Overuse injury: How to prevent training injuries

Thinking of starting a new physical activity program or ramping up your current training routine? If so, you may be at risk of an overuse injury — which could ultimately prevent you from being active. Find out what can cause an overuse injury and how to safely increase your activity level.

Common causes of overuse injury

An overuse injury is any type of muscle or joint injury, such as tendinitis or a stress fracture, that's caused by repetitive trauma. An overuse injury typically stems from:

• Training errors. Training errors can occur when you enthusiastically take on too much physical activity too quickly. Going too fast, exercising for too long or simply doing too much of one type of activity can strain your muscles and lead to an overuse injury.
• Technique errors. Improper technique can also take its toll on your body. If you use poor form as you do a set of strength training exercises, swing a golf club or throw a baseball, for example, you may overload certain muscles and cause an overuse injury.

Risk factors for overuse injury

Although an overuse injury can happen to anyone, you may be more prone to this type of injury if you have certain medical conditions. Overuse injuries are also more likely to occur as you get older — especially if you don't recognize the impact aging can have on your body and modify your routine accordingly.

For these reasons, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor ((*and health care team)) before starting a new activity or ramping up your current routine. Your doctor may offer tips to help make physical activity safer for you. If you have a muscle weakness in your hip, for example, your doctor may show you exercises to address the problem and prevent knee pain.

Avoiding overuse injury

Most overuse injuries are avoidable. To prevent an overuse injury:

• Use proper form and gear. Whether you're starting a new activity or you've been playing a sport for a long time, consider taking lessons. Using the correct technique is crucial to preventing overuse injuries. Also make sure you wear proper shoes for the activity. Consider replacing your shoes for every 300 miles you walk or run — or at least twice a year if you regularly exercise.
• Pace yourself. If you're starting a new fitness program, avoid becoming a weekend warrior. Compressing your physical activity for the week into two days can lead to an overuse injury. Instead, aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity — preferably spread throughout the week. It's also a good idea to take time to warm up before physical activity and cool down afterward.
• Gradually increase your activity level. When changing the intensity or duration of a physical activity, do so gradually. For example, if you want to increase the amount of weight you're using while strength training, increase it by no more than 10 percent each week until you reach your new goal.
• Mix up your routine. Instead of focusing on one type of exercise, build variety into your fitness program. Doing a variety of low-impact activities — such as walking, biking, swimming and water jogging — in moderation can help prevent overuse injuries by allowing your body to use different muscle groups. And be sure to do some type of strength training at least twice a week.

Recovering from overuse injury

If you suspect that you have an overuse injury, consult your doctor. He or she will likely ask you to take a break from the activity that caused the injury and recommend medication for any pain and inflammation.

Be sure to tell your doctor if you've recently made changes in your workout technique, intensity, duration, frequency or types of exercises. Identifying the cause of your overuse injury will help you correct the problem and avoid repeating it.

When you think the overuse injury has healed, ask your doctor to check that you've completely regained strength, motion, flexibility and balance before beginning the activity again. When you return to your activity, pay special attention to proper technique to avoid future injuries.

Playing it safe

Don't allow an overuse injury to prevent you from being physically active. By working with your doctor, listening to your body and pacing yourself, you can avoid this common setback and safely increase your activity level.


This article originally appeared on Drugs.com

Non-Invasive Manual Osteopathy Relieves Low Back Pain

Researchers from the University of North Texas have determined that non-invasive osteopathic manual therapy will reduce low back pain in a majority of cases – avoiding expensive and invasive back surgery.

The University of North Texas researchers and Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine researchers conducted their research on 455 patients – 269 (59%) with back pain with low severity and 186 (41%) with severe low back pain.

The researchers performed their treatment research with randomization and double-blindedness using what is referred to as “sham-control.” “Sham control” refers to treatments that appear to be the same as the studied treatment but are not the prescribed treatment. In other words, they appear to be the treatment but they are not.

The researchers oversaw the treatment of the back pain patients over eight weeks of therapy, and then assessed the outcomes of the treatments after twelve weeks.

The patients were treated six times per week with Osteopathic Manual Treatment – also referred to as biomechnical treatment.

At the assessment most of the patients reported substantial improvement in pain reduction and back functioning for their particular movements. The majority of patients reported at least 50% or more reduction in pain.

Those with severe back pain had more than double the chance of significant improvement after treatment with Osteopathic Manual Therapy than those who were treated with sham treatment. And those treated with OMT had 80% chance of significant improvement on the standardized Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire – which qualifies the mobility of the patient – as compared to those treated with the sham (placebo) therapy.

The researchers concluded that:

“The large effect size for Osteopathic Manual Therapy in providing substantial pain reduction in patients with chronic Low Back Pain of high severity was associated with clinically important improvement in back-specific functioning. Thus, Osteopathic Manual Therapy may be an attractive option in such patients before proceeding to more invasive and costly treatments.”

Osteopathic manual therapy utilizes the patient’s own relative muscle strength to help align, balance and strengthen those muscles and ligaments that support the spinal column. While most conventional medical treatments focus upon the spinal column and nerves in an isolated manner, often requiring expensive surgeries that often fail, osteopathic manual therapy utilizes safe and non-invasive guided treatments that allow the spinal region to reposition itself, rendering greater support for the lumbar region.

This article originally appeared on realnatural.org and is written by Case Adams.

Yoga Therapy and Healing

As yoga therapy becomes even more mainstream, and the benefits more widely accepted, more people are jumping on the bandwagon and the growth accelerates.

As practicing yoga therapists for many years, we have known how yoga therapy can help anything from sciatica to a failed marriage.   So it’s great to finally be recognized and become part of the mainstream. But one of the problems associated with the popularization of yoga, is the tendency to apply it as a panacea and imply that all you need to do is “know” how yoga will fix this or that and prescribe it.   This has lead to a predominantly allopathic and left brained paradigm in the delivery method.  

A few years ago at a Yoga Therapy conference I was on a panel to answer questions from attendees curios to know more about what yoga therapy could offer.  Many questions related to applications of yoga therapy in the form of  What posture do you recommend for such and such a condition?”

Someone even asked for postures to cure altitude sickness.  My response was a little smug.   “Take a car ride down the mountain or try a headstand. At least a head stand will get you a few feet closer to sea level.”

Fundamentally there is nothing wrong with such questions and I apologize for my smug response. The problem is the mind-set from which such questions arise.  A mindset that as professionals we feed and that is based on a paradigm of healing that says “do this procedure or apply this technique to get this result”. To me this approach sells yoga therapy short.  Yoga therapy is an holistic science. One that honors the complexity of being human and the unique makeup of each one of us in every aspect – body, mind, and spirit. To clarify this take a look at the following comparison between two different paradigms of healing that I have attempted to identify.

Two Models of Healing

PRESCRIPTIVE MODEL

1. Based on diagnosis and treatment
2. Based on cause and affect
3. Outcome is known from study of previous cases and application of scientific method
4. Alleviation of pain or disappearance of symptoms = successful intervention
5. Power is primarily with the therapist
6. Client follows directions to affect cure
7. Dependence on therapist is possible and even likely
8. What is important is decided by therapist
9. Therapist is invested in successful outcome
10. Answers are more valued than questions
11. Ambiguity and chaos are limited in the healing process

HOLISTIC TRANSFORMATIONAL MODEL

1. Based on co-created exploration
2. Based on unique manifestation of energy of the individual
3. Outcome is unknown
4. Awareness of underlying dissonance in body, mind, and spirit can lead to life transforming change on same dimensions
5. Power is primarily with the client
6. Client makes choices from options presenting from new self generated awareness
7. Empowerment of client is likely
8. What is important is decided by client
9. Therapist leaves client to determine relative success without attachment.
10. Questions can be more valuable than answers
11. Ambiguity and chaos are valued and inherent in the healing process.

Article originally appeared on http://pryt.com/2015/10/yoga-therapy-blog/yogatherapy-and-healing/ and was written by Michael Lee.

Anxiety Helped with Kinesiology

10 year old’s anxiety about going to the Toilet at School

This anxious young man attended me for Systematic Kinesiology with a view to finding out why he feared going to the toilet at school. The background to this case was that there was building work going on at the School and the children were not allowed to use the toilets during school hours for health and safety reasons. This situation manifested greatly in this young man’s mind and he developed a fear that he would have “an accident” at school and would go to the toilet 3 or 4 times before leaving home every school morning. As a result, his bowel movements became irregular – one day constipated the next diarrhea, all of which was accompanied with severe cramping, he also suffered joint pain and headaches. He had become a very restless sleeper.

In recent weeks he had braces applied to his teeth and this was causing a swallowing problem. I carried out a Systematic Kinesiology Balance treatment to determine where the problem was originating. We have 15 systems in our bodies and in order to find out where and why a health problem is existing, a muscle test to each system is carried by using the muscles of the arms and legs. The limbs are put in various positions and a gentle pressure is exerted on the limb. When a “weakened” muscle is found – it does not mean that there is a serious problem. However, in Systematic Kinesiology, we have lots of options to help find the answer – Nutrition: is there a food causing the problem? Is the weakened area working properly – for example – is the digestive system producing enough enzymes to break down the food. Is there an injury to the area that would be causing the problem or is the problem stress related?

In this particular case, the area supporting the Large Intestine showed to be the main problem and nutrition was the reason for the weakness. As well as this, his Temporal Mandibular Joint (Jaw joint) needed to be balanced. I carried out the full food sensitivity test, – a number of foods showed him sensitive to – the main ones being wheat, yeast, and sugar, chocolate. I also checked to see if a nutritional supplement would also support him. To help this young man to feel more grounded and secure in himself, I showed him how to do an exercise called – Cross Crawl. This was to help his concentration, his general energy, and his confidence. I suggested that he do this three times daily. To complete the session, I checked his Energy Centres or Chakras all of which needed to be balanced.

A few days later, his mother rang me to say how pleased she was with the Systematic Kinesiology session, that she now had a “different child”- one who was much happier in himself and had little or no anxiety now about toilet visits. He told his Mum that he felt “lighter” as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. There will be follow up visits necessary to ensure that this young man’s digestive system is working properly, and that he is able to absorb and digest his foods correctly.

If you have a child who’s worrying about issues at school, the Systematic Kinesiology approach looks for solutions in a holistic way, not only focussing on the worry itself, but supporting the child energetically, nutritionally, simple movement exercises and physically working with the body’s balancing reflexes.

Article originally appeared Kinesiology.ie and is written by by Mella Britton, DipAK, practitioner in Donegal