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Whether riding waves or paddling around the harbor, SUP boarding can be a fun and rewarding past time. If you have ever used a SUP board, then you know that it can be a good workout as well. Using a SUP board primarily challenges your cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular systems. When these systems are challenged, the body responds by adapting to become stronger, faster, more efficient, and more coordinated.
Osteoporosis is a global problem that affects tens of millions of people here in the USA. This disease is characterized by decreased bone mass and abnormal structure of the bone tissues. This causes increased fragility and risk of fracture. Some common injuries that can occur in people who have osteoporosis are fractures of the wrist, vertebrae, and hip.
Spring is upon us. With the increase in sunshine, many runners are dusting off their running shoes and hitting the road. Running is a great way to exercise and can be a fun and rewarding sport. Running can also be the cause of many injuries.
Some common injuries that can occur with running are:
Many of the above listed injuries can be avoided. In order to decrease the likelihood of suffering an injury, be sure that you wear proper running shoes and that you choose good running routes.
One of the functions of running shoes is to decrease the compressive load placed on your body by absorbing some of the impact force that occurs when your foot hits the ground. This is important because these impact forces can be detrimental to our bodies if they are not used to them. Shoes that have polymeric foam in the sole are very good at absorbing impact forces and can significantly decrease the likelihood of sustaining an injury.
Running surfaces can vary greatly. There is concrete, asphalt, grass, turf, rubber track, wood chips, sand, dirt, etc… In order to choose good running routes, it is important to know a little bit about what you are running on. When possible, try to run on the better impact absorbing surfaces that are listed above such as grass, dirt, sand, rubber track, and turf. If you are limited to running on either asphalt or concrete then asphalt is the better choice because it absorbs 11% more of the impact force than concrete.
In addition to the impact forces it is also important to take a look at running on a pitch (un-level ground). When you run on a pitch it places one foot slightly higher than the other on every step. This can lead to injuries, altered posture, and muscle imbalances. Therefore, when running on a pitch it is important to run equal distances with the pitch in each direction to even out the forces on your body. Some examples of routes with a pitch are the beach, sidewalks, and roads (for rain runoff). An example of running equal distances with the pitch in each direction would be running on the beach from north to south, and then from south to north.
TMJ: Temporomandibular joint is the hinge joint that connects the lower jaw to the temporal bone, which is immediately in front of the ear on each side of your head. The joints are flexible, allowing the jaw to move smoothly up and down and side to side. The joints helps you to talk, yawn and chew during eating. Muscles around the joint control the movement and positioning of the jaw.
TMD: Temporomandibular disorder refers to a condition that is often painful affecting the joint and muscles that assist in moving the jaw and neck. Most of the time the pain goes away with little or no treatment. Discomfort from TMD is usually temporary.
Cortisone shots are injections that may help relieve pain and inflammation in a specific area of your body. They are most commonly given into joints such as your ankle, knee, hip, elbow, wrist and hands. Cortisone shots usually include a corticosteroid medication and a local anesthetic.
Cortisone shots may be part of a treatment for a number of diseases, conditions and diagnosis including:
Cortisone may have associated risk of complications, such as:
Repeated use of cortisone shots may cause deterioration of the cartilage within a joint. This is the reason doctors typically limit the number of shots into a joint to no more often than every 6 weeks and usually not more than 3 or 4 times a year. One may need to stop taking blood thinners for several days before a shot to reduce the risk of bleeding or bruising.
The doctor may apply an anesthetic spray to numb the area where the needle is inserted. In some cases, ultrasound or fluoroscopy maybe used to watch the needle placed in exactly the right spot. The cortisone shot can be helpful to the physical therapy process when the pain is unbearable and exercise is not tolearable. The physical or occupational (hand) therapist can also be very helpful in keeping an eye out for cortisone injections side effects.
Do you have a trigger? It creeps up on you slowly. With time, it suddenly locks, and then straightens with a snap – like a trigger being pulled and released. What is a “trigger finger”? It is a condition that affects the tendons and the pulleysin your fingers or your thumb.
Tendons are tissues that connect muscles to bone. In the finger, the pulleys are a series of rings that form a tunnel through which the tendons glide, much like the guides on a fishing rod through which the line (or tendon) must pass. The tendons and the tunnel have a lining that allows easy gliding of the tendon through the pulley.(1)
Persistent symptoms of pain along the thumb especially and including at the level of the wrist during texting can lead to a repetitive overuse injury. One such diagnosis is DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis, also known as DeQuervain’s Syndrome.
Tenosynovitis is defined as the inflammation of the fluid-filled sheath that surrounds a tendon. DeQuervains’ Syndrome is a tenosynovitis of the sheath or tunnel that surrounds two tendons that control movement of the thumb.It is named after the Swiss surgeon Fritzde Quervain, who first identified it in 1895.
Cell phones, and particularly smart phones, have added to our connectedness through mobile data, cellular emails and especially the text message. Our thumbs are on overdrive as we communicate and interact through our phones. According to Pew Research, 9.8 trillion text messages were sent in 2012.
The tendons and muscles of the thumb are strong but not designed to do intense repetitive activity in cramped positions while on a handheld device or cell phone. The traveling of the thumb tip over the keypad causes undue stress over a period of time. The muscle fatigue, strain and prolonged muscle tension can lead to pain and inflammation that affects thumb flexibility and use. It can eventually cause tendinitis or tenosynovitis, inflammation of the tendon. If untreated, it can lead to a more serious problem of affecting everyday use of your thumb.
It may start as an ache at the base of your thumb, between your thumb and index finger, and include your wrist. It may notice it after you text or during the activity as it progresses.
If you start to feel pain, take a break. Use the other hand or digit. Make a phone call instead. Don’t text for more than a few minutes at a time. Don’t text long sentences. Use yes or no replies when you can. Spread out the activity throughout your day.
You can do gentle massage and thumb stretches to alleviate the muscle tension. It will improve flexibility and reduce discomfort. Reducing muscle tension will minimize stress on the tendons, thus hopefully avoiding tendinitis.
If symptoms persist, you may want to make an appointment to see your physician. Persistent pain and inflammation can lead to tendinitis or tenosynovitis. One common diagnosis with texting thumb is called DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis. See next week’s article for addressing this diagnosis, and what you need to know, and can do to treat these symptoms unfortunately on the rise with thumb texting.
Finding a truly good physical therapy clinic/facility can often be challenging. If you are interested finding a good Physical Therapy facility for yourself, a family member or a friend we suggest the following steps:
If you follow these five steps you will set yourself up with a very pleasurable physical therapy experience. Good luck!
Here at ProActive Physical Therapy we take service and care very seriously. It is ALWAYS our intention to provide our patients with 100% satisfaction. Over the many years we have been in business we have been told, through countless thank you cards and patient comment cards, how amazing our product is. We feel we get these kinds of responses because we simply care.
In today’s health care environment we are told by patients it is hard to find facilities that do business like us. It will be ProActive’s mission to always provide our well known hand’s on service. If you are interested in learing more about ProActive, please feel free to call us and ask for Jack.
