Hey, thanks for coming back for Part 2 of How Long Is This Going To Take. Today, we’ll continue our talk about how your body heals, what factors slow things down and, most importantly, what you can do about it.
Here are a few of the most common issues that prolong healing:
Activity Level: All too often I’ve treated patients (both young and old) who just won’t take the time away from the activities that aggravate their symptoms. Even middle school sports are year round nowadays, and there are students in two sports at the same time who sprain an ankle during a soccer game and want to know if they can attend basketball camp that week. It’s not much different for adults. Everyone knows that one soccer mom who goes to a 5:30 AM Boot Camp, works all day and wants to run in the local 10K this weekend. These people suffer from common injuries such as low-grade chronic back pain or knee pain and wonder why it doesn’t go away.
Biomechanical Issues: As I assess how a patient or client of mine moves, I’m looking at how all the joints work together in synergetic patterns. When these patterns are altered, inflammation can develop within the joint and its surrounding soft tissue.
The types of conditions I see most often are in people who sit at a desk in front of a computer screen all day. The have shortened hip flexors and weak gluteal muscles. When they try to squat or run, their knees cave in and their low back joints jam together. They may complain of knee and low back pain; however, treatment must correct the biomechanical issues of the hip to ease the pains in their knees and back.
There are many examples and case studies of these types of problems, which I’ll be sharing in future blogs.
Joint Degeneration: This is the progression of the biomechanical issues discussed above. As we age, the cartilage found between our joints, which is normally 85% water start to dry up and wear out. Early detection and early treatment can help prevent further damage. This is accomplished by reducing inflammation, incorporating corrective exercises to improve their biomechanics and strengthen the core.
Stress: The stress reaction in the body, also known as the Fight or Flight response plays a major role in healing or the lack of it. Stress from family, work or financial issues among many others have a major effect on all functions of the body, from hormones, digestion, blood pressure, sleep and athletic performance. In futures posts, I’ll discuss ways that you can help your body better deal with the stress.
I appreciate you reading my blog. I believe that it’s been important to understand what occurs in the healing process and what issues prolong healing before jumping to the steps that you can take to help that process along.
In Part 3, I’ll talk about activities that you should be doing yourself following an injury; these include Contrast Therapy, Corrective Movements, soft tissue release with foam rollers and lacrosse balls, nutrition, Rock Tape and oh yeah a new toy call Voodoo Bands. Fun stuff I know!
These activities will improve your RECOVERY between training. Recovery is a key ingredient to improving physical performance and we’ll be spending a lot of time discussing it.
We’ll talk more then
Move Strong Live Strong
Doc Mike