Helping yourself

[Little_John]

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor, nurse, nurse's assistant etc. or even in the health profession. What you do to your body is your business, but I suggest seeking medical assistance if/when you are injured.

Well, here I am nursing yet another minor injury (sprained wrist). While I'm out of commission I figured I'd give some helpful advice and hope that others would chime in with their advice as well. My wife wonders why I keep riding; I know why I do it…I LOVE IT and so do you that's why you're even reading this.

Just a bit of background on me, I was in the Army for 8 years. I was given a medical discharge due to "developing" bad knees. I've spent a lot of time in physical therapy and spent a lot more time helping others who "couldn't hack it". What I'll write here for you are my personal experiences this is just what's worked for me. So, here's what I got…

Knees, right after the feet, are probably the most abused and least thought about part of our bodies. If you've ever had a knee injury you know what I'm saying. You never really realize how much you rely on your knees until one of them is hurt. I've used ice, heat, ibuprofen, naproxen, patellar taping (see also McConnell's taping), and exercise.

Resolution: What I've learned over the years is, of course, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". This may seem obvious to most of us, but how many of us really live this? While on my can, I did leg lifts without weight. This is something you can do while you’re sitting on the couch watching TV, just put a pillow under your leg so you don't drag the ground with your foot and get to lifting. Over the course of a couple weeks add a few pounds to your ankle and continue this cycle gradually. That whole "no pain, no gain" crap is just that, crap. Exercise should not HURT. You should exert yourself, but you should not hurt yourself, find the happy medium. Once my knees healed to the degree where I could get around again, I hit the gym. Since I've been out of the military I've not been able to go to the gym due to time constraints, cost and general laziness. In lieu of the gym, I've found Tai Chi to be a really great work-out, especially for the knees, as well as being adaptable enough (stance height) to work well regardless of someone's fitness level. Work slow and within your fitness level and you'll be amazed at the results. Watching someone do Tai Chi, you'd think "that's easy, I can do that". Well, go ahead, give it a shot and then see how you feel about it. What ever you do, gym, Tai Chi, or whatever just remember to work within your limits and don't overdo it.

Wrists, now this seems to be a major problem for me for whatever reason. I don't know why but it seems every other crash I'll jam my wrist and get myself a nice little sprain. That's what I get for trying to stop gravity from working so damn fast.

Here's what I do. Go to the doctor, get your x-ray and make sure you've not broken any bones. Get a wrist brace, some decent meds and an exercise ball (like one of those stress ball things) and go. Spend a lot of time with your new friend (the stress ball), and I mean a lot of time. Any time your hand is empty, it shouldn't be empty. Put your new buddy in that sucker and get to work. A stress ball will work your hand as well as your fore arm. Don't kill the stress ball, just give it a little squeeze and keep doing it. Put it like this, when I went to the doctor yesterday morning I couldn't turn my palm up or down without feeling lots of pain. I worked my hand all day yesterday and all day today and I can at least type now without pain. In a couple of days, I'll be hitting the dunes again and trying to prove Newton wrong. Gravity, what's that?!?

"Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever."
Keanu Reeves, from The Replacements

Well folks, that's what I've got. Let's hear your advice.

Little_John
:eek:

 

[jaguar]

I was hoping to see something more profound, like nutrition tips or something helpful but not well known

 

[Little_John]

I was hoping to see something more profound, like nutrition tips or something helpful but not well known

Sorry to dissapoint, but I'm not really up on nutrition. I'm sorry you didn't find this information helpful, but why don't you add some of your own helpful tips. Maybe that would turn this into a decent thread.

 

[Shig]

Allright, I'll bite. Here's a useful but relatively unknown fact about recovery. If you have an injury to an arm or a leg, and you exercise the healthy limb on the other side of your body, the injured side of your body will maintain muscle tone.

To check for dehydration, pinch the skin on the back of your hand or the back of a finger. If you are properly hydrated, your skin will spring back immediately. If you are dehydrated, it will take a few seconds for your skin to return to normal.

Potatoes have twice as much potassium as an equal amount of banannas. Potassium and calcium work together within muscle fibers to contract and relax a muscle. Calcium works in the contraction phase, and potassium in the relaxation phase.

Everyone knows carbohydrates and protein are vital for a balanced diet, but fat is also important. You need it to metabolize vitamins and it helps in colagen production to keep skin pliable.

Joints are lubricated by a substance called synovial fluid. Like motor oil, synovial fluid changes viscosity with temperature. This is one reason why it is important to warm up. Also, stretching without a proper warm-up is a major cause of injury. You are warm enough to stretch when there is a bead of sweat on your upper lip.

 

[jaguar]

OK here's my web page for alternative healing: http://www.geocities.com/a57ngel/moto/heal.html
I have used such "underground" knowledge for healing to reverse arthritis, scloliosis, and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome. (Yes I had all that). But people generally don't want to hear what they have to do to get better. They just want to pop a pill and put all the responsibility on doctors. So I usually don't say anything. The knowledge is out there. Any good health food store has lots of free literature and tons of books. So no one in the USA has any good excuse for their ignorance. Even in libraries there are lots of good books on nutrition, etc. All that is available to you yanks and hardly any of you take advantage of it. Hell, here down south there aren't libraries and the health food stores hardly stock anything and there are no books. These people have an excuse for their ignorance.

 

[shnalln]

Allright, I'll bite. Here's a useful but relatively unknown fact about recovery. If you have an injury to an arm or a leg, and you exercise the healthy limb on the other side of your body, the injured side of your body will maintain muscle tone.

Realy? Hmmm, not to discount what you say, but I wonder how that works. I'm just getting over a broken and dislocated fibula, I was in a cam walker for five weeks and used my good leg quite extensively, to the point of burning muscles even...the injured leg, especially the calf muscle now looks like a twig.

Durring my healing phase, I just ate three good meals a day, instead of snacking on chips or having a candy bar, eat an apple or something that is known to have nutritional value.

Smoking decreases circulation. This can extend the healing process of a broken bone by as much as two weeks.

Do what the Doc says...when he says it's time to start working the injured limb, don't be a pansey, work it, but don't over do it...
NOBODY, not even a physical therapist or your Doc, knows your body or your pain levels like you do. The therapist knows the exercises to get you back on track, but only you know how much you can handle...He (the therapist) lectured me many times about overdoing it...he looks at my records now and admits that I have performed excellent, and throws me in the top 10%. (And yes, I'm a smoker, and no, I did not quit, and I'm one week ahead of the schedual that the Doc gave me.) However the opposit also applies to this, if your therapist is having you do something that causes you to be sore beyond the levels of "being able to deal with it", tell him and stop the exercise untill your ready for it.
This is my first BIG injury, so I'm no expert, and I hope I never have to be. But common sense applies to every injury...even it didn't when it happened. :)

 

[shnalln]

Oh yea, one more thing that I learned. When scar tissue heals, it forms roots under the skin, kinda like a tree root. When the incision is healed (scabs are gone) massage the scar to prevent the "roots" from growing to the point of preventing your nerves from growing back together. This will also aid in reducing the appearance of the scar.

 

[muddy226]

Wrists/forearms - those gyroscopic wrist exercisers ( gyrociser and similar ) work very well on sprained wrists and for general forearm and wrist strengthening and mobility. They're also quite fun to use, if those around you can stand the noise.

 

[Little_John]

...massage the scar to prevent the "roots" from growing to the point of preventing your nerves from growing back together. This will also aid in reducing the appearance of the scar.

Some of the alternative medicine stores that Jaguar was talking about sell "scar cream". My mother had a very bad accident on a motorcycle(way back in the '80s); she used scar cream and had very good thing to say about it. Most of them I've seen claim to help in the healing process and reduce the appearance of the scar.

Great ideas folks, keep 'em coming.


Little_John
:eek:

 

[Little_John]

Wrists/forearms - those gyroscopic wrist exercisers ( gyrociser and similar ) work very well on sprained wrists and for general forearm and wrist strengthening and mobility. They're also quite fun to use, if those around you can stand the noise.

Wha..?!? Never heard of 'em...got a link or something?

 

[Shig]

Realy? Hmmm, not to discount what you say, but I wonder how that works. I'm just getting over a broken and dislocated fibula, I was in a cam walker for five weeks and used my good leg quite extensively, to the point of burning muscles even...the injured leg, especially the calf muscle now looks like a twig.

I had the same experience after breaking my leg two years ago. The factoid is just a regurgitation of what I learned in a wound healing class back in school. I'd have to say the benefits are pretty minimal, but it's something they stressed upon us.

You're right-on about scar tissue. Most scars are colagen tissue. If there is no movement (or physical therapy) then the tissues arange themselves in a random pattern. Movement and physical therapy during the healing process cause the colagen tissues to align in the direction of movement.

 

[shnalln]

I had the same experience after breaking my leg two years ago. The factoid is just a regurgitation of what I learned in a wound healing class back in school. I'd have to say the benefits are pretty minimal, but it's something they stressed upon us.

Right on, I guess it just falls in line with the (my) theory that nobody ever gets better just sitting around on their duff (shall we say). Speaking of which, I've got PT to do :)