|
Disclaimer…
I am not a doctor, have no formal medical training, and I am not intending
to give any advice here; it's merely an opinion of a laymen individual.
The research and information referenced here is open to public
domain. I am not liable, either expressly or in an implied manner,
nor claim any responsibility for any emotional or physical problems that
may occur directly or indirectly from reading this page. Consult
your healthcare practitioner before taking any medication or health
supplements.
Background and
why I'm doing the AOR Inflammation Relief review
I the summer of 2011, I suffered from inflammation around my left knee.
The suspected cause was re-injury of my hamstring which I'd torn a couple
of years earlier. Part of my treatment involved taking AOR
Curcumin Active (click to read my review of it.) Four months after the
injury, by around mid October, the inflammation had completely subsided.
In mid January,
2012, I noticed the inflammation around me left knee returning, although
to a much-less level than previously. I continued on with my regular
activities which included a regular gym exercise program and backcountry
skiing. The inflammation remained the same for almost three weeks despite
my continuing activity until the day after one of my skiing days when it
worsened to a new level. It remained at that level for another three weeks
until it worsened once again after another day of skiing. Note that I ski
every weekend and some weekends there was no change or it sometimes felt
better!
I visited both a
physiotherapist and my family doctor who suggested that in this case my
hamstring and my knee in general were functionally sound. So, this led me
to wonder if my hamstring was even the problem in the summer of 2011 and,
further, question why then the inflammation was occurring. This will be
investigated through an MRI and appointments with other specialists.
In the meantime, I
have again turned to AOR for some help to try and bring the inflammation
under control. This time, I tried their newest product for inflammation
called AOR Inflammation Relief which is part of their nanoVAILABLE line.
Similar to the
Curcumin Active that I took last time around, it contains curcumin via
Longvida®, but additionally it also contains standardized Boswellia
serrata extract and ashwagandha,
which are botanicals with long historical usage in traditional
Ayurvedic medicine for support in inflammatory conditions and to help
relieve joint pain.
Also as with
Curcumin Active, in this nanoVAILABLE line, nano-technology is employed to
increase the bio-availability of the ingredients so that they are more
successfully absorbed into the bloodstream. Check out their website for
more details,
AOR’s
Inflammation Relief webpage, as well as the links I've provided at the
end of this page.
Notes and Measuring the Results
My dose of AOR Inflammation Relief during the review period was two
capsules per day, one at
8am
and one at
8pm
, with food. I arrived
at this dose by reading the research behind the formulation of curcumin
contained in the product as applied to inflammation referenced in the
background section above. It is also within the one to three capsules per
day as a recommended dose indicated on the bottle.
A couple things to
note about measuring the results:
I tried to figure out how to objectively measure progress, like by
measuring my knee size, but these all proved far too difficult to be of
any use.
I realized that the best measure, although arguably quite subjective, was
the flexibility of the knee and it’s “feel” (tightness when
attempting to bend it and how it is inhibiting your normal stride when
trying to walk) – after having inflammation for a few months, you get
really tuned-in to the volume of inflammation present and how it’s
changing day to day.
Visible changes were only useful in seeing the major improvements and
really undetectable in the shorter term. Even with noticeable improvements
in the “feel” and mechanics of the knee, visible change was usually
quite minimal.
The Results of my use of AOR Inflammation Relief
I began taking Inflammation Relief around forty-five days after noticing
the initial knee inflammation which had gradually been getting worse.
Although the feel of
my knee fluctuated from day to day, after about seventeen days on the
pills I began to notice lasting improvement. The overall level of
inflammation was decreasing and not returning to previous higher levels.
While the change was not anything nearing complete recovery, it was
detectable improvement which was promising - before the pills I had only
experienced a gradual worsening of the inflammation.
It's critical to
know that I continued on with my normal activities during this time –
backcountry skiing every weekend, working out in the gym, including
elliptical, as well as gym-based rock climbing. Under this level of
stress, I think it’s impressive that my condition did not worsen, as it
had done until I began taking the pills, and had even seen some
improvement.
As of the
thirty-eighth day, the inflammation has come down further, but still
remains.
Conclusion
Although this was far from a scientific experiment, I can say the
following:
There was reduction of inflammation while taking AOR's Inflammation Relief
despite continuing on with my regular active lifestyle.
It did take some
time before there was any detectable lasting improvement (in this case, I
felt it was about seventeen days).
There were no detectable side effects, like stomach issues associated with
other traditional treatments like NSAIDs, or otherwise.
Now, some might pose
the theory that the reduction in inflammation was simply due to natural
healing. Of course, this is tough to refute completely, how do we know?
But we must consider that this statement could be made if one was taking
an alternate therapy, such as NSAIDs, as well, right? It's certainly all
very hard to measure.
I think another of
the best indicators I can go by in this case is by asking the questions:
·
If I was
faced with a similar situation in the future, do I feel that I would once
again reach for AOR’s Inflammation Relief?
·
With how
much conviction do I give the above answer?
My
answers: Yes. Absolutely.
For
me, the traditional medicine of NSAID’s was not an option due to
side-effects, but I wanted to try something to help with the inflammation.
While using Inflammation Relief, I did experience exactly that. Moving
beyond the current thirty-eight days, I’m hoping things continue to
improve until I am fully recovered.
UPDATE:
After two bottles of Inflammation Relief over sixty days, my knee
inflammation has completely subsided and my knee seems fully recovered.
If you have
experience with AOR Inflammation Relief or other product containing
Longvida®, please share your experience in the comments section below.
Interesting links:
Research
at UCLA
Longvida®
(one of the active ingredients in AOR's Inflammation Relief product)
|
