One of the things that would help many athletes avoid spending time in the clinic addressing injuries and more time in training sessions despite the existence of certain injuries, is a proper understanding of how the human body repairs itself in tandem with seeking basic guidance from qualified professionals. Get these two things, and the injured athlete will have a stronger chance of a quick recovery. Inexplicably there is a common misconception that if we ignore our injuries that they would eventually disappear — just rest it, and once the pain is gone everything will return to normal. Then, there is the other group of extremists who believe that fighting through the pain will bring them the reward of recovery. The truth is that neither option is accurate. Resting simply reduces the likelihood of further irritation, while fighting through an injury and ignoring the pain is like breaking a red light! Another common misconception is that overcoming injuries is “so easy, even a caveman can do it.” Many have had to learn the hard way that this is not always the case and their self diagnosis based on what happened to someone else they know who “had the same thing happen to them” followed by their own rehabilitation programme based on something they got off the internet could very easily worsen their case. The fitness enthusiast and parents are especially guilty of such behaviour patterns and what could have easily been a few days or weeks out of full-go training, can lead to months of rehabilitation and/or possibly surgery.
For instance, the use of laser therapy is becoming increasingly common in T&T. Unfortunately, it is currently not being used in conjunction with rehabilitation protocols by its service providers (whom currently are not rehabilitation specialists). Laser can easily create the delusion that the individual is healed because it is very effective in reducing pain and irritation (depending on the nature and seriousness of the injury) however, without some re-education to the musculoskeletal or neuromuscular systems, as is required, the injured individual who is in fact still injured, returns to the activity with the notion that they can perform at 100 per cent. Such individuals come to realise that only one part of the problem had been taken care of and that they needed more guidance on how to slowly bring themselves back to a place both physically and mentally, to cope with the demands of strenuous activity. The foam roller is another piece of equipment used in rehabilitation that, when applied correctly, can be very effective but applied incorrectly will cause the individual to worsen their condition. For instance, as has been mentioned in previous columns, muscle guarding is a natural response to injury, regardless of whether the injury is muscular, skeletal or neural. Once pain is present, the body’s muscles will react to protect that area by naturally creating a brace around it to reduce the possibility of excessive movement and inflammation. As a spin-off from this, the muscle feels tense and tight to the individual.
While gentle stretching can be prescribed in such instances (again everything is relative to the injury involved) massaging the area is definitely a contra-indication and this is one of the primary functions of the foam roller – to massage the muscle. For the unacquainted reader, just as the name implies, foam rollers are cylindrical shaped foam pieces that can range in size and density. The roller is placed on the floor, with the individual lying on top of the roller with muscle or area to be massage in primary contact. As the individual relaxes his/her body weight on the foam roller, they push and pull their body along the floor to give them a massage that can be as gentle or intense as they so desire. The high density roller is the more common roller of choice and as such, there have been instances of avid fitness enthusiasts, in an effort to work on their own injury, using such apparatus to massage the tight area, thinking they are doing the muscle good. Depending on the stage of healing the tissue is at, what can actually be happening is a complete break down of any clotting or tissue formation that may have started to develop. As a general rule, whenever injured, ‘if it hurts to do it, then do not do it!’ If after resting, icing, compressing and elevating the injury for three days to a week, there are no noted improvements, it is time to seek professional assistance, which could start with a therapist or a sports physician. Once committed to receiving therapy, be sure to follow all restriction guidelines so that the therapist can acquire a clear understanding of how the body is responding to therapy and whether it is having a positive effect or not.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt
By Asha De Freitas-Moseley