Can sterile inflammation heal on its own?

When damaging factors appear in the body, our immune system will launch a defensive response, which is what we often call inflammation. Inflammation is divided into bacterial infection and sterile inflammation. Among them, aseptic inflammation refers to the inflammatory response caused by sprains. If the aseptic inflammation is mild, it can heal itself. Once the condition is serious, the use of medication will accelerate the disappearance of the inflammation.

Inflammation is the defensive response of living tissues with a vascular system to damaging factors. Inflammation, which is what people usually call "inflammation", is a defensive response of the body to stimulation, which manifests as redness, swelling, heat, pain and dysfunction. There are many causes of inflammation in human tissues. Inflammation can be divided into two categories: infectious inflammation and sterile inflammation. When the human body is infected by pathogenic microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, etc. and causes inflammatory reactions such as exudation, necrosis and hyperplasia, it is collectively called infectious inflammation. If the inflammatory reaction is caused by physical, chemical or other factors, it is collectively called aseptic inflammation.

The treatment of sterile inflammation is the same as that of infectious inflammation, and treatment measures should be taken according to different causes of the disease. For example, the local redness and swelling caused by sprains of the limbs is mainly because when the limbs are excessively stretched, some muscles, blood vessels, lymph, peripheral nerves, etc. are pulled apart, causing blood, lymph and tissue fluid to seep out to form edema or hematoma, and the swollen tissue compresses the nerves to cause swelling and pain. In the early stages of this type of inflammation, cold compresses should be applied and kneading is prohibited to reduce exudation; three days later, the tissue enters the absorption period and hot compresses should be used instead to promote absorption.

Some people may also cause inflammatory reactions when they are allergic to certain substances, such as allergic rhinitis, contact dermatitis, drug-induced dermatitis, eczema, etc. Although these diseases also have the word "inflammation" in their names, they are not caused by bacterial infections. If antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs are used to treat them, not only will they be ineffective, but sometimes they will aggravate the condition by causing new allergic reactions. Allergic inflammation should be treated with anti-allergic drugs, such as astemizole, chlorpheniramine or hormonal anti-allergic drugs. There are also some musculoskeletal diseases, such as arthritis, fibrositis, tenosynovitis, ankylosing spondylitis, etc. These inflammations are not caused by pathogenic microorganisms, so do not use antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs. Therefore, we should not mistakenly believe that all antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs can treat all inflammations, nor should we believe that antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs should be used for all inflammations.