Cuts heal slower?

#1

N=1 but I deal with a lot of sharp objects and in spite of decades of care, incur small cuts every week or three. Small meaning bandaid or less and normally a few days later not noticeable. 4 months in on keto and down 55 pounds I am seeing it take considerably longer to heal the same type of tiny cuts. Any reason for this? PS telling me to be more careful is a waste of keystrokes. I am careful which is why I only get tiny cuts infrequently

(Full Metal KETO AF) #2

I don’t know because with reduced inflammation my body seems to focus my immune system at things that are chronic quicker now that I don’t have ongoing acute issues. I don’t get sick from colds and flu like many do either though. I can’t remember the last time I got either one and I have been on immunosuppressants for more than 1 1/2 years now. I used to have very long would healing time and had gangrene for two years barely under control. I think it was mostly a dietary problem that caused most of my issues which have been many.

:cowboy_hat_face:

('Jackie P') #3

If you are generally unhealthy, with poor circulation, your blood flow can be sluggish, with a cut not much blood, but not necessarily better healing.
If you have good healthy circulation however, a burst of good healthy red blood that cleans a wound and allows healthy healing!

(Marianne) #4

Hmmm; my experience and my husband’s has been just the opposite. We both heal more quickly from cuts/injuries that we did in the past.

My husband just sustained a dog bite on 7/30, that was two inches long and down to the muscle in his hand. It is completely better now, which I think is record time. The scar is very light and I believe will disappear completely.

(Edith) #5

Maybe your diet is deficient in the vitamins and minerals that promote healing.

It is easy to eat keto, but not necessarily to make it well formulated.

(Ken) #6

I found that healing time is drastically reduced. My blood seems to be thicker and clot faster. Bee stings.seem to stop hurting faster as well, and I’m no where near as attractive.to mosquitoes. Gnats still bother me, the pesky little buggers.

(Katie) #7

I have constant cuts from my cat. I have always used colloidal silver on them, so they do heal fast.

I cannot say I have seen any slowdown in my healing time. I am 4+ months on keto now

(KCKO, KCFO) #8

My cuts and scraps heal faster now. So no idea why yours have slowed the healing.

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #9

Ditto on mosquitoes no longer liking me! I count this as near the top of my NSV!

As for healing slower/faster…I seem to be taking a bit longer to heal now. However, I take aspirin daily and maybe? that affects things? Unsure. I’m also constantly hurting myself in small ways due to reroofing my house truck. So, I have more energy but cuts are taking longer to heal. I’m cool with that trade off.

(Laura) #10

I have noticed the same thing lately. Cuts seem to heal more slowly. I just assumed it is because I am not as young as I used to be. I still heal, just not as fast.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

This is a fascinating question; unfortunately, I can’t think of any answers. But I’d suggest looking at indicators of metabolism as a starting point for pursuing this matter.

The reason I suggest looking at your metabolic rate is that my pet rats heal amazingly quickly from injuries, and veterinarians explain this as the result of their very fast metabolisms (rat owners have to know this, because it has implications for drug clearance when administering pain meds, or trying to clear an infection with an antibiotic).

(Doug) #12

I don’t know why healing would be slower after eating ketogenically. Going the other way, if one’s blood sugar is high, it usually means slower healing, especially on the lower legs and feet - diabetic foot ulcers are a big example. Controlling blood sugar is huge, there, for better/faster healing.

I’ve never had big problems with it, but mosquito bites, for example, now heal normally whereas prior to keto they were really slow to heal on my lower legs - almost to the point where I wondered if they’d ever heal…

Fracmeister, if you didn’t have blood sugar issues before, then keto may not bring any automatic benefits as far as healing, but on causes for slower healing I’m at a total loss.

(Parker the crazy crone lady) #13

Well, I have noticed that when I’m bitten by a mosquito, on that rare occasion, it basically doesn’t itch at all, whereas before, I’d scratch myself bloody even while asleep. The bite lumps disappear very quickly now, as well.

(Allie) #14

This was a thing for me in the early stages too, but it sorted itself out.

(Central Florida Bob ) #15

It might be interesting to set up a poll. Something like
“did your healing rate get
slower
faster
haven’t noticed a change
(some funny/goofy answer)”

For what it’s worth, I don’t think mine changed but might be a little faster. I have noticed mosquitoes don’t seem to prefer me anymore. I used to belong to a fishing club where some guys called me their sacrificial anode: bring me along to the get the skeeters to attack me and not them.

(KCKO, KCFO) #16

Mozzies just fly right by me now. I used to be their favorite flavor. Recently one bit my husband instead of me, now that is serious NSV.

PaulL maybe on to something, I used to be a slower healer, now some things heal up before I even notice them. Maybe my insulin sensitivity coupled with better metabolism now had something to do with this? IDK.

#17

Me, too. (Also, @gingersmommy, glad your husband is healing so quickly.)

Other than make sure you’re promoting good circulation with a little moderate exercise and making sure you’re getting adequate protein, I’m not sure what the cause might be.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #18

I always used to be the one the mosquitoes were drawn to, and I eventually began to correlate the number of bites with how much sugar I’d been eating over the past several days. Interestingly, while sugar seemed to attract them, garlic in the sweat seemed to put them off. I remember going on a particular camping trip with my then-current boyfriend, and we’d had an extremely garlic-heavy meal a few days earlier. While even people who weren’t normally affected were getting bitten up, we were the only two the mosquitoes left alone.

What I love about being ketogenic is that the bugs no longer go for me nearly as much, and the bites I do get don’t cause nearly as strong a reaction, and they itch quite a bit less. A win all round!

#19

@Fracmeister did you ever figure this out? My cuts are definitely healing more slowly, at about 7 months in. I take a multivitamin but wondering if I need to up my vitamin C and A. Thanks!

#20

Well no. I haven’t.