I have a bruise that’s like 3" x 1.5" on my shin cuz I did something stupid yesterday. The bruise is 3" vertically and 1.5" in width centered over my shin. On the part where the bone is (the inside half) it’s pretty flat, and on the half where the bone isn’t (the outside half) it’s pretty swollen. I have an old bottle of Wing Lam’s dit da jow. What’s the best way to heal it? I need this bad boy to heal so I can keep training. When I got home last night I iced it, and then before I went to bed I rubbed jow on it for 5-10 minutes. I use latex gloves to apply the jow so it doesn’t make my hands smell. That won’t hurt anything, will it?
So what’s the best way to apply the jow? I was using my palm mostly and rubbing up and down along the shin. How hard should you push? Should you try to push the bruise back down?
It’s been less than 12 hours since I got it so it’s still kinda red, but there’s a white circle toward the top. That must have been the place of impact. I’m assuming it will turn black and blue in the next few days.
How often should I apply the jow and do I need to use ice anymore?
I’ve been told that most jow use prefers the applied area not to be washed for several hours so that the mixture can sink into the pores and skin and into the collected and stagnant blood close to the skin. Also, some jows will help initiate or facilitate some healing processes, and some will just break up or help reabsorb the blood (bruise). For the latter, it will make it look better but may not make it feel better or help healing much beyond breaking up and reabsorbing the stagnant blood. If you persist to train where contact will occur on the area again then you may have to just suck it up or put on some shin guard or the like.
To some degree, a bruise linament may not be wanted. If the area is one that you are trying to condition and toughen up, then some jows will break up calcium deposits, in effect delaying calcification that naturally occurs in some minute and not so minute cracks resulted from blunt or acute trauma, even if there is no pain or bruising, hence weakening the structure.
the ice reduces swelling by constricting capillaries and such…but, it’s those capillaries that are going to carry off what the jow is loosening up.
I never ice impact injuries like what you seem to have. instead, applying jow and rubbing towards the extremity only. don’t rub back and forth but towards the toes.
last night, for example, I caught a good one on the forearm near the wrist. It immediately purpled up and was about the size of 1/2 an egg. After we got done with the drill I immediately jowed it and spent about a minute rubbing it down towards my fingers.
I did this 3 more times during the class and today there is no noticable swelling or bruising and just a slight bit of tenderness.
The fastest way I know of to heal a bruise that large is to do the following:
clean the area thoroughly
heat up your dit da jow
take your vitamins (in particular bioflavinoids & vitamin C)
apply the jow liberally massaging from the center of the bruise outwards for about 15-20min (you’re basically trying to push the bruise down while applying the jow)
do not touch/clean the affected area for 4 hours to allow the jow to absorb and work
apply the jow thrice daily
drink plenty of water
don’t apply ice - it’s too late, the ice should have been applied as soon as you got injured
Originally posted by brothernumber9 To some degree, a bruise linament may not be wanted. If the area is one that you are trying to condition and toughen up, then some jows will break up calcium deposits, in effect delaying calcification that naturally occurs in some minute and not so minute cracks resulted from blunt or acute trauma, even if there is no pain or bruising, hence weakening the structure.
I’ve never heard that before. Why would jow be recommended for iron fist and iron arm and shin training then?
Heh… you’re not going to like this method, as it hurts like a *****, but this is what my old sifu used to do when one of us would smash our shins up.
He used a linament… I believe it was Sheng Gui Shui, but it could have been jow. He applied that to the area (which often was swollen and had a “goose egg”) and would then “rake the bad chi” (using hard, steady pressure) using his knuckles. The idea was to spread the bruise out, flattening the swollen area. It hurts… a lot… and it makes the bruise LOOK reall nasty (as it gets all spread out) but a bruise that would normally have taken me 2 weeks to completely heal was gone in 3 days whenever he did this.
He did mention that one should “rake” away from the heart.
Originally posted by Hau Tien
[B]Heh… you’re not going to like this method, as it hurts like a *****, but this is what my old sifu used to do when one of us would smash our shins up.
He used a linament… I believe it was Sheng Gui Shui, but it could have been jow. He applied that to the area (which often was swollen and had a “goose egg”) and would then “rake the bad chi” (using hard, steady pressure) using his knuckles. The idea was to spread the bruise out, flattening the swollen area. It hurts… a lot… and it makes the bruise LOOK reall nasty (as it gets all spread out) but a bruise that would normally have taken me 2 weeks to completely heal was gone in 3 days whenever he did this.
He did mention that one should “rake” away from the heart.
Originally posted by IronFist Aspirin won’t do anything for the swelling, tho.
Actually that’s not true. Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory drug. It helps block the chemicals that cause inflammation to reduce it. For bruises with lots of swelling it’s not going to help much, but taking aspirin does help w/ swelling.
This is why when you have some kind of body pain w/ inflammation / swelling, you should take aspirin or ibuprofen instead of Tylenol. Tylenol doesn’t do anything for inflammation, it’s just pain relief.
Ibuprofen / aspirin aren’t that great for the bruise itself. They help w/ the pain and swelling assoicated with the bruise, but they won’t do too much with the discoloration.
I’ve always been taught to rub jow away from the body.
the point is dispersal of the accumulated fluids…massaging towards the heart would concentrate them again too quickly…massaging towards the extremeties would allow them to be picked up by the capillaries in smaller units first, thus distributing the fluids throughout the circulatory system and the lymphatic system.
i actually sorta think that the lymphatic system is more what we are aiming to get the bruise fluids (blood and lymph) to get absorbed by…
the lymph system is not a pumped system like the circulatory system and relies on body movement, and i think in this instance, massage, to move fluids through the system
Press the bruise with your thumbs until it flattens out (I was actually told to push it towards then gently push it away from the heart)
Apply once or twice a day.
I’ve found that applying Jau in this way makes your bruise “develop” faster and makes it bigger and uglier than it would normally look (as someone else mentioned).
But it also makes it heal more quickly and prevents calcification (something you actually don’t want.)
another thig is you may wanna get some quality jow - I’m not sure what the wle mail order stuff is like. aren’t you near chicago? talk to fa_jing - he knows a place in chinatown that has some quality jow.
Originally posted by SevenStar another thig is you may wanna get some quality jow - I’m not sure what the wle mail order stuff is like. aren’t you near chicago? talk to fa_jing - he knows a place in chinatown that has some quality jow.
