help healing injuries

[craig benham]

once again i agrievated an old injury which got me thinking. surely there must be something more the R.I.C.E that as a patient you can do, a supplement, vitamin or mineral that can encourage your body to kick start healing itself???

i know that there are ideas such as blood doping, but i am hoping some1 has come across something which doesn't raise moral or legal questions?

[helend]

Craig, it depends what's going on with you. What is your actual injury? There's the usual advice - devil's claw for tight back ligaments, magnesium for muscle cramps, etc. etc. Give us a bit more info and we'll see if we can help you.

HelenD aka the Girl with the Magic Thumbs!
Sports Massage and Injury Practitioner

[craig benham]

initially my arches collapsed, causing ligament damage to both ankles and knees also pulling a muscle in my back. i now have orthotics and have been spending hours in the gym and on the streets building up the muscles. the frustrating thing is when i have an enforced 2 or 3 day rest period due to aches and pains and all i know of to do is R.I.C.E.

also have noticed as i do cardio my right hip joint gets agreivated after about half an hour. definately feel inside the joint rather than muscular there.

when i reach the stage where i need to rest i was hoping to find something that i can do, be more proactive in helping my body to heal itself as sitting waiting when you've been working so hard and seeing benifits is really hard to do?

at my gym we have a jacuzzi, sauna and steam room and try those but don't know if they are good or bad?

hoping someone has some advice??

[helend]

Craig, there's a whole lot going on with you.

It's quite likely you have a spasm in the muscles in your back and it's also quite likely that the pelvis has tilted so that the lumbar spine flattens out. This will result from the history you gave and will lead to hip pain. Unfortunately this will only get worse and you need to sort it out.

Do you do any core stability work? Strengthening the tummy muscles will take pressure off the back muscles and help keep that pelvis in place. Also try using the elliptical machines in the gym as they will encourage the correct biomechanical movements that you are just not making with the legs.

If it doesn't settle down with the core stability work and elliptical training, you should get yourself off to a good sports physio or sports therapist. Continuing to exercise when you have biomechanical problems is going to cause you trouble longterm.

Also, do you use the orthotics when you run/are in the gym? What sort are they? And what are your trainers. Orthotics work best in neutral trainers.

HelenD

[craig benham]

yeah i feel like i'm falling apart which if i told you my age would be more worrying still.

i have two pairs of orthotics, one from the nhs and one that i had made through an osteopath who i had seen, i use them all the time as i need to or within an hour or so my feet are killing me, in the gym i use them in a pair of prince trainers (more of a cross trainer than running shoe)

when i first started coming back from rolling both ankle i did weights until i noticed an improvement in my knees and ankles, i was then told if i am planning on losing weight, do that before starting a weights program again?? so i have been doing lots on the cross trainers, bike and treadmill with a little bit on the rowing machine

also been doing a lot of swimming as i have been told that this strengthens without taking all the weight on the joints?

[helend]

Ok, you may feel wrecked but it's like the bionic man - "we can rebuild you" - so don't worry, you'll get there.

I don't know anything about Prince trainers so am not sure if they are providing you with enough support/cushioning. Cross trainers are ideal for the gym but on treadmill running, cross trainers aren't going to be enough. I'm presuming that you are only doing short amounts on the treadmill in which case a good cross trainer should be enough. So long as it is a proper trainer and not a fashion one as fashion trainers are not going to be able to disperse the impact from your footstrike, particularly when the foot alignment is not ideal and orthotics are required.

Cross training is great to get your aerobic capacity built up. Weight training is a good way to lose weight as it raises your metabolism and burns more fat. Swimming is ideal if you have any injuries as it does indeed allow for aerobic activity without weight-bearing on the joints.

The most important thing to do is to keep exercising injury-free and that means doing a selection of activities so that the muscles are being continually challenged.

[craig benham]

thanks, you are the first person who has actually been positive and optimistic about my various injuries! doc's said all they could do was refer to physio, even the osteopath was sceptical at first as most people don't put in the work they need to for their injuries to heal.

i always thought if they can heal things in pro sportsmen then i should be able to.

this is what led me to my original question, when i have these knockbacks where i get a tweak or a joint hurts from overuse is there anything that i can do beyond R.I.C.E? something i can take or do?

[helend]

Thanks for the thanks! Hooray!!!

Don't let negative people get you down. The osteopath is putting his own negative thoughts on to you but don't let that annoy you. I believe from what you have said that you do want to improve this and that's what we're gonna do. We'll do this together.

There is no quick fix and you won't wake up tomorrow and feel fab but you don't want me to lie to you and say it's easy. It's not easy and it might be painful (ask my clients and they'll tell you how many times they swear at me :1 (56):) but if you commit to me to putting in the time and effort, we can get you to a much better place.

You need to remember that PRICE is first aid for injuries. It's something that you do for 24-48 hours. Then you move to mobilisation and then on to rehab.


Do some work on the following:

core stability - sit ups, stomach crunches, reverse curls, pilates, yoga - anything like that would be great. And if you don't want to face going to a girlie yoga class, beg steal or borrow a dvd and do it in the privacy of your own home.
elliptical machines - great for encouraging a smooth circular movement of the hips which can stop when the back muscles go into spasm and the pelvis tilts.
warm ups and cool downs - often overlooked. There's a reason for doing these. Before exercise the warm up allows the heartrate to increase and the blood to start pumping through the muscles. After exercise it is important to let the heartrate and breathing to return to normal and the muscles to flush out all the waste products.
stretching - I am a huge fan of stretching so get into the routine of stretching out all the body - upper and lower - after exercise and as part of your cool down routine.
rest - which means plenty of sleep and also rest days between exercise. Don't ever think you can exercise 7 days a week because you can't and your body will soon let you know. You're not an olympic athlete who has daily massages and physio assistance so build in your rest days.
nutrition - eat enough fuel for your exercise. Four bags of crisps will not give you enough energy to run 10k.
Start with the above points and see how you get on. If you are constantly getting injured, your training programme/trainers/biomechanics is not right and you must get yourself checked out. Find a good sports massage practitioner who has an interest in the sport/activities you do and book in with them. They will be able to pinpoint weak muscles that need to be strengthened up and tight muscles that need to be stretched. Muscles work in opposing pairs so there must always be a balance between the two sets of muscles.

Concentrate on building the above six points into your exercise regime and let me know how you get on.

HelenD
Up and Runners

[craig benham]

thanks again,

i think with what i've been doing and your guidance i should on the right path, now the hard bit of putting in the hours but it will all be worth it!

i'll let you know how it goes, one positive thing i've noticed in the last couple of weeks is the recovery time for my little niggles is dramatically reducing...

cheers
craig

[helend]

And I've had another thought. There's a great book you might like to check out - Running Repairs by Paula Coates. It's full of great strengthening moves and stretches, clear pictures and is really easy to read. Borrow it from the library and see what you think.

[paul_r]

i have two pairs of orthotics, one from the nhs and one that i had made through an osteopath who i had seen, i use them all the time as i need to or within an hour or so my feet are killing me, in the gym i use them in a pair of prince trainers (more of a cross trainer than running shoe)
Helen is much more expert that me on the questions you're asking, but I wanted to pick up on the highlighted bit. I've never heard of Prince trainers, but I'd be concerned about them, and particularly about wearing your orthotics in them) given your injury history.

If you aren't getting the right support then any training on your feet, such as the treadmill, could be causing lots of problems. I stress 'could be', because we don't know what those trainers are like. However, it doesn't seem to make sense to use orthotics that haven't been made for them - there's just no way of knowing if they are helping or making things worse.

I'd strongly suggest getting yourself along to a proper sports shop (like Podium, obviously :1 (42):) where they can get you into running shoes that match your feet. Quality technical shoes are a must imo for anyone who is serious about their training, and especially if you have any history of joint injuries. They aren't more expensive that fashion trainers, and they'll have different levels to suit your feet. Asics, Brooks, or New Balance would be my top 3 suggestions. You may well find that one of these will have a model with the correct level of support that will suit you without the orthotics. That would be ideal, because orthotics can lift your foot out of 'normal' trainers a bit, so they won't fit so well.

For additional reasssurance, watch out for one of our gait analysis days. At these we have a guru from one of the main manufacturers in for the day, who will video you running on a treadmill. This video is analysed and it'll show any problems with alignment. They'll then put you into trainers that have the correct support to correct your alignment, and video again until your alignment is correct. Almost everyone who does this sees a significant difference. Takes about 20 minutes, and we don't charge for this (you will need to book a time though).

However, I'd expect us to be able to get you sorted with trainers that will make a difference even without having to do the full gait analysis.