Why does immunity increase and cause swelling

The vast majority of so-called "swelling after immunity improvement" is either a side effect of wrong intervention and is labeled as "immune activation" by the merchants, or is a manifestation of a normal short-term immune response, or even an immune disorder that is mistaken for "immunity improvement."

A while ago, I met a 62-year-old aunt in the nutrition clinic. Her calf was so swollen that it took a long time for it to rebound. She said that she had been doing "immunity-boosting fumigation" at a health center for half a month. She was told that this was because her immunity was up and she was detoxifying, and she would be fine if she did it a few more times. I saw that she still had slight low-temperature burns on her calves, and she had to sit in a chair for more than two hours every time she was fumigated. This was not dehumidification. It was tissue edema caused by low-temperature burns and poor circulation in the lower limbs. It had nothing to do with improving immunity. There are many programs on the market that claim to improve immunity, whether they are injections of unknown ingredients, large-dose supplements, or various physical therapy programs. As long as they are not performed in a standardized manner, they may cause allergies, inflammation, circulatory disorders, and edema. In the end, they are all promoted as "normal reactions of immune activation." I don't know how many people have been fooled.

Of course, not all immune-related swelling is IQ tax. For example, people who have just received the flu vaccine or HPV vaccine will occasionally have lymph nodes near the injection site that are swollen, bulging and a little tender to the touch. Many people also think that this is because their immunity has been mobilized. This is not wrong. Lymph nodes are originally the "barracks" of immune cells. When stimulated by antigens, lymphocytes proliferate rapidly to prepare for battle. If the barracks suddenly expand, they will naturally swell a little larger than usual. This kind of swelling is generally not a big problem and will go away on its own in about a week without special treatment.

There is also controversy in the academic circles. Some studies believe that people with potential autoimmune problems, such as those with a history of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and chronic urticaria, blindly take large doses of so-called "immune enhancers", such as excessive amounts of selenium, echinacea extract, etc. It is possible to break the already unstable immune balance. The swollen eyelids and joints that appear at this time are not an improvement in immunity at all, but the immune system is over-stimulated and begins to attack its own normal tissues. It is a pathological manifestation of immune imbalance. In severe cases, it can induce more serious autoimmune diseases. There are also practitioners of natural medicine who claim that this is a "benign reaction to the discharge of metabolic waste", but this statement is currently not supported by enough evidence-based medical evidence. Most people who insist on "disease elimination reaction" will eventually find out that they are allergic or inflammatory, and intervention is still needed.

To put it bluntly, immunity is like a security team in a community. It is useful only if the number is just right and the rights and responsibilities are clear. If a bunch of untrained security guards are blindly recruited in order to "improve defense capabilities", they will wander around the community and block roads at worst, and smash public facilities at worst. This is how those inexplicable bloated security guards come about. Not long ago, there was a young man in his 20s. His face swelled to the shape of a pig’s head after taking the “Immune Boosting Pill” sold by an internet celebrity. He persisted for three days and said he was detoxifying. When he came to see a doctor, he already had acute angioedema. If he came later, it would affect his breathing. If you really want to improve your immunity, it is better to sleep for 7 hours, eat 25 kinds of food a week, and move for 150 minutes a week. The "improvement" you get by relying on a mess of projects will most likely be a trap. It will be really swollen and painful, and it will not go away for more than 3 days. Don't force it, and see a doctor quickly.