Bromelain
From Make Me Heal
Contents |
What Is Bromelain And How Can It Benefit My Healing?
A considerable number of patients highly recommend using Bromelain as a way of reducing the swelling that occur after the surgery. Bromelain is a natural enzyme extracted from pineapple that is part of a group of enzymes that aid in the digestion of protein (called proteolytic enzymes). Bromelain works almost exactly like Motrin, Naprosyn, Voltaren, Clinoril and many other drugs of the kind, but it doesn’t have the side effects that are considered negative for your healing. In addition to helping reduce swelling, Bromelain can lessen postoperative pain, and help accelerate the overall healing process. Bromelain is also occasionally used to alleviate some complications of cardiovascular disease. This is because Bromelain works like a blood thinner, and that may be good news for your post-op days when Bromelain may also help with your bruises. Bruises are collections of blood under the skin that heal by breaking up and then being reabsorbed by skin tissues. Bromelain speeds this process up by thinning the collected blood, which in turn makes it easier for your body to reabsorb them. But like most anticoagulants, you’ll want to be careful with the amount of Bromelain that you take during pre-op. Anticoagulants can contribute to increased post-op bruising, but that is if you have a high level of anticoagulants before and immediately after your surgery. Due to its blood-thinning qualities, you should not take a lot of Bromelain if you are going to be taking prescription blood thinners (for angina, stroke or other cardiovascular illnesses) before and after your surgery. Just to make it clear, Bromelain by itself Bromelain should be fine to take and will not affect your bruising so long as it’s not taken in conjunction with other prescription blood thinners. To be safe, you should consult your doctor about Bromelain and any other homeopathic remedy, supplement, and medicine that you’d like to take before or after your surgery so they can suggest a safe regimen for you. Disclosing this information will enable your doctor to determine if anything that you are thinking of taking may be healing-unfriendly and should not be taken before, during, or after your procedure.
How Should I Administer Bromelain?
As with all homeopathic remedies, you cannot touch the actual pills. When administering Bromelain, please respect the 4 guidelines for homeopathic remedies (not to use your hands, to hold the pill under your tongue, not to eat or drink for 15 minutes before or after, and stay away from substances that can counteract its effects).
When Does One Typically Start & Stop Taking Bromelain?
The patients that we’ve come upon have taken different dosages of Bromelain at different frequencies and for different periods of time both before and after their procedure. Bromelain is taken in pill form and it is recommended that you begin to take it anywhere from 3–7 days before your surgery. However, there are some patients who don’t take Bromelain until after the surgery. Patients typically stop taking this remedy once their swelling has diminished, which can occur around 2 weeks post-op or shortly afterwards.
What Are The Ranges On Recommended Dosages?
The dosage strength of the pill that patients reported to work well was 500 mg or 3,200 MCU or GDU (the unit of measurement for Bromelain continually changes). Patients take 2–3 pills of 500 mg (for a total of 1000–1500 mg) 2–3 times a day. You should follow the specific instructions on the product label.
What Are The Side Effects?
There are no known side effects for Bromelain. If you happen to be allergic to pineapples, then there is a possibility that you may develop skin irritations or asthma-like symptoms associated with allergic reactions. If you do have this allergy, you may want to avoid taking Bromelain or at least consult your doctor before you take it. Certainly if allergy-like symptoms arise after you start taking this or any other medication, you should contact your doctor.
Are There Any Drug Interactions?
Because Bromelain has some blood thinning qualities, you should not take a lot of this homeopathic remedy if you are taking prescription blood thinners (for angina, stroke or other cardiovascular illnesses) at the same time. However, it is very likely that if you do use such prescription blood thinners in your daily life, that your doctor may have you stop or change your routine before you head into surgery. This is because blood-thinners can cause excessive bleeding during surgery and can worsen the bruising that you may experience during post-op. If you are taking any of these medications, you will need to talk to your doctor to make sure what you are doing is medically safe.
