Some over the counter pain relievers are an effective way to combat the effects of overuse injuries caused by sports activities.
The majority of over the counter pain relievers sold in U.S. contain one of the following ingredients: acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin. At recommended doses, all three have about same effect on reducing pain.
For reducing pain and inflammation, only ibuprofen and aspirin are effective.
is most commonly used anti-inflammatory medication
sport doctors recommend aspirin to reduce the pain and inflammation seen in the initial stages of most injuries
aspirin is strong enough to reduce mild to moderate pain caused by inflammation like tendon inflammation, nerve inflammation
first effects of aspirin are felt in 30 min, although its maximum benefits are experienced two hours after the dosage is taken
Aspirin has well known side effects like tendency to irritate the stomach lining; prolonged use may cause permanent kidney damage; some people are allergic to aspirin and others.
REST. Rest is necessary to allow the damaged tissue to heal without further injury. Use “relative” rest, which means avoiding activities that stress the injured area, but continuing with activities for healthy parts of the body. For example – when you develop inflammation in your shoulder-tendinitis, you can still work out your leg muscles and the opposite shoulder.
ICE. Ice may be applied in variety forms, crushed ice in the plastic bag mixed with water is common. This pack should be applied for approximately 20 minutes, 3 to 8 times per day for at least 3 days immediately following the injury. Ice reduces inflammation, stops swelling and promotes healing.
COMPRESSION. Compression, usually with an elastic wrap or cloth, aids in reducing swelling, forcing the fluid into the drainage system of the body. Compression is often used when applying ice.
ELEVATION. With the ice pack wrapped in place, elevate the injured area above the level of the heart. Elevation allows gravity to assist in the movement of fluid toward and into the drainage systems of the body.
Elevated morning pulse (10beats per minute higher than normal for several days in a row)
Consistently elevated blood pressure
Body aches
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Depression
Decreased or lost motivation to exercise
Increased frequency of colds and influenzas
Increased frequency of injuries
While some people don’t want to work very hard in the gym, others drive their bodies too hard in effort to achieve their goals more quickly, or just very ambitiously push their bodies to the limit every day. They believe the “no pain, no gain” approach and find themselves plagued with injuries or symptoms of overtraining.
The role of proper rest and exercise program intensity, duration, and frequency is important.
If you don’t train with fitness professional, then your approach to exercise should be “train, don’t strain.” That is certainly the most enjoyable approach to exercise.
Pain when bending the wrist upward against a force or when stretching muscles by straightening or bending the elbow or bending the wrist downward
Pain felt over the bony part on the outside of the elbow
Swelling of the elbow area
Who is at risk?
Anyone who overuses his or her forearm muscle
It is not limited to tennis players – less than 5 percent of all tennis elbow diagnoses are related to playing tennis
It occurs among people who do a lot of heavy lifting, typists, construction workers, baggage handlers and others
Tennis elbow gets its name from the fact, that up to half of all frequent players develop it at some time during their careers. It is especially common among players who swing improperly, or players that overuse their forearm muscle by playing too frequently or too long.
How it develops?
Tennis elbow is a form of tendinitis caused by continued stress on the forearm muscles used in grasping and extending motions that originate in elbow.
Pain first occurs in the tendons involved in extending the wrist, such as when tennis player hits the a backhand shot. With continued stress, the muscles and tendons begin to hurt when bent or extended, or even at rest due to tiny tears that become inflamed and do not have a chance to heal.
What can you do when tennis elbow pain appears?
Rest from the activities that cause elbow pain is the most important treatment for tennis elbow
Apply ice to the area – for two days – 20 minutes every two hours through the day
Place an elastic bandage around the forearm just below the elbow
After two days of ice treatment – alternate warm compresses with ice packs to promote healing
See the doctor if the pain persist for more than two weeks
How can you prevent tennis elbow?
If playing tennis, use the right backhand movement
Weight train and stretch your arms to make them stronger and more flexible - Chin ups are great exercise to strengthen your arms and upper body. Do them 3 times maximum repetitions – 3 times a week.
Learn to pace yourself; for example, if playing tennis every day provokes the symptoms, cut back to every other day
Ted Tanaka, doctor of pediatric medicine in interview also about wearing high heels and their impact on womans body:
For women, it’s hard to escape wearing high heels. Are they really that bad for the feet?
When you raise your heels more than two inches off the ground, the biomechanics of the whole body dramatically change. You force more weight on the balls of your feet, which adds more pressure onto joints and nerves and than changes the pull of the tendons and muscles. Wearing high heels continually over a matter of years can actually cause the calf muscle to shorten and tighten, which can cause arch cramps, achilles tendinitis and knee and hip joint pain. The back can become tired and sore because your muscles will try to keep you in balance.
So you would say don’t wear them?
Not higher than two inches. They look nice, but they aren’t very functional. They’re made purely for for cosmetic reasons – not long walks.
From fitness magazine about benefits of jumping-kind of exercise:
You know high-impact exercise builds bone mass, but how much does it take for results?A recent study found that women who did an average of just one 60-minute high-intensity exercise session a week (running at a 7.5-minute-mile pace, jumping and aerobic stepping), as well as two 10-minute workouts (again high intensity), gained small but significant increase in thighbone density.Do your bones good and add sprints, jumping jacks, rope jumping, jumping with weights to your exercise plan two or three times a week for 10 – 15 minutes.
Muscle cramps are painful, sustained contractions of all of the muscle fibers in a muscle. They can last for just a few seconds or continue for several hours.
Although cramps can occur during sleep, they usually occur during intense exercise. No athlete or fitness buff in any sport is immune to this common condition.
Thera are many causes:
Salt deficiency
Low levels of other minerals such as potasium or magnesium
An injury or strain on the muscle
An obstruction of the muscle’s blood supply by sustained muscular contraction
Hyperventilating – breathing too fast when it is not necessary, which prevents the body from using calcium
Most common cause of cramps in athletes is a low body level of one or more minerals, particularly potassium and salt. Potasium is the mineral that is lost in large ammounts during hard exercise.
I suggest that you eat more fruits and vegetables to replace potassium. I do not recommend that you increase your dietary intake of salt. When an athlete consumes large amount of salt, his body loses its ability to conserve salt. Consequently, if he suddenly decreases his intake, his level will become unusually low and this will cause cramps.
If you still continue to have cramps in spite of an increased intake of mineral-rich foods, see your physician. Since potassium and magnesium are found primarily inside the cells, blood tests are not always an accurate measure of the body’s level of the two minerals. The best way to measure this minerals is to cut out a piece of muscle and measure the amount of minerals inside it. However, because the treatment of mineral deficiency is so simple – eating fruits, vegetables, and grains – a muscle biopsy is never necessary.
