The Quacks Guide to Bone, Joint and Ligament Rehabilitation

This is the quacks guide to bone, joint and ligament injury rehabilitation. I am not a doctor, just a totally mad DIY-fer.

Rehabilitation starts with FIRST AID!

Start treatment immediately! http://www.medicine-in-motion.com/Acute_injuries.htm
At the moment of injury, take some NSAIDs. Advil, Alleve, aspirin, take a good strong dose. Anti-inflamatories and pain relief should be part of ALL rider first aid kits. Note: Tylenol has no anti-inflammatory properties. Taking an anti-inflamatory has the same effect as icing the affected area.



Put it on ice! It is important to stress that the simple application of ice/cold packs can go a long way towards keeping an individual comfortable. Not only will it help to alleviate any symptoms of pain that are already being experienced, but it will help to prevent a significant amount of the tissue fluid accumulation (swelling) from occurring. This in turn will significantly shorten the duration of any injury-related disabilities (e.g. time off from work or athletic duties) and hasten a return back to full function.



STOP riding! When you use any part of your body the circulation to that region increases. This can promote additional swelling around the injury because of the additional fluids made available (like feeding fuel to a fire). Inflation will cause scar tissue formation. More inflammation means a worse injury! It is recommended that the afflicted rest the affected part as much as possible for the first few days.



Assess your injury. This is the point where you will have to make a decision whether you are going to an ER, Urgent Care or wait for a weekday to see your doctor. I already have a regular orthopedist so I normally just go direct and save myself time and effort. I won't go into length here as I don't wanna influence your decision on what treatment to get. Use your best judgement.

Treatment - RICE! Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation - that's pretty self explanatory, just follow the link.

http://www.webmd.com/first-aid/tc/rest-ice-compression-and-elevation-rice-topic-overview

Nutritional Support for Sport Injuries – Eating your Way to Recovery - https://www.ultrarunning.com/featur...r-sport-injuries-eating-your-way-to-recovery/

You can reduce your down time by eating right! These nutrients will help: 1)PROTEINS, 2) Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA), 3) Glucosamine, 4)FATS, 5) Fish Oils and 6) CARBOHYDRATES



Low energy production from reduced or low-fat diets results in poor tissue maintenance, incomplete repair of muscle damage and hindrance of bone matrix mineralization. The consequences of severe fat reduction can result in disruption of bone resorption, suppressed bone formation and an increased risk of stress fractures. Bacon is your friend!

Balancing your fatty-acid profile by supplementing with 3 to 9 grams of fish oil capsules each day can help manage inflammation following ankle injury. http://www.livestrong.com/article/241352-the-best-supplements-for-a-broken-ankle-torn-ligaments/

I am not big into daily supplementation of vitamins. I will take them once to twice a week, even less often. But during injury, takem! The minerals copper and zinc play a vital role in improving the healing speed of damaged soft tissues.

Amino Acids - Amino acid supplements in a specific blend can help improve healing rates following broken bones and torn ligaments by improving the deposition of collagen, a key structural protein in both bone and ligaments. Two daily dosages of 7g L-glutamine, 7g L-arginine, and 1.5g β-Hydroxy β-methylbutyric acid, known simply as HMB, mixed in water as it has the potential to expedite collagen synthesis and has been associated with improved rates of healing following injury. Supplementation of this blend twice daily for up to three weeks post-injury to give yourself a healing boost.



If you have real interest on the subject of nutrition and speeding healing, this is a great resource from an MD. http://www.betterbones.com/bonefracture/speedhealing.pdf

Physical Therapy - Once the swelling has subsided, and you are able to move the injured part of your body, start physical therapy. If you don't have insurance, or PT was not prescribed, or you don't have time to go, YOUTUBE is your friend. Find the proper exercises, use a lot of common sense, and just go for it. Physical therapy will get you back on the bike faster.



There are different ways to treat and rehabilitate different joints and bone injury. The internet provides a lot of resources for you. Remember though, follow what doctors and other professionals have to say, use your common sense, and enjoy your new favorite color!



end note: ibuprofen is for first aid. after the first couple of days, and pain is still intense, see youre doctor. bone healing can delayed by over using ibuprofen. http://familymedicineassociates.com/taking-ibuprofen-fracture-delay-bone-healing/

 

Just imagine you are a wild animal, say, a gnu. This would be a life threatening injury.