FitSugar

Have You Ever Fallen While Running?

FitSugar — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:47:53 -0700

I went for a run in the woods with my dog yesterday, and I brought the neighbor's dog too, since Bonnie loves the company. This furry friend is almost 100 pounds, and a little clumsy, so when I started doing my sprint intervals, he got excited and sprinted right into me, knocking me clean on my behind. I laid on the ground in shock and held back the tears, while I felt the left side of my bum and elbow throbbing from the impact. He didn't even come back to see if I was OK, but Bonnie did (good dog). I finally got up and limped home, hurting physically, but also feeling a little hardcore. I couldn't wait to share my story and show my battle wounds.

Tell me, have you ever had a nasty fall while running on a treadmill or outside? If so, share your story in the RunningSugar group - a place for runners to gab about gear, personal records, and the battle wounds of running.

Pink and Her Shoulder Go Separate Ways

FitSugar — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:30:51 -0700

After seeing her crazy aerial show on the VMAs last Sunday, it's easy to understand how Pink could injure her shoulder. After initially thinking she had broken her collarbone, Pink learned she had separated her shoulder. A painful injury indeed. In fact she tweeted that "it kinda feels like 50 angry invisible demon fairies are stabbing me."

To learn what body part actually separated from what and how she did it, read more.

A shoulder separation is not technically an injury to the actual shoulder joint (the ball and socket) but a weakening or tear of the ligaments that attach the top of the shoulder blade to the collarbone. These ligaments help stabilize the shoulder through the wide range of motion this joint has.

Although it is assumed that Pink injured herself on the trapeze, she twittered to her pal and sometimes punching bag Jason Ellis this message when he asked what happened:

Proving she is a super toughie, Pink will continue her tour in spite of her injury - minus the trapeze tricks.

Cheerleading Leads to Serious Injury

FitSugar — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 03:00:13 -0700

If you've seen Bring It On, then you know cheerleading is serious business. Gymnastic moves and daring lifts are just as important, if not more so, than the symbolic pom-poms. When it comes to serious injuries, cheering is number one and those feats of daring are to blame.

Cheerleading, at both the high school and college levels, was found to cause the majority of catastrophic injuries in a comparison of all sports-related injuries. The study, conducted by National Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH, explains that catastrophic injuries usually involve spinal cord damage, which is indeed serious business.

According to a report released last year by the National Center For Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, injuries sustained by high school cheerleaders in the last 25 years account for just over 65 percent of all catastrophic sports injuries sustained by female high school athletes, and the statistics for college cheerleaders are just as high. This makes women's rugby not seem so rough.

Were you a cheerleader?

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Have You Ever Had an MRI?

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:03:00 -0700

An MRI is a medical procedure that takes images of the body using magnets and radio waves, rather than radiation. The process involves lying down in a machine that makes a lot of noise, and for people with claustrophobia, it can be panic-inducing, but other people might just fall asleep! Have you ever had to get one for a diagnosis?

Running Injury: When to See a Doc

FitSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:00:00 -0700

So many people I know are into running, whether they're trying to lose weight, reduce stress, or take part in a marathon. The problem is, there are many injuries related to the sport - runner's knee, pulled hamstrings, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints. While strength training and stretching are great ways to prevent an injury, sometimes getting hurt can't be avoided. It's hard to know the difference between a minor torn muscle and a more serious issue. So if you're suffering from pain, here are five ways to know you should see a doctor.

The pain wakes you up at night.
You alter your gait while running to ease the pain.
The pain is constant and you feel it when doing nonrunning activities, such as walking, biking, going up or down stairs, or sitting in the car.
The pain interferes with your day-to-day life.
You feel the pain while running and it lasts more than 10 to 14 days.

If you're experiencing any of these five, schedule an appointment to get a professional's opinion before your injury gets any worse.

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5 Things: Icing an Injury

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:00:00 -0700

If you've ever pulled a muscle, you know it can hurt like crazy and interfere with future workouts. One of the best, easiest, and cheapest ways to treat a muscle strain is with ice, which reduces both the pain and the inflammation. Ice is also a great treatment for chronic, nagging pain like runner's knee. But although it's a simple process, it's very important to do it right. Here's how:

Start icing ASAP. Icing is most effective if you do it immediately after the injury and continue over the next 48 hours.
Do not apply ice directly to your skin; instead, wrap it in a towel or place it in a cute ice pack.

To see the rest, read more.

No cute ice pack? Bags of frozen veggies, such as corn and peas, make great ice bags. Not only are they already packed and frozen, but they also conform easily to the body.
Ice for no more than 20 minutes at a time. If your tissue gets too cold, it can cause further damage, so be sure to warm up for at least 45 minutes between icing sessions.
If you're training hard for a marathon or other big event, icing after workouts can prevent future soreness. You might even try an ice bath if you're prone to full-body aches.

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Workout Gone Awry: Sharp, Shooting Pain

FitSugar — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:30:00 -0700

Getting stronger and faster means sometimes enduring a wee bit of pain. Some consider DOMS, that pain that comes on 12 to 24 hours after a workout, to be a good thing. Sharp, shooting immediate pain, on the other hand, means stop.

Sharp pain while exercising is your body's way of communicating with you that you are doing something it doesn't like. Your body wants and needs you to stop. Listen to this pain; chances are it is in some joint or your lower back area.

If you are strength training, stop and check your technique. Try the motion again a little more slowly and thoughtfully. Same pain? Then try the motion smaller. Same pain? Then stop. You experimented with your options, so stopping does not mean wimping out. In this case, it means you're taking care of yourself. If you work with a trainer, ask him or her to watch your form or suggest an alternative exercise for you to try. The sharp pain generally means you are injuring the tissues in your joint, and trust me, you don't want to damage your soft tissues.

All that being said, to get stronger you do have to push yourself and getting close to maximum effort is going to feel taxing. You have to learn by trial and error when to push yourself, when to ease up, and when to stop.

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Inexperienced Yoga Teachers = Injured Students?

FitSugar — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:00:00 -0700

I truly believe that everyone can benefit from stretching and strengthening their muscles through yoga. I must admit it saddened me to read a recent article stating that in 2006, nearly 4,500 people ended up in the ER after suffering from injuries during a yoga class. It wasn't just beginners, but also yogis who've been practicing consistently for years. Common ailments included pulled muscles, torn rotator cuffs, exacerbated carpal tunnel syndrome, torn cartilage in the knees, and neck injuries such as herniated disks.

This statistic may come as a surprise to you since yoga is meant to heal not harm. The thing is, if you don't learn the basics from a good instructor, you try to do too much, or you don't pay attention to what you're doing, you could end up hurting yourself.

So how can you prevent an injury in your next yoga class? To find out read more.

Make sure to take class at a reputable studio from an experienced teacher.
Learning proper alignment is key, and a good teacher will use verbal commands, and demonstrations to let you know how to do poses correctly.
Sometimes teachers do adjustments (where they use their hands to move you), to help with your alignment or to get you deeper into a pose. Watch out though because an inexperienced teacher can end up pushing you beyond your body's limit. Students have this idea that the teacher knows best, but if the instructor is causing you pain, you have every right to tell her to stop. If you're worried about getting a bad adjustment, tell the teacher before class that she doesn't need to adjust you.
Listen to your own body, rather than to that little competitive voice inside you. If they see Patty Pretzel doing Lotus pose, don't think, "I know I just had knee surgery, but if she can do it, so can I." Do yourself a favor and be true to your abilities.

After hearing this news, I was wondering if you've ever hurt yourself in yoga class. Share your experiences in the comment section below.

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Injury Prevention: Strong Hips = Strong Knees

FitSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:30:00 -0700

We all know that men and women are different, even in how we exercise. Add to those differences the fact that women are more likely to suffer knee injuries. The difference is structural; the width of our child bearing hips angles the thigh bone (femur) in such a way that it creates some laxity and instability in the knee joint. Not to mention the ebb and flow of hormones women experience monthly can affect knee stability too.

One way to protect your knees is to strengthen your hips, or anatomically speaking your glute med – the muscle that fills in the side of your pelvis (see an image of the muscle here). Having strong glute meds helps to control the thigh bone, which then helps to stabilize the knee joint. Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

To see how to strengthen your hips, just read more.

Side Squats with Theraband

Tie a resistance band around your ankles. Start with red/medium band and work your way up to green/heavy.
Begin standing with feet directly underneath your hips.
Squat halfway down and side step to the right as far as you can manage.
Bring left leg toward right, returning to your starting position.
Step to the right 10 times, then reverse stepping to the left 10 times. Repeat for 3 sets.

Fit's Tips: This is a great exercise for runners and can help prevent patellofemoral pain, aka pain on the outside of the knee. Couple this with rolling out your IT band and you will be good to go. Preventing injuries means you log more miles and stay on the road!

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Pulled Muscle 101

FitSugar — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Suddenly sprinting now that it is Spring, may feel like a good idea, but your hamstrings may have a different idea. If you rush your training, something we have all done at least once in our lives, you're bound to strain something. Straining or pulling (the more intense of the two injuries) a muscle is a fairly common injury and both occur when a muscle is stretched too far. This over stretching actually causes tears in the muscle fiber.

The tears can be divided into three categories and at About.com they describe the different levels of severity like this:

Grade I: Mild discomfort and not much loss of range of motion. Usually does not limit activity.

Grade II: Moderate discomfort, stiffness, tenderness, swelling, and bruising in the area. You may also notice a bump or indentation at the site of the injury. You won't be able to contract the muscle fully without feeling pain.

Grade III: Severe injury that can cause significant pain. Often patients complain of muscle spasms, swelling, significant bruising, and internal bleeding. You will be unable to contract the muscle and surgery may be required to repair the ruptured muscle.

Usually you can feel the pain of a pulled muscle immediately during exercise, but it can also be the kind of injury that gradually happens from repetitive movements. Either way, if you want to know what you should do if you pulled a muscle then read more.

If you are exercising and you feel a sudden pain, stop what you're doing and rest immediately.
Ice the area with a compressive bandage to help reduce swelling, control bleeding, and to ease the pain. Make sure not to ice the area for longer than 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
If the swelling is really bad, take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory such as Ibuprofen.
If the pull is minor and the pain subsides start moving again. You will have a decreased range of motion, but you don't want to lose strength. Gentle stretching and low impact exercise will help to treat pulled muscles by getting blood flowing to the area. Proceed with caution because you don't want to make the injury worse.

I have pulled my hamstrings many times and have learned (knock on wood) the limits of my legs. If I feel a strain coming on, I chill out for a day and it really helps the healing process. Also, I wanted to remind you that the best way to avoid a pulled muscle is to warm up properly.

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