Conditions:
Injuries, Minor

Related Terms
  • Contusion, Sports Injuries, Strains, Injuries, Bruises, Sprains
Principal Proposed Treatments
  • Proteolytic Enzymes
Other Proposed Treatments
  • OPCs, Horse Chestnut, Vitamin C, Citrus Bioflavonoids, Creatine

Unless you never leave your couch, you are likely to injure yourself sometime. Although minor injuries such as bruises and sprains will heal without treatment, they can be quite unpleasant.

Conventional treatment for minor sprains and strains involves intensive icing for the first 72 hours. Bruises are generally not treated at all.

Principal Proposed Treatments for Injuries, Minor

A supplement called proteolytic enzymes may be helpful for minor injuries. (For natural recommendations useful for treating related conditions, see the articles on easy bruising, minor burns, minor wounds, and surgery support.)

Proteolytic Enzymes

Proteolytic enzymes help you digest the proteins in food. Your pancreas produces the proteolytic enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin, and others, such as papain and bromelain, are found in foods. Proteolytic enzymes are primarily used as a digestive aid for people who have trouble digesting proteins. However, for reasons that are not clear, these enzymes may also be helpful for minor injuries, reducing swelling, bruising, and pain, and shortening recovery time.

What Is the Scientific Evidence for Proteolytic Enzymes?

A double-blind placebo-controlled study of 44 individuals with sports-related ankle injuries found that treatment with a proteolytic enzyme combination (also containing bioflavonoids) resulted in faster healing and reduced the time away from training by about 50%.¹ Three other small double-blind studies, involving a total of about 80 athletes, found that treatment with proteolytic enzymes significantly speeded healing of bruises and other mild athletic injuries as compared to placebo.^2,3,4 In another double-blind trial, 100 individuals were given an injection of their own blood under the skin to simulate bruising following an injury. Researchers found that treatment with a proteolytic enzyme combination significantly speeded up recovery.⁵

A double-blind placebo-controlled trial involving 71 people with finger fractures found that treatment with a trypsin-chymotrypsin combination significantly improved recovery.⁶

In a controlled study, 74 boxers with bruises on their faces and upper bodies were given bromelain until all signs of bruising had disappeared;⁷ another 72 boxers were given placebo. Fifty-eight of the group taking bromelain lost all signs of bruising within 4 days, compared to only 10 of the group taking placebo. Unfortunately, this study was apparently not double-blind, meaning that some of its results may have been due to the power of suggestion.

Additional evidence for the effectiveness of proteolytic enzymes in healing injuries comes from studies involving surgery. For more information, see the article on surgery support.

Note: Bromelain "thins the blood" and could increase risk of bleeding during or after surgery. For this reason, physician supervision is essential.

For more information, including dosage and safety issues, see the full articles on proteolytic enzymes and bromelain.

Other Proposed Treatments for Injuries, Minor

Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (OPCs)

OPCs (oligomeric proanthocyanidins), substances found in grape seed and pine bark, may be helpful for injuries as well.

A 10-day double-blind placebo-controlled study enrolling 50 participants found that OPCs improved the rate at which edema disappeared following sports injuries.⁸ In addition, a double-blind placebo-controlled study of 63 women with breast cancer found that 600 mg of OPCs daily for 6 months reduced postoperative edema and pain.⁹ Also, in a double-blind placebo-controlled study of 32 people who had "face-lifts" and were followed for 10 days, swelling disappeared much faster in the treated group.¹⁰

For more information, including dosage and safety issues, see the full OPCs article.

Horse Chestnut

The herb horse chestnut has been traditionally used to treat varicose veins and other problems involving blood vessels and swelling. The active ingredient in horse chestnut is a substance called escin. One double-blind study of 70 people found that about 10 g of 2% escin gel, applied externally to bruises in a single dose 5 minutes after the bruises were induced, reduced their tenderness.¹¹

Used externally, horse chestnut should be safe.

Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids

Vitamin C is known to play a role in wound healing. Citrus bioflavonoids and the related substances oxerutins, appear to reduce leakage from capillaries.

Preliminary evidence from a somewhat poorly reported double-blind trial of 40 college football players suggests that a combination of vitamin C and citrus bioflavonoids taken before practice can reduce the severity of athletic injuries.¹²

Based on evidence from a double-blind study of individuals recovering from minor surgery or other minor injuries, oxerutins may be helpful as well.¹³

Creatine

The supplement creatine might be helpful for preventing the muscle weakness that commonly occurs when a limb is immobilized following injury.^14,15

Last reviewed March 2002 by Medical Review Board

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