Do you suffer from chronic muscle and joint pain? Chronic Fatigue?
Have You Heard of a Calcium Shell?
The calcium shell is an interesting condition that I see regularly in my practice.
What is the Calcium Shell? When calcium builds up too much in the soft tissue, we can get what is called a "calcium shell". The calcium shell presents itself on a hair tissue mineral analysis, and is a unique physiological and psychological phenomenon that occurs when the body is under intense stress. It can occur in men, however it's much more common in women.
High tissue calcium means that they body has soft tissue calcification. Calcium is meant to exist in the bone and the teeth. When calcium is lacking the minerals that help keep it in the bone, it will get pulled from the bone and begin building up in the soft tissue. The hair is soft tissue, so that's why a hair sample is a very helpful test for understanding what is going on in the tissues.
Calcium can also be building up in joints, muscles, and organs. It can build up in the arteries and cause a plaque buildup.
Think about what a calcium deposit looks like. If you've been inside caves where there's stalactites and stalagmites, you've seen the calcium buildup. If you have hard water, you'll see that calcium buildup. Calcium is hardening and rigid.
This is what's happening in the body when you have soft tissue calcification. When there is too much calcium building up in the body, nutrients and hormones are blocked from entering the cell. In a similar way, calcium does the same to emotions by blocking true feelings, limiting one's self-awareness, and creating a certain rigidity about the person.
What are Calcium Shell Symptoms? The most common symptom is the joint and muscle pain, and, sometimes, cramps, spasms, and twitches. This is because calcium is a very sharp mineral and when it's not in the bone, it's building up in the joints and muscles and can cause a lot of aggravation. Many times those with a calcium shell have a lot of chronic pain that they don't really have an explanation for.
Those with a calcium shell typically have arthritis or osteoporosis. They may have bone spurs, which are a calcium buildup. They can have arterial sclerosis, kidney stones, fibromyalgia, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome. They may have impaired circulation, or reduced spine movement because that calcium is building up, blocking circulation, and blocking movement.
Many also have poor dental health. They can have a lot of dental decay and many cavities needing filled. They may also be very sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies because calcium is one of the most conductive minerals, so it does tend to attract the EMF's as well.
Calcium numbs out a stress response. Oftentimes, it is an emotionally driven pattern. Those with a calcium shell tend to feel very disconnected, apathetic, and maybe have some emotional numbness. They have a very hard time connecting to their emotions because that calcium is preventing movement in and out of the cell. They may describe themselves as being very flat, as not feeling anything, or feeling nothing.
They might experience psychological withdrawal. They may feel very out of touch with reality. Depression is common, as well as brain fog, anxiety, irritability, emotional outbursts, anger, and a racing mind.
What Causes the Calcium Shell? There are many different causes, but I would say the most common is copper toxicity. Copper raises calcium which drives it into the soft tissue. With stress too high, the body continues to further increase calcium as a braking mechanism, trying to hold back the effects of the stress. The calcium shell, by diminishing emotions and awareness, is effectively the body's defense against stress. With emotions and awareness diminished, the effects of the overwhelming stress become more tolerable.
Another cause is emotional trauma or chronic stress. When you get that hard calcium buildup around the cell, it prevents the stress response and emotions from getting inside the cell. Sometimes this is very much an emotionally driven pattern where people have gone through an event in their life and they don’t want to deal with it. They're not ready to unpack it, and the calcium shell will literally build up to protect them from experiencing their emotions.
Calcium supplements can drive a calcium shell. I've seen this in women who are postmenopausal, as they have been told to take high dose calcium supplements to build their bones. The problem is, if they don't have the proper mineral co-factors in place, all that calcium is going to build up.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Rick Malter, Ph.D,, who has spent the past three decades studying the connection between copper toxicity / calcium shell and relationships, explains the phenomenon as follows:
"As excess copper and calcium increase in the cells and tissues, a calcium "shell" will build that will tend to block more and more feelings until the person no longer is aware of what is being felt and experienced. Such a person often talks of "not feeling anything" or being "numb" and "dead" emotionally. As the calcium shell builds, a person's perception and awareness diminish. The overall psychological effect of excess copper is a loss of emotional control and awareness accompanied by diminished feelings and numbness.
The excess calcium and magnesium provide a natural barrier between outside stimuli and the inner emotions. The high levels of calcium and magnesium tend to provide a protective shell at the cost of emotional blocking and deadening of feelings. This allows a person to more easily cope with stress or abusive situations because awareness is blocked and feelings are deadened.
"When the shell breaks up, it is often described in the person's own words as a wall or a plate glass coming down or disintegrating. Or, it may be experienced like a dam breaking and a flood of blocked feelings rushes in an overwhelms the person."
The goal with the calcium shell is to break up the toxic levels of calcium and shuttle the calcium back into the bone. I find when you break up the calcium shell, this is when people really feel a difference in how they feel.
Do you suffer from any of these symptoms? Do you want to learn more about how you can FEEL better? Click HERE to schedule a Discovery Call so we can discuss your specific health symptoms and concerns and determine if my mineral balancing program is a fit for you.
Healthy Blessings, Karri, FNTP
Other reminders:
If you need to supplements, here's the link to my dispensary: FULLSCRIPT. While my dispensary catalog is open for you to search everything offered from Fullscript, if you go to Catalog, then Karri Ball's Dispensary Favorites, there are categories within Favorites. Favorites are my preferred brands - the brands that meet my quality standards. There is also an autoship option from the main menu, in case you have certain supplements that you would like delivered at a certain frequency.
