, where I found an array of oils that help with inflammation in the body. There were quite a few, but I chose these ones to make up my blend – Pink Pepper, Copaiba, AromaTouch, Lavender, and Frankincense.

Pink Pepper – traditionally this has been used to treat inflammation by applying the entire herb, that was made into a paste, to the affected area. It is also great for muscular aches and stiffness, hence why it makes its way into my blend.

Copaiba – Traditionally, this essential oil acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and is also known to be amazing at reducing pain. On top of this, it is extremely calming to the mind.

AromaTouch – this is a blend of oils that combines cypress, peppermint, marjoram, basil, grapefruit and lavender. It is unique and all of these oils together form a powerful tool to use on aches and pains. It is relaxing, detoxing and stimulating all in one.

Lavender – This oil has been used for centuries to promote relaxation and relieve discomfort. I add it to my blend to help me relax and destress. Which helps my shoulders to relax and my entire body to unwind. Basically, it helps me to sleep better, which helps my body to heal better.

Frankincense – I add Frank to my blend for many reasons, mainly due to the ability to enhance the overall effectiveness of it. Frankincense is well known for its ability to help calm the mind and act as a grounding oil, but I add it to my blend as traditionally Eastern medicine believes it helps with pain and inflammation. A quick pubmed search brings up dozens of studies linking Frankincense and its ability to reduce whole-body inflammation, including arthritis.

I add around 10 drops of each to a 100ml bottle, then fill the rest up with fractionated coconut oil. I use a small amount and rub it into each area twice daily, or as needed.

A few other things I choose to do:

Supplements – I am a massive fan of supplementing the body with things that it needs, but I just don’t eat. For example, I don’t eat enough food with Omega 3 fatty acids – no matter how much I try. So I need to support my body with supplements to ensure it is getting enough vitamins and minerals.

Even though I eat an organic diet, filled with fresh veggies and great quality meats, I am still not getting what I need to thrive.

Calcium, magnesium, zinc – all play an important role in bone health. Along with antioxidant vitamins C and E to protect from free radicals. Vit D for healthy hearts and strong bones, and many other things to help regenerate antioxidants and fight free radicals.

I take the doTERRA Lifelong Vitality supplements and do so with the full support of my GP.

Other supplements I take are probiotics, turmeric and collagen. The first two are from doTERRA, and the collagen I buy in capsule form from Gelpro.

Exercise – Instead of high-impact exercises I now choose the lower impact options. This doesn’t mean I don’t work out as hard, I am just not jumping around and causing issues. I walk, cycle, and use small weights to make sure I move my body 4-5 times per week.

I also saw a specialist who gave me exercises to help build up the weak muscles around these areas, and I highly encourage everyone to do the same.

Water – I drink filtered water free from fluoride, chlorine and other harmful toxins.

Sauna – I try and use our infrared sauna a few times a week. I have a Found-Space sauna and love it (Use Code: Additivefree10 for a discount if you want to get your own sauna). Infrared saunas can help by oxygenating the blood cells. This helps to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation. The heat from far-infrared saunas penetrate the layers of the skin and heat your core body temperature. They are great way to detox the body from environmental toxins and lower your stress levels at the same time.

As you can see it is an entire protocol, it seems large, but really, it is simple and yet proving to be very effective.

I am around a month in (as I write this blog) and things are already improving in my body, in more ways than just bursitis relief. I am excited to see my body continue to thrive as I head towards 50…

Living additive-free and a pro-active lifestyle certainly makes a massive difference, so get onto it, you won’t regret any of it.

Best of luck

Tracey