Running injuries/pain, knee or hip pain or feet.

As a runner I know what it's like to have some leg strains, that's mostly what I've had, but the only thing I've sprained was my right ankle though. In this post here are big tips that'll help you runners out there, middle school, high school or up through college, or if your just a avid runner on your own. 

Patellafemural syndrome: dislocated or displaced patella. Pain/inflammation around and in the kee joint possibly. Due to one side of the quad muscles being developed over the other, or all the quads being weak. Just depends which side the patella shifts to, that will determine what side is weaker. It'll be the opposite side of where the knee shifts to.

                   Casues: running on an eneven surface or puttin too much stress on the knee and quad muscles. Stress during running and/or exercising.

                    Treatments/prevention: avoid activity until it feels better, ice if neccessary, run on an even surface. Strengthen all of your quad muscles, get a massage or use a self-myofascial release roller, to break up knots and soreness.


Patella tendinitis/tendinosis: this pain occurs down below the knee where you can feel your tibial tuberosity or a bump. One of the knee tendons below the knee flairs up and it's called Os-good slotters in runners. That bone is where the quad muscle tendons also attach to. Tendinosis is without the swelling of course.

                 Causes: too much stress on the knees and running in the same direction. Running on a hard surface and wearing bad shoes as always.

                  Treatments/prevention: ice, get new shoes, don't run in the same direction, reduce the stress on your knees and pick a better surface to run on. Get a massage around the knee area as well..

Foot pain, planter fasciitis: muscle pain underneath the arch, the mid foot area, but mostly the heel. If there's no swelling, it's tendonosis then. 

           

              Causes: running/walking on the balls of your feet with your heels raised up a lot (plantar flexion). Being on your feet a lot and possibly pronation of the feet and a high body mass index such as 25 - 29.99 (overweight), 30 - 34.99 (obese 1), 35 - 39.99 (obese 2), and 40 being obese 3 (the heaviest). 

                Treatments/prevention: take a waterbottle and freeze it in a whole day or over night. Then you can roll your injured foot on it for 15-20 min at a time. Stretch your calves. Try to avoid pain meds, but take only if needed. It'll eventually heal if you keep working with it. To prevent planter fasciitis, don't walk or run on your toes so much. Sprinters will only run for a moment on their toes like I did. Stretch the calves and strengthen your dorsiflexors (anterior tibialis, extensor hollucis longus & extensor hollucis brevis). Then you'll have normal ankle flexion/extension. Gel inserts orthotics. Better shoes. Get a massage.

Achilles Tendonitis: any pain in the Achilles tendon, the tendon that helps connect your gastrocs and soleus muscles to the calcaneus heel bone. Tendonosis is without the swelling, just pain. 

                 Causes: jumping a lot and improper landing, repeated stress from running or jumping, especially if your heels are raised, (plantar flexion). You have no good dorsiflexion.  Running up stairs and on your heels more. 

                  Treatment/prevention: stretch the calves, ice if you have to. Strengthen your tibialis anterior and extensor hollucis longus & brevis, and walk/run heel to toe properly. Better or new shoes that fit your feet better. Get a massage or use a foam roller.

Medial tibial stress syndrome or shin-splints: pain/inflammation in the front of the shin or behind the tibia bone. Due from the tibialis anterior or posterior tibialis. The tendon behind the bone or in front and alng the shin bone is inflamed. It can be deep pain in the whole front of the leg or just the shin. 

                      Causes: pronation of the feet, flat feet, repeated stress, bad worn out shoes and type of running surface.

                          Treatment/prevention: freeze a cup of ice and use it to ice up n down your shins, orthotics, arch inserts, build up your arches if you have flat feet, strengthen your medial gastocnemius muscles and tibialis anteriors, and then stretch your poroneals, lateral gastrocnemius muscles and soleus muscles. Work out those imbalances. Better or new shoes that fit your feet tighter. Get a massage or use a foam roller. 

IT-Band Syndrome: this can be common in runners, even I had this. It's when you're experiencing inflammation pain up and down the side of your thigh or at the corner of your knee where the it-band connects around it. Or maybe tenderness in your glutes. 

                        Causes: repeated stress, running in the same direction over and over, like on the same leg or too much stress on the thighs. Like if you run and then start doing leg exercises on the same day like did. Bad worn out shoes.

                                Treatment/prevention: newer/better shoes that fit your feet better, get orthotics, use a foam roller on the side of your thigh for the it-band or get a massage there, ice if its swollen, don't run in the same direction all the time.

If you have flat feet, u should still wear arch inserts to build your arches up! Flat feet or probated feet will cause knee pain because it rotates your knees inward.. Wear and tear on the knees will also occur. As well supination your feet outward. Lateral knee pain will occur. 

Osteoarthritis in joints

Osteoarthritis: symptoms/signs, causes, treatments, prevention, prognosis and massage therapy

(Most of the information is by me (Adam), but I used some research just for proper wording or extra info).

Osteoarthritis

What is it?  Wear and tear on joints or a certain joint, or deterioration/degeneration of articular cartilage within the joint. This occurs over time and can worsen depending on what you do from day to day. Drink plenty of water to keep your muscles and joints moisturized, and keep your synovial fluid in your joints up. 

Signs & symptoms: You’ll feel pain in your joints during movement. It may be tender in the joint area when being touched with light pressure. Pain can also transfer from the actual pain area. So it may be painful all around your knee or elbow, or whichever joint it is. Also you may feel pain a little distal from the area as well. You’ll have joint stiffness; no flexibility like you did before, and bone spurs (extra bone, bumps) may form around the affected area. If arthritis occurs in the spine, the discs will be compressed and bone spurs will form as well. With all of the plus the pain, will probably affect upper body posture. Mayoclinic.com

Tests: When you decide to go to your doctor, he or she will examine the joint and check for redness, tenderness or swelling, and also your range of motion. X-rays and MRIs are taken to see inside the joint; and a blood test and fluid test maybe taken as well, where the doctor will stick a needle through the affected joint area to see what kind of fluid is in there. Mayoclinic.com

Causes: The wear and tear over time, with the cartilage that cushions our joints will wear out. Instead of feeling slick smooth movements, everything becomes stiffer, like a grinding pain. Mayoclinic.com

What also cause this could be the way we walk and the type of movements we do. If you walk with a weak gait where your knees internally rotate in or rotate out or supinate, and when your feet (Evert in) or (Evert outward) like duck feet. This will cause wear and tear on the medial side when the knees rotate inward and feet pronate, or if your knees and feet turn outward. When you walk like that, you’re placing stress & pressure on the knees. Even when you do your squats with your knees and feet turned out. However, if your knees supinate outward, that’ll cause the wear & tear on the lateral side of the knee also because of the stress. So overtime, having these bad habits will do us in. Mayoclinic.com

Treatment: Treatment includes joint replacement parts that provide better comfort and support. Some people may only need a partial knee replacement; others may need the full joint replacement. Some people also just need orthoscopic surgery to suck out extra tissue, fluid or old cartilage perhaps. You need a good orthopedic doctor to do it, and you need good therapy and to complete your therapy program. Then after that, people need to keep doing your exercises and do newer & better exercises to make the joint stronger again. Some people don’t complete their rehab or once they complete it, they never continue exercising, so things may occur again. If the surgery wasn’t good, the artificial parts can fall apart and need fixed. You may experience pain still because of a bad surgery too.  Exercising and stretching muscles, keeping everything lose, will help your posture and prevent more arthritis pain, and other problems. Mayoclinic.com

Realigning bones may also help. I don’t believe a cortisone shot is the right treatment like people get. I do believe elderly people should try getting a hyaluronic injection (haylgan synvisc), to lubricate their joints temporarily or long term, it's actually found in the tissues & cartilage, so it could help. You also can buy glucosamine and chondroiton supplements with hyaluronic acid in it. You want all that. I know people may get chicken fat injected into the joint like my grandma’s sister did. I think if people learned to walk with their feet straight, their back straight and head up after therapy, they would have lesser pain and problems. Mayoclinic.com

Prevention: Drink plenty of water and keep your synovial joint fluid levels up, in your joints, so it keeps your cartilage fresh. Everything in your joints, as well as muscles, will dry out and wear away! Oxygen and nutrients are carried through your blood and into the joints and cartilage, it's important! 

 Having good posture, sitting up straight when you sit at your desk or kitchen table, etc. Don't slouch your shoulders, back and/or neck! Exercise your back muscles, shoulder muscles & also your neck to strengthen your deep cervical neck flexors (scalenes, longus colli, longus capitas, and cervical erector spinae). The erector spinae runs from your neck a little bit and down your spine. Down your spinous and transverse processes. Also stretch your hips-gluteus muscles (gluteus medius/minimis and maximas (butt). Stretch your innerthighs if they're tight or if they're weak, strengthen them. When your knees supinate outward or turn outward or rotate inward, stretch those glutes and your piriformis muscles on each hip/leg. 

Stretch your hip flexors in the front and your quads too. You may have to stretch the innerthighs if your legs internally rotate inward. If your knees turn out/supinate out, then just stretch them! Walk with your feet straight, don't walk like a duck or pigeon toed! Everything should be lined up like a straight line, running down your spine (anteriorly, laterally and posteriorly). Sit on a ball chair or just a ball. You can buy ball chairs and other therapy equipment from Isokineticsinc.com.

Prognosis: The chances for arthritis to keep occurring later down the road for somebody, or the chance of new people developing arthritis aren’t bad. About.com

Massage can help osteoarthritis. What massage can do is relieve the pain/inflammation in the muscles/tendons/ligaments surrounding the joint, and help the muscles relax and take away stiffness, increase range of motion, mobility, increase blood flow to and around the area, which will bring oxygen to it and heal it better. Massage also flushes out toxins as well, just like the rest of the body. Everydayhealth.com 

Keep in mind that it's 33.5 lb of pressure put on you per sq inch. So if you learn forward or lean back, etc. 4 inches, take 33.5 lb x 4 in = 134 lb of pressure. 

     

 Ball chairs to help with your posture at home or at work, not just for exercising!

Products that can ease your arthritic pain probably 80%.. Omega-3s will help with any inflammation in your body for whatever reason, it also helps with hormones & chemicals in the brain & body, salmon oil one of the top oils in a capsule.. You get your amount you need, plus get some with DHA for your brain.. Also MaxFreeze gel tip, squeeze tube or spray. This is more natura than Bengay, IcyHot, Biofreeze, and other products with just menthol in it, artificial chemicals/ingredients. You don't want just menthol and the feeling of it! You need arnica, Vitamine E, Tee Tree Oil, and similar things to penetrate in your muscles & bones! These are sold in retail stores, natural ingredients! Of course avoid excessive Omega-6 which come from American or Western diets. Fattening foods, sweets and cakes/cupcakes. The older you get, the more you'll appreciate being pain free then eating junk! 

  Also try Arnica pills at CVS, The Vitamin Shoppr or may have to order them.

Hydration

Hydration 

  Hydration for exercise and sports  

• 14-22 Oz of fluid/water 2 hours before exercise or activity
• 6-12 Oz of fluid/water every 15-20 min
• Any activity after 60 minutes, drink a sports drink. Natural without high fructose corn syrup like Propel products. Drinks or powdered packet mixes 
• You must drink 16-24 Oz of fluid or water with electrolytes in it for every pound of body weight lost or maybe pound of sweat. 

Day to day hydration for men and women

  Men: 13 cups of water or anything with water in it, or 3.0 liters of water per day. 

  Women: 9 cups of water or 2.2 liters of water per day. 

  - When and if you drink milk, juices or pop, of course there's some water mixed with it, but normal water, especially reverse osmosis is more recommended. Shouldn't be drinking pop at all! Pop has phosphoric acid, which inhibits rust, it breaks down things, it's used in fertilizers, salt for ice apparently, animal feed, etc. It's bad for us & our teeth. Water hydrates, flushes out toxins, gives your blood more oxygen. Drink clean filtered water like spring or reverse osmosis water, it's alkaline. Distilled is only good if you're recovering from cancer or things like that because it draws out wastes from chemo. Although plastic is bad I still drink bottled water besides distilled water in a glass..

Importance of bone

THE IMPORTANCE OF BONE AND WHAT CAUSES OSTEOPOROSIS

Of course u might of heard that exercise helps keep the bones strong and build up your bone mass to prevent osteoporosis, well it's TRUE! Lifting weights or any stress on your joints increase mineral salts and production of collagen fibers by ur osteoblasts (bone building cells).

One reason for not having strong bones and losing bone mass is from not lifting weights or having any kind of stress put on your joints. Another reason is not having enough calcium in your system, so your body steals it from your bones of course. And also taking too many medications throughout your lifetime before you get old.. 

Your body goes through remodeling every so often too, and so your bones don't build back up as good as it did when u were younger. The older age groups need to exercise and supplement with calcium, so your bones build back up during the process of ossification.

When u don't have enough calcium, your parathyroid, which is in your throat with your regular thyroid, will increase calcium in your blood by increasing the # of osteoclasts (cells that break down your bone), which isn't good. Now when u do have calcium, your thyroid increases calcitonin, increasing osteoblasts (bone building cells). That prevents your bone from breaking down supplying calcium in your body.. SO u want calcium in your body, NOT from your bones, u want more calcitonin pumping.. 

When u don't exercise or put stress on your joints, your bone won't go through a normal remodeling process.. It's because your not exercising, u lose protein! Your bone won't build itself better the next time around because of not enough calcium and stress.. So remember this and start doing something about it so u don't lose bone mass.. Doctors can't train u, it's up to you to move your butt!

Having a diet without exercising will decrease your bone mass as well and birth control will also affect your bones.. So ladies remember this and be careful about what u do to your bodies!