About nine months ago I majorly strained some tendons in my hand. I was working 54 hours a week of clocked massages. 25 hours a week is considered full time for a massage therapist, so I was definitely over doing it.
I noticed that my right hand was starting to get really sore so I started using my left hand to do more squeezing. At the time it seemed to make sense to do so since it didn’t hurt near as badly as my right hand did. But, while working a gentleman’s anterior tibialis (a shin muscle) my left hand suddenly snapped on the palm side middle two fingers!
It was so not expected! After all it was my right hand that was hurting. Right away I had major pain and my grip strength was greatly diminished. Fear immediately swept over me as I was worried that I just lost my career.
I made a phone call to my manager and cancelled the rest of my appointments for that day and all appointments the next day. What could I do? I need my hand for work!
In my panic for how to recover quickly and whole I found some research that talked about tendon repair (Berg, 2022). In the video, Dr. Berg talked about how tendons need a lot of different nutrients in order to help facilitate healing. Some of the important nutrients he listed were of course amino acids, vitamins D, and vitamin C. I knew these were important already as amino acids help build tissues and vitamins D and C help with tissue repair and building.
But, the mineral that got the most attention for being the most helpful in tendon repair was Manganese. Now, I want to make a note here that Manganese (Mn) is NOT the same mineral as Magnesium (Mg). Don’t confuse the two please!
Dr. Berg shares how Manganese is specifically a collagen synthesizer and helps with the production of Glycosyltransferase (which is highly concentrated in tendons), Proteoglycans (which regulates the repair of tendons), and Prolidase (which helps form collagen). It has been useful in helping heal back and spinal injuries too (more research on this in future articles). This trace mineral becomes so important in healing!
Further research led me to find that Manganese is actually a very important trace mineral that helps catalyze many other enzymes and functions in the body (U.S. Department, 2021).
One particularly interesting article that I found, but that I haven’t been able to find as I write this article, talked about people who had torn rotator cuffs who took part in an experiment. The experiment consisted of these patients with the torn rotator cuffs being prescribed a 200mg dose of Manganese daily. Now that is a clinical dose amounting to something over 10,000% of the suggested value. They were to check in with their doctors once a month for one to three months. The results were staggering in that many of the patients started healing up their torn rotator cuffs! Now, this can’t be quoted as being true as I don’t have the source, but I’ll share some data that helps support this finding here in just a few paragraphs.
With this information now acquired I had to try it out. I was desperate and willing to try anything that had evidence to support a good healing of my tendons in my left hand.
I ended up buying some Chelated Manganese from Solar Ray down at my local nutrition store. I learned that the Chelated version is much more absorbable than just plain manganese. This is good as the faster I heal the sooner I can get back to work and support my family.
I pounded the Manganese at the 200 mg amount on the daily. Some days I even did 250mg. Is there a danger to this? There could be, but as to date there are no known toxicity amounts established (US. Department, 2021). That being stated, I will share a negative aspect about taking this high of an amount that I have heard from others who have tried this experiment.
In addition to taking the Manganese I was doing a high protein diet mainly consisting of beef protein from beef meat, and I used an electrical device that increases cellular ATP production. This essentially speeds up recovery and has been shown to do so by up to 500%(Mcmakin, 2010) (For further exploration in ATP production and electrical medicine not typically found in conventional western medicine read “Healing is Voltage” by Dr. Jerry Tennant, “The Invisible Rainbow” by Arthur Firstenberg and “The Body Electric” by Dr. Robert O. Becker and Gary Selden).
The results? Within a week I had use of my hand with only half the pain. By the end of the month I had full functionality of my left hand again with no pain! I want to note that I do believe in the epigenetic research as has been produced by Dr. Bruce Lipton and team as well as separate work by Dr. Joe Dispenza and team that show that just your belief alone can cause new genetic expression which in turn can cause a total healing to take place and want to give credit here too (Dispenza, 2019)(Lipton, 2016). Although I will not go into this medical research in this article. You can see their works cited down in my sources section. Still, both are great reads and very applicable in healing traumatic injuries!
I was elated to have my hand back to full functionality to say the least. Is this the end? Not yet. But before I share stories from personal clients I want to reiterate that I am not a doctor! I am a Licensed Massage Therapist who specializes in Medical Massage and who loves research. So this information is not meant to diagnose, treat, or cure anything and is had for learning and entertainment purposes. Now, that being said, I do share ideas with my clients on things that I learn and I do share this with my clients actively.
Personal Stories From Clients
I shared my research findings, as well as my own personal experiences (yes I will share more in future articles too), with others whom I massage. One doctor, we’ll call him Tray, struggled with tennis elbow and also a torn rotator cuff on his dominant arm. His brother, who is a surgeon, advised him not to get surgery until his shoulder tears more fully as joints are known to degrade once injured and deteriorate throughout the aging process. So, this doctor Tray guy decided to experiment with his injuries by taking 200 mg of Manganese daily too as he didn’t feel he had any other applicable options available. His reasoning? If it doesn’t have major known negative side effects, why not give it a try?
His result? He reported to me that his tennis elbow completely disappeared in a matter of about two months and that his shoulder was at half the pain it originally was. Now Manganese isn’t a pain killer, but the fact that his pain was reducing seemed to show to me, and to him, that his shoulder is healing somewhat. His activity level of traveling (hiking and biking), playing pickle ball, and doing normal athletic training such as lifting has stayed the same and he still healed. Actually keeping physical activity up, instead of resting, usually helps healing happen faster anyway (Tennant, 2013)(Physical Therapists will teach you the same thing too).
Other clients who have taken it on themselves to experiment have reported similar findings with their specific problems. Others who have had tennis or golfers elbows have noticed reduced pain with differing amounts of Manganese (I do massage a lot of golfers and pickle ball players). Many have stated that their tennis elbow and/or golfers elbow pain has disappeared. I believe it has been helpful for people with chronic neck and feet pain as a lot of people have deterioration in their neck and feet from chronic postures and bad foot wear too.
Where to Get Manganese?
Manganese can be obtained through many food outlets and supplements. The best food source to get it from is shellfish such as clams and mussels. Other sources that are touted as being good include things like grains and vegetables.
I don’t personally utilize grains as there are plenty of anti-nutrients that stop a person from absorbing Manganese such as phytic acid and gluten to name just two familiar ones. There is also the use of glyphosphates such as Roundup that is typically sprayed onto grains which causes absorption problems in humans and the microbiome life of the gut as well (Samsel, et al. 2015).
I personally use the Solar Ray brand of Chelated Manganese complex (no, I don’t get any financial gain for suggesting them) which derives it’s sources from brown rice. Yes, I know it’s a grain, but it’s chelated and has a mixed complex of Manganese so I figured it would do just fine. It also came in 50 mg capsules so it was easier to reach that 200 mg dose that Dr. Berg suggests taking if you feel you are deficient. Most other supplements came in doses of 8-15mg so this one worked for me.
Negative Side Effects
The NIH states that there are no know negative side effects to taking higher doses of Manganese orally although breathing it in through welding applications can have negative side effects (U.S. Department, 2021). Another resource mentions some toxic forms and doses of exposure too (Overview, 2006). These forms of Manganese come in non food forms and are considered toxic.
The only other negative review I’ve heard from two post-menopausal women were that at the 200 mg dose these two women experienced hot flashes. They both lessened their doses and the hot flashes went away.
End Result
My hand healed up and I am able to use it the same as I did before I injured it. The doctor and many other people I know personally who have tried it have major pain reduction in joints and tendons, and some have even totally gotten rid of their joint and tendon pain!
Now, am I suggesting that you try this out for yourself? Not exactly. I think every person should do their own research and that includes getting a doctor’s opinion on your specific issue(s). Why am I sharing this then? Because getting this information out to the public is helpful knowledge and sets a basis for you to do your own research. Doing your own experiments will be your only way to finding the solutions and answers to your own problems. This is what doctors do anyway, although their suggestions and prescriptions, though still experimental in every case, are educated. And hopefully your doctor shares information with you that has evidence to back what they advise you to do.
Overall though, you never know until you try and hopefully this article with its evidence will help you to find a solution to a nagging problem you’re experiencing.
Stay tuned to learn how I healed up a disc in my lumbar spine when I had previous doctors tell me that doing so was impossible and that disc degeneration was inevitable for me for the rest of my life. Until then, I wish you the BEST!
Sources
Berg, E. (2022, July 25). The top mineral deficiency in rotator cuff repair / pain / tears. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvpAsARoiIY&t=11s
Dispenza, D. J. (2019). Becoming supernatural. HAY HOUSE UK LTD.
Lipton, B. H. (2016). The biology of belief: Unleashing the power of Consciousness, matter & miracles. Hay House, Inc.
Mcmakin, C. (2010). Nonpharmacologic Treatment of Neuropathic Pain Using Frequency Specific Microcurrent. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/529cd637e4b080ab7c02db15/t/56f2c7181d07c01548707184/1458751256865/neuropathic-pain.pdf
Overview on tolerable upper intake levels as derived by the scientific … Europa. (2006, February). https://www.efsa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/assets/UL_Summary_tables.pdf
Samsel, A., & Seneff, S. (2015). Glyphosate, pathways to modern diseases III: Manganese, neurological diseases, and associated pathologies. Surgical neurology international, 6, 45. https://doi.org/10.4103/2152-7806.153876
Tennant, J. (2013). Page 101. In Healing is voltage: The Handbook. essay, CreateSpace.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2021, March 29). Office of dietary supplements – manganese. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Manganese-HealthProfessional/#:~:text=Through%20the%20action%20of%20these,with%20vitamin%20K%20%5B5%5D.
