A young boy with a broken arm
This nine year old boy fell off the playgym at school and fractured his elbow. It was not badly displaced, but very swollen and painful.
The fracture was reduced, the limb immobilised and wheatgrass extract applied several times over and around the exposed elbow. On the first night, about midnight, the boy woke at midnight in pain, but a little more wheatgrass helped him sleep until morning - which is very unusual after such a nasty injury.
Next day, he was virtually pain-free, and swelling had almost disappeared with bruising minimal at day 5.
Ten days later
Remarkably, X-rays showed new bone growth, and the boy was pain-free with a full range of movement of the elbow so the sling was dispensed with. The orthopedic surgeon was impressed with the rapid recovery in that it would normally take at least six to eight weeks to reach this stage. He was however, not at all interested to learn that wheatgrass extract had clearly played an important role in the rapid healing process.
How did wheatgrass help the healing process?
Wheatgrass slows and/or stops cutaneous and subcutaneous (deeper) bleeding by applying it to the overlying skin. I have observed this phenomenon many times, for instance when treating open wounds that have bled for several hours. Application of wheatgrass extract rapidly stops small vessel bleeding. Similarly, tissue swelling - for instance, of a sprained ankle, can often be reduced in an hour or two - without applying ice.
With fractures, where there is usually considerable bleeding from the broken bone, wheatgrass is able to slow or halt the blood flow, and reduce pain. Even more remarkably, if the broken limb is already in plaster, application of wheatgrass to the skin at each end of the plaster can also reduce swelling and hasten fracture healing.
Dr. Chris Reynolds.