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Lead Stories: Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Exercise May Speed
Healing Time

Posted December 29th, 2007 at 4:21 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

Animal studies suggest that exercise may be even more important for older people than for younger ones. A report from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that exercise significantly decreased wound size and increased healing rate in older mice. However, exercise had little effect on the rate of wound healing in young mice. (American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, November 14, 2007).

Mice ran on a treadmill at moderate intensity for 30 minutes a day for eight days. They then were given four full-thickness skin wounds and the rate of wound healing was checked daily for 10 days. Compared to age-matched non-exercising mice, the older exercisers healed faster.
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Partial Knee Replacement: Less Pain, but Not for Everyone

Posted September 4th, 2007 at 9:35 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab

The ends of bones are soft, so they must be covered with a thick white gristle called cartilage. Many people suffer from knee pain because the cartilage is damaged. They may have osteoarthritis in which the cartilage wears away, or they may have damaged cartilage in an accident or by playing sports. Once damaged, cartilage can never heal; the person spends the rest of his life losing cartilage until the cartilage is completely gone and the knee hurts 24 hours a day.

Until recently, the only effective treatment has been to cut out the ends of the bones of the knee and replace the entire knee joint. Now for some people, a simpler procedure may be effective: partial knee replacement, called unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. The surgeon removes just part of the cartilages and bones on the upper and lower legs on one side of the knee.
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ASK LARA:Plantar Fasciitis and 3 Ways to Cross Train

Posted September 3rd, 2007 at 6:00 PM by Lara Johnson

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Columns, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise, Ask Lara

Need advice? Injured? Confused? Overwhelmed? Bored? ASK LARA!
ASK LARA is a free advice column to help you with all of your running, fitness and nutrition inquiries. To ASK LARA — simply fill out the form at the conclusion of the column.

Q. I think I have plantar fasciitis and have a marathon coming up in 2 weeks. I’m not sure how much running I can do between now and then. Any advice on how I can keep my fitness level up? I already bike indoors once a week but I’m not sure if biking can take the place of running. Anything you can suggest is much appreciated.
~Darlene from Boise, Idaho

A. Plantar fasciitis is a pesky problem that affects numerous runners. With a marathon so close, you certainly don’t want to make matters worse, but you do want to maintain your fitness level. The good news is that you are only 2 weeks out from the marathon, and thus the work is done. As you have already accomplished your training over the past weeks, now is the time to begin a taper and thus decrease your training anyway. The severity of the problem should dictate how much you are able to run. If it’s painful to run, it’s not a good sign and you should focus mostly on other activities. Adding some good cross training to the mix can help you heal the problem while maintaining your fitness. First, let’s take a look at the injury.

Plantar fasci-what?
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the band of tissue, the plantar fascia, that connects the heel bone (calcaneus) to the forefoot, supporting your arch. When this area is strained through overuse or weaknesses, it causes irritation and inflammation, often causing pain in the heel first thing in the morning and …
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TFS Review: TP Total Package (Ball, Footballer, Block & Quadballer)

Posted May 29th, 2007 at 10:20 AM by Paul Petersen

Section: Gear & Apparel, Miscellaneous, Sports Medicine, Special Features, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, TFS Reviews

These past two seasons have been tough ones for me. Runners’ knee in both knees, lower back pain, SI joint pain, plantar fasciitis, and a groin strain had brought my running to a grind (literally) during 2005 and the first half of 2006. After months of not running, and enduring physical therapy, chiropractic, and massage therapy, I was finally back up and running by September of 2006.

I noticed that deep tissue massage was particularly effective in accelerating healing, but at $40/hr, I could not afford to do it more than once or twice a month. Then I discovered Trigger Point Technologies and their massage products through injury message boards and word of mouth. I figured that the TP Massage set would be good investment, since I could use it every day at no cost after the initial purchase.

If it holds to even half of the claims of the website and of other peoples’ reviews, it would be worth the money by helping to keep me injury-free and feeling good during and after runs (Some of the before mentioned reviews of this self-massage toolset are by Linda Gallo, SNEWS, and active.com). Reviews such as these, plus the product’s informative website, convinced me to shell out the cash to buy it myself and add it to my arsenal of injury-prevention and running maintenance tools.

I have been using the massage tools and techniques faithfully every day now for the last 8 weeks. The tools of the “Total Package” (Pictured above) include the Ball, the Footballer and Block, and the Quadballer.
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Achilles Tendinitis: Causes, symptoms, and treatments

Posted March 15th, 2007 at 1:00 PM by Martha Jones

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab

Achilles tendinitis means you feel pain in the large tendon that extends from in the back of your heel to your calf muscle.

It hurts most when you get up in the morning and when you start to walk or run. It will heal only if you stop running and find another sport that doesn’t hurt when you do it, such as cycling, swimming, or pulling on a rowing machine.

The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the human body and can withstand forces of 1,000 pounds or more. But it also the most frequently ruptured tendon. The Achilles tendon is made up of thousands of individual fibers, like a rope with thousand of threads.

The fibers are broken by applying a force greater than their inherent strength. No medicines hasten healing. As soon as the tendon stops hurting, doctors usually prescribe strengthening exercises, but you have to exercise against greater resistance to become strong and strong resistance prevents healing.
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Q & A: What’s the best way to treat stress fractures?

Posted February 26th, 2007 at 11:41 AM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

Bone stress fractures are very common sports injuries. Any trauma to bones, such as repeated pounding when your heel strikes the ground during running, or landing on your feet after grabbing a basketball, can cause small cracks on the surface of bones called stress fractures. In healthy athletes, they can take from 3 to 12 weeks to heal, forcing an athlete to lose valuable training time.

A study from Tulane University shows that intravenous pamidronate can heal these fractures quickly and keep you playing (Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, March 2005). Bones change constantly. Calcium is carried from bones by cells called osteoclasts and carried into bones by cells called osteoblasts. Bisphosphonates such as pamidronate prevent osteoclasts from carrying calcium from bones. The athletes received five weekly intravenous infusions of pamidronate and were able to continue training.
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Tai Chi: Excellent cross training since 1460 AD

Posted January 27th, 2007 at 2:12 PM by Valerie Cerami

Section: Running & Training, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise

Tai Chi is a series of gentle, graceful movements designed to exercise the body and clear the mind. Tai chi is a noncompetitive, non-aggressive, self-paced system of continuously flowing postures, using every part of the body and benefiting all bodily parts, while stimulating the psyche. It is also an effective exercise for overall health and improving athletic performance.
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Are cortisone injections safe?

Posted December 11th, 2006 at 8:01 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab

Doctors often inject cortisone-type medications into painful damaged joints and tendons. Single injections can relieve pain and swelling and appear to be safe, but many studies show that repeated injections can damage joints and delay healing. Most doctors will recommend having no more than three injections into the same joint in a lifetime.
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Yoga can be a cure all – for all (yes, even for runners)

Posted December 7th, 2006 at 12:00 PM by Valerie Cerami

Section: Running & Training, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

It can be done by anyone; anywhere. It involves mind, body and spirit. It strives to create balance; unison of physical and mental. It nurtures all areas touched upon in life; thorough in addressing all segments of one’s self and beyond. A learning experience. An art form. A must - for all athletes – and non.

Historically, yoga is almost as old as running. Running was actually the very first form of physical conditioning. I bet those cavemen didn’t even realize the health benefits they were developing while chasing prey – or being chased by an angrier or larger caveman! Read the rest of this entry »

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