Heal a Broken Bone in Record Time With This Ancient Herbal Formula

I broke my toe the other day.  I didn't stub it; I landed on it.  At my Sunday dance thing (I call it "Hippy Dance Church"), the floor was more slippery than I expected as I kicked my right leg up high some new, fuzzy socks.  The ground slipped out from under me and I landed just right exactly on the tip of my 4th toe (see the red line below for an idea of where it was). 

I crawled to the mats surrounding the dance floor and put my legs up the wall for a few minutes.  Then I did some stretching and acu-pressure, just trying to stop the throbbing in what felt like 3 of my toes.  After 10-15 minutes, I was able to wiggle my toes again and got back out there.  I danced for another hour. 

Yes, this was a mistake.  But, at the time, I felt fine!  

Until I put my shoes on to leave.  Then I knew it was more serious than I originally thought.  I limped to my car and took my shoe back off.  It was starting to bruise already around the toenail.  And I don't bruise easily.  I'd show you the picture, but it's disgusting.  (Not the bruise so much, but I hadn't painted my nails and you know how you get the yellowish tint when you take the polish off that's been on there for a while... so, yeah.)

Fortunately, I had the next week off for the holiday.  I texted Kelly, my acupuncture associate, because I know she's broken toes roller skating and doing martial arts.  She said to "wrap it."  So I did, which eased the pressure off that one spot.  

It kind of ended up looking like this (not a pic of my foot):

I had one pair of boots with roomy toe-space that accomodated the extra padding.  

Not so fortunately, my Christmas vacation ended up being me on my feet even more than I would be at work (long story...not getting into it now).  I limped in pain the whole week.  

Things that Helped Week 1 After the Break

1.  Putting my legs up the wall

• elevating my feet for improved blood flow
• pointing, flexing, and rotating the ankles with intention
• putting flat feet on the wall and attempting to push into them and lift the hips

2.  Stretching

• slowly working into pointing and flexing the toes (they didn't want to do that at first)
• working on balance (standing on one foot) 
• gently easing into the calves which means getting the toes to flex back with slight pressure.  Key words:  GENTLY. EASE.

3.  Acu-pressure

• I knew that to fully heal, and make sure this doesn't lead to further issues up the channel (COMPENSATION PATTERNS!  VERY COMMON PROBLEM AFTER INJURIES!), I did light acupressure on specific points.  

When I got home, Kelly also suggested I try using Jow. 

Oh, yea!  I totally forgot about Jow.  The full name is "Dit Da Jow" which roughly translates to "Fall-Hit Wine" 😅.   We used it all the time in martial arts for bruising, injuries, and for some types of Qi Gong.  There's a training where we hit our hands and arms on sand bags to strengthen the tendons and ligaments.  Part of that Qi Gong is to apply Jow afterward.  

She let me use some of hers (which we'll have in stock at the clinic soon), and let me tell you, my toe barely even hurts now. 

Right now I'm at week 3.  It sounds ridiculous that it would heal that much faster with this formula, but seriously, as soon as I put it on, I felt totally fine.  

Granted, there's still healing going on.  Broken bones usually take ~6 weeks to heal.  Here's what I noticed: 

Week 2: 

• still can't put any pressure on the top of my foot (I'm back at yoga, but seriously modified.  I'm doing push-ups from my knees with my feet off the ground, if you can imagine what that looks like...)
• the broken spot is still very tender to the touch; I can barely touch it
• can't "grip" with my toe (like when you scootch into a flip-flop)
• balance is not great on that foot, but it's improving
• I can walk with NO pain!  This is a huge win because I walk a lot every day.

Week 3:  

• I can put a little bit of pressure on the top of my toe
• pressure doesn't hurt as much when I rub the Jow into the spot
• I'm back dancing again!  Just very carefully.  If someone accidentally stepped on that toe, it would destroy me. 
• I can grip a little with my toes, but not too much
• I CAN'T wear close-toed heels yet.  I did try, and that was a very fast, "Nope!"  
• balance is fine 🤩 

How does Jow work? 

It's based in alcohol and has about 15 different herbs in it.  The herbal functions are for 

• expelling "Evil Wind"
• moving blood (stagnant blood is like a bruise, for example)
• moving fluid and lymph
• cooling blood (Ever notice how injured areas feel warm to the touch?  Heat comes from stagnation; like a car engine low on oil, for example.)  

How do you use it?

You pour a little into your hand and rub it into the bone, as much as you can.  It's for external use only.  

It smells (to me) like pancake syrup mixed with whiskey, so not too bad if you like either of those things.  

Conclusions:  

I've never broken a bone before, so this was all very eye-opening.  Of course, it's a very tiny bone.  It'd be very different if I'd broke a femur or something more significant.  

I think it healed fast because I never totally stopped moving.  I slowed down, way down.  I only did what felt relatively comfortable.  I didn't push myself.  But I didn't just completely stop moving. 

Fortunately, I also knew what exercises would help and where to do acupressure to help it heal as well.  

Those things, and the Jow.