Inflammation resolution (not suppression)
One of 5 mechanistic pathways to 🩹 Heal an injury · 16 options
This distinction matters more than almost anything else on this page. Inflammation is the signal that starts repair — NSAIDs blunt it and measurably impair tendon and bone healing. Resolution is an active programme that ends inflammation properly rather than switching it off early. That is what you want.
Distinguishes normal healing inflammation from a chronic smoulder that never resolves. Persistently high CRP months after an injury is a resolution failure, and it responds to completely different things than acute inflammation does.
hs-CRP (High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein)ESR (Sed Rate)F2-Isoprostane / Creatinine (Urine)TNF-AlphaANA (Antinuclear Antibodies)🔥 Inflammation Deep Dive covers these in one panel →
What engages this pathway
Ordered by how directly each one acts on the mechanism above — never by how much trial evidence exists. Each links to its full breakdown with dosing, half-life and vendor.
🧬 SPMs (Pro-Resolving Mediators)
Specialised pro-resolving mediators — resolvins, protectins, maresins — are the actual signals that terminate inflammation and trigger macrophage clearance of debris. This is the pathway NSAIDs interrupt. The most mechanistically correct anti-inflammatory approach available.
💉 KPV
The C-terminal tripeptide of α-MSH. Anti-inflammatory in gut and skin models without the pigmentation effects of the parent molecule; pairs with BPC-157 on the gut argument specifically.
💉 VIP
Vasoactive intestinal peptide shifts macrophages toward the M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype. Interest in CIRS and airway inflammation; the musculoskeletal case is extrapolated.
💉 Low Dose Naltrexone
At 1.5–4.5 mg it transiently blocks opioid receptors, producing endorphin rebound, and antagonises TLR4 on microglia. Small trials in fibromyalgia and Crohn's are positive. Cheap, low-risk, and under-investigated.
💉 LL-37
An antimicrobial peptide that also appears to modulate the wound-healing immune response. The argument is narrow — it should matter where infection or biofilm is complicating the repair, and probably very little where neither is.
💉 Thymosin Alpha 1
Modulates T-cell function rather than suppressing it. Approved in several countries for hepatitis and used as immune support; the repair argument is about resolving a stalled inflammatory phase.
💉 Tropisetron
A 5-HT3 antagonist with separate anti-inflammatory activity described in arthritis models. An unusual and under-explored route.
🧬 Curcumin
Inhibits NF-κB. Meta-analyses show pain reduction in osteoarthritis comparable to NSAIDs in some trials. Bioavailability is the whole game — the phytosome form is the one studied.
🧬 Boswellia
5-LOX inhibition, a different arm of the eicosanoid cascade to COX. Complements curcumin rather than duplicating it.
🧬 Omega-3 (Fish Oil)
EPA and DHA are the substrate from which resolvins and protectins are made. Supplying the precursor is the upstream version of taking SPMs directly.
🧬 Super EPA (Fish Oil)
High-EPA concentrate — EPA is the specific precursor for the E-series resolvins.
🧬 Bromelain
A proteolytic enzyme with trial evidence for reducing post-surgical and post-traumatic swelling. Taken away from food so it acts systemically rather than digesting your lunch.
🧬 Serrapeptase
Proteolytic enzyme claimed to break down fibrin and inflammatory exudate. Popular, and the human evidence is much weaker than bromelain's.
🧬 Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA)
An endogenous fatty-acid amide that downregulates mast-cell activation and glial inflammation. Solid trial evidence for chronic and neuropathic pain, and remarkably safe.
🧬 Tart Cherry
Anthocyanins reduce inflammatory markers and soreness after eccentric damage without the NSAID problem of blunting adaptation.
🧬 Luteolin
A flavone that inhibits mast-cell activation and microglial inflammation. Most interesting where the inflammation is neuro rather than musculoskeletal.
The other 4 routes to heal an injury
Pick the pathway that matches where you are actually stuck. An appetite drug does nothing for someone who already undereats.
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Dosing schedules, stacking, cycle timing and Coach Cam's notes live inside the Academy — plus the full interactive Vault.
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Frequently asked questions
This distinction matters more than almost anything else on this page. Inflammation is the signal that starts repair — NSAIDs blunt it and measurably impair tendon and bone healing. Resolution is an active programme that ends inflammation properly rather than switching it off early. That is what you want.
16 options are mapped to this pathway in the Vault, including SPMs (Pro-Resolving Mediators), KPV, VIP, Low Dose Naltrexone. They are grouped by the mechanism they act through rather than ranked by how much trial evidence exists — 9 carry clinical validation and 7 are mechanistic predictions.
Distinguishes normal healing inflammation from a chronic smoulder that never resolves. Persistently high CRP months after an injury is a resolution failure, and it responds to completely different things than acute inflammation does. The markers worth checking are hs-CRP (High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein), ESR (Sed Rate), F2-Isoprostane / Creatinine (Urine), TNF-Alpha.
Unproven is not the same as ineffective. Of the 16 options on this pathway, 9 have clinical validation and 7 are graded theoretical — meaning the mechanism is sound but the specific human trial has not been run, which is true of a great deal of what works in this space. Nothing on this page is ordered by evidence tier, because sorting by trial count would bury the compounds you came looking for.