Category: Sports Health

Exposing Shin Splints

One of the harshest and most painful injuries that people suffer from are shin splints. While a relatively minor injury that does not involve surgery to correct, it does require plenty of rest and careful training to help prevent the injury from becoming worse. Taking a few minutes to acquaint yourself with shin splints and how they are caused can help you to avoid these painful little injuries and ensure that you are not suffering downtime because of them.

A shin splint in its simplest form is when the muscles and tendons of the lower leg pull away from the tibia. It is possible to have a shin splint that results in muscle and tendon damage to the fibula as well; however, this is much less likely since shin splints usually are associated with pain in the front of the lower leg, rather than the side.

Shin splints are typically caused by overstraining the muscles along the front of the leg. Running, dancing and various other activities can cause the muscles stress and fatigue, however it is weight that is sometimes blamed for shin splints. It is important to notice that rather than weight being the factor that determines shin splints, it is instead the impact of the weight onto the legs and muscles that cause shin splints. Because of this, it is possible for someone who weights 80 pounds to experience shin splints, just as someone who weights 300 pounds can experience shin splints.

Some of the methods that can really agitate the muscles are running or exercising on extremely stiff and hard surfaces such as concrete for prolonged periods of time, exercising or running on ground that is uneven causing additional strain on the muscles at times and even wearing shoes that do not fit properly can cause additional strain. Other factors that can increase the risks of shin splints include running or exercising uphill or downhill frequently and even starting an exercise program after a previously sedative lifestyle.

Avoiding shin splints may seem like an impossible task, however with some careful consideration paid to how your body functions and how you take care of yourself, it is possible to reduce the number of shin splints that you get. Remember, prevention should always be your priority, so that you reduce the time you spend healing after an injury.

Your first consideration should be your shoes. Having the wrong shoes can be a huge mistake. Whether they fit wrong, are they are just of poor quality having the wrong shoes is like pulling the muscles from your leg yourself. Ensuring you always wear shoes that fit appropriately and provide the support and cushioning that you need can ensure that you are reducing your risk. Additionally, you should never wear tennis shoes to play basketball if you play frequently for example. Sports that you play quite frequently you should invest in the appropriate shoes that are designed to support your feet properly during play.

Next, you should always carefully warm up before ever starting to play. This will allow your muscles even those along the tibia to slowly stretch and become more fluid before moving into faster and more stressful movements. This is an essential step that cannot be missed.

Additionally, carefully checking where you are exercising is another way to prevent shin splints. Avoid exercising on concrete and other extremely hard surfaces. Choose gyms that offer suspended floors under equipment and choose grassy areas that are flat, rather than riddles with holes and slopes.

Your last step should be to engage in a strength and conditioning class. Generally, this short class lasts about 20-30 minutes and helps to slowly and carefully strengthen all of the muscles in your body. Remember, prevention should be your best friend.

PPPPP
(word count 627)

Discovering Hyponatremia and Preventing It!

How many people really know without reaching for a dictionary what hyponatremia is? The bad news is that most people are unaware of what it is, yet it is a very dangerous condition that occurs quite often. Much more often than it really should in fact. To blame for the heightened occurrences is the fact that most people do not understand the proper fluid levels that should be maintained during exercise. This is particularly important during those exercises that are quite intensive such as marathons and endurance activities.

Hyponatremia is so important because it involves the blood sodium levels in the body. It is important that these levels be maintained in a proper proportion in order for the body to remain healthy. If the levels are adjusted through extreme sweating or even an over abundance of water consumption then Hyponatremia can occur which creates several problems. If you are seeing a sports medicine doctor and discussing participating in an endurance activity be sure to thoroughly ask about hyponatremia so that you can avoid it as much as possible.

Hyponatremia is important because it occurs when sodium levels are greatly decreased. This occurs in the normal process of sweating. However, creating the actual problem is when athletes consume large amounts of water continuously, which further reduces the ratio of the blood sodium levels. This lowered ratio is what creates the problems of hyponatremia. However, the solution is sometimes quite easy, but unless you have discussed the problem with your doctor, you are unlikely to know.

Symptoms of hyponatremia are as subtle as a nauseated feeling, some small muscle cramps, possibly being disoriented and even a bit confused mentally. This is quite often mistaken for just simply being dehydrated which will prompt many people to reach for more water to drink, which ultimately makes the problem much worse. Extreme cases of hyponatremia include symptoms such as comas, seizures and in the most extreme cases, death is possible.

In order to really prevent and treat hyponatremia it is vital that you drink a sports drink that contains sodium, or else eat a food with sodium especially higher levels of sodium to quickly restore the proper levels to the body. In addition, cutting back on the plain water consumption until sodium levels are higher is also advised. If you are having severe symptoms, it is best to see a doctor immediately, preferably a sports medicine doctor who is knowledgeable about treatment options.

In order to prevent hyponatremia there are a few things that you can easily do. The first is ensuring that you are keeping a sports energy drink on hand to continuously drink. While drinking water is important as well, the sports energy drink will help replenish sodium levels while the water will flush more sodium from the body.
If you do not have hypertension discuss with your doctor increasing your sodium intake levels for a few days before the endurance event. Only increase your sodium levels under the watchful eye of your doctor or you could create problems with hypertension where none previously existed.

Additionally, it is best to always drink plenty of fluids. The best guideline to use is a cup of fluids, which is 8 ounces for each 20 minutes of activity. If you are engaging in an hour-long endurance activity that would translate into 3 cups of fluids.

Additionally, it is best to only replace fluids that you lose. This means that you should avoid adding additional fluids to your body that are not needed. For example if you lose 2 pounds from fluid loss, you should replace the fluids that were lost. This would not mean drinking more than 4 cups of fluids at a maximum to replace the missing fluids.

With proper precautions, you can avoid having a problem with hyponatremia and instead enjoy participating safely in the endurance activity of your choice. With careful medical treatment and proper prevention, it is not a problem that will force you to stop engaging in sports; rather it can make you more aware of your bodies nutritional requirements.

PPPPP
(word count 679)

Deciding Which Doctor to See

If you have more than one doctor, which many people do especially athletes then it is often confusing exactly which doctor you should see. However, if you follow some simple guidelines you should find the decision much easier. Remember, seeing a doctor is a good idea in the event of an injury, however emergencies are usually best treated in an emergency room with follow up through your normal doctor.

You should first consider why you want to go to the doctor. If you have a need rather than just simply a check up then consider exactly what is needed. If you need a simple work up or even a flu shot then seeing a standard family practitioner is usually much easier and faster. However, if you have a sports related injury then it is best to see a sports medicine doctor.

As part of your sports medicine team, you are likely to have numerous doctors all working together with a physical therapist, primary doctor and various other professionals including often a surgeon. Your first stop whenever seeing a sports medicine doctor should always be to your primary physician. After visiting with them, they can determine based off your needs exactly whom you should be referred to see next. This also often has the benefit of allowing some treatment options to get started in the meantime, rather than being forced to wait until the specialist can see you.

However, it is important to note that if you only see a sports medicine doctor and do not have a standard internal medicine or family physician that you should always see your sports medicine doctor unless they recommend you see someone else. With sports medicine doctors covering a large gamut of specialties it is possible to only use sports medicine doctors if preferred.

If you are running a fever, or else have a rash that has appeared, the best doctor to often see is your primary care physician. If however, you have been experiencing leg pain then it is best to see the sports medicine doctor. Anytime you have a problem or injury that has resulted because of sports, or can impact sports it is best to see a sports medicine doctor.

In the event that you have a pressing issue that needs immediate treatment, often the decision over which doctor to see becomes blurred. This is because many times doctors have very long waits before being able to secure an appointment. If you discover that this is your problem, you best bet is to check with both doctors and see who can fit you in sooner. If neither doctor is able to see you fast enough, you may be best to see the emergency room in your area and schedule a follow up visit. While not everyone is pleased with seeing an emergency room rather than their normal doctor it is a necessary action at times where there are serious complications or in the event of an emergency.

While emergencies may mandate the usage of the emergency room, appointments that are not emergencies should be scheduled with the appropriate doctor to ensure that you receive the best care possible. For example, if you are using a sports medicine doctor and also an internal medicine doctor you should schedule your normal yearly check ups with your internal medicine doctor, as well as your yearly flu shot. However, if you are looking into creating a new exercise program or even starting a new sport then a visit to your sports medicine doctor is most appropriate.

As the number of sports medicine doctors offering varying specialties continues to increase the decision over which doctor to choose for visits is likely to become even more confusing, however you are not alone and by carefully considering the purpose of the visit, you should be able to easily determine which doctor is the best choice for your individual needs.

PPPPP
(word count 651)

Combating Muscle Fatigue

Athletes from amateur to professional level all experience muscle fatigue at some point. The people who tend to suffer the most however are surprisingly those who are less active. Many regard professional athletes as much more likely to have complications with muscle fatigue, however in terms of how the muscles use energy those who are less active than professionals are at a distinct disadvantage.

It is very important to understand that when you are working out, you are slowly wearing down the muscles and burning all of the energy that is provided to the muscles as well. Because of the energy that the muscles burn not being able to be replaced into the muscle quite as quickly as it is burned this causes muscle fatigue to become a problem. Sports medicine professionals are all well knowledgeable in exactly how to help professional athletes reduce the problems they experience from muscle fatigue.

In order to really combat the problems of muscle fatigue and keep it from happening, it is important to train the body to supply energy faster. Muscles receive energy in two different forms. The first is from oxygen, which creates aerobic metabolism; this is simply the process of creating adenosine triphosphate from oxygen. The other method is anaerobic metabolism, which is generated from stores of energy that are stored in the muscles themselves.

The problem that occurs most often in muscle fatigue is that anaerobic metabolism does not store huge amounts of energy and aerobic metabolism is a slower method to deliver energy to the muscles. This creates a problem for many people and results in them suddenly experiencing muscle fatigue. Professional athletes and those who are highly active are trained to help their bodies deliver energy from oxygen, which is the aerobic metabolism.

By training the body to efficiently and effectively deliver larger amounts of oxygen to the body it is possible to increase quickly the amount of energy that the muscles have available to use. This reduces the risk of muscle fatigue and allows a workout to continue for much longer. However, it takes several weeks or even months to train the body to effectively speed the flow of oxygen enough to keep from experiencing muscle fatigue based solely from a supply of aerobic metabolism.

In addition to learning ways to improve the flow of energy, it is also important for athletes to learn ways to reduce the use of muscles as much as possible to conserve energy. It is vital that energy management be controlled for athletes because without the control management many athletes would find themselves unable to workout or even complete their workout. This is never an advisable situation for any athlete; however, it can occur quite often.

In order to combat the symptoms and maximize the benefits of muscle energy it is important to work with your sports medicine physician as well as your trainer to ensure you are training your body to be as effective as possible. If you are careful and work closely with your trainer, coach and sports medicine doctor you can gather the best ways to encourage your body to conserve energy, while still increasing the flow of aerobic metabolism to your muscles.

Working towards an appropriate training method will help ensure that your muscles are as strong as possible and greatly reduce the risk of having a problem with muscle fatigue. There is plenty of professional help who can assist you in creating the best training plan possible to strengthen the muscles. Providing the maximum amount of energy to your muscles possible is the best thing you can do in order to ensure you stay as healthy as possible, with as little risk of injury as possible.

It is very important that you always discuss any concerns that you have with your doctor or coach. They can assist you in assuring that you take the proper precautions to ensure your body is carefully trained. If you have any doubts about your overall health, it is essential to talk to your doctor immediately.

PPPPP
(word count 674)