Inflammation gets blamed for almost everything at the moment, but it’s not the villain. Inflammation is one of the body’s most important safety systems. It’s how your immune system communicates: “Something needs attention.” In the right context, inflammation is protective. It helps you heal a cut, recover from an infection, repair tissue after training, and clear damaged cells so the body can rebuild properly.
The issue isn’t inflammation itself. The issue is when the body can’t switch it off. Acute inflammation is meant to rise, do its job, and resolve. Chronic, low-grade inflammation is different. It’s quieter, more persistent, and often driven by everyday stressors rather than a single obvious infection or injury. Over time, that “always on” background signal can start to affect energy, mood, skin, digestion, joints, and long-term metabolic health.
One helpful way to think about chronic inflammation is that it’s often a “signal” rather than the main problem. It can be the body’s response to repeated inputs such as poor sleep, ongoing stress, blood sugar spikes, ultra-processed foods, alcohol excess, sedentary patterns, hormonal shifts, nutrient gaps, gut imbalance, or environmental exposures. In other words, inflammation is frequently the smoke, not the fire. If we only try to “put out the smoke” without addressing what’s driving it, it tends to return.
This is also why some people feel frustrated when they do “all the right things” briefly but don’t see change. If the body has been under strain for months or years, it may take time to restore resilience. Your immune system and metabolism are tightly connected. When your body senses ongoing threat, it can shift into a defensive state that prioritises short-term survival over long-term repair. That can show up as tired-but-wired sleep, sluggish recovery, cravings, stubborn weight patterns, heightened sensitivity, and flare-ups that feel unpredictable.
The gut is a major player here. A well-functioning gut lining and a balanced microbiome help train the immune system to respond appropriately and settle back down again. When the gut is irritated or out of balance, the immune system may stay on alert, and that can contribute to systemic inflammation. Skin can be an early “messenger” of this, because it’s an immune organ too. Breakouts, rosacea, eczema flares, itching, sensitivity, and slow healing can sometimes reflect what’s happening internally, especially when combined with fatigue, bloating, reflux, or irregular bowel patterns.
So what does a practical, client-friendly approach look like? It’s less about extreme “anti-inflammatory” rules and more about creating conditions that help your body resolve inflammation naturally. Consistent sleep is foundational because it’s when immune regulation and tissue repair are most active. Steadier blood sugar matters because repeated spikes and crashes can amplify inflammatory signalling. Whole foods, fibre, protein, and healthy fats support the gut and reduce the daily load on the system. Movement supports circulation, lymphatic flow, insulin sensitivity, and mood regulation. Stress management isn’t a luxury here; it’s biology. Chronic stress hormones can keep inflammatory pathways switched on and impair recovery.
At Woulfe, we also see the value of pairing internal support with smart topical care. Skin barrier health matters because a compromised barrier can allow more irritation and immune activation at the surface. Gentle cleansing, consistent moisturising, daily SPF, and targeted actives used appropriately can reduce “background noise” in the skin and improve tolerance to treatments. When the skin is calmer and the barrier is stronger, treatments tend to work better and recovery is often smoother.
If you’ve been told you have “inflammation” on blood tests, or you suspect it based on symptoms, it’s worth treating it as useful information rather than a label. The goal is to ask: what is my body responding to, and what does it need to feel safe enough to switch off the alarm? Sometimes that’s lifestyle and routine. Sometimes it’s gut support. Sometimes it’s stress load and burnout. And sometimes it’s medical and needs proper investigation.
