How to Tell Your Knee Injury Is Bad
Did you know that being able to stand on the knee or even return to the game doesn’t exclude a serious knee injury?
So how can you tell if your knee injury is bad?
The knee is the most unstable joint in the body. Think of all it must do, especially in sport.
Have you ever said, or known anyone to say, “Oh, my knee can’t be injured that bad; it’s not even swollen,” or, “My knee will be fine; I was able to jump right back into the game”?
But is there a way for a layperson to tell if their knee injury is truly bad or just an annoyance?
“Inability to bear weight is a bad sign,” begins John-Paul H. Rue, MD, orthopedic sports medicine surgeon with Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD.
History of Knee Activity
Dr. Rue continues, “If someone tells me they made a cutting or pivoting move, felt a pop in their knee, and couldn’t stand on it after that…that generally means they have had a significant injury, likely a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament.”
That’s a no-brainer: not being able to bear weight or stand on the knee, especially if this experience persists.
What can’t rule out a bad injury?
“But just because someone is able to stand on their leg, or even return to the game doesn’t by itself exclude a significant injury,” says Dr. Rue.
“In general, if you have significant swelling in the knee, or pain with weight-bearing, there is a high chance that you have sustained a significant knee injury.”
You cannot work through or tough out a bad knee injury. And if the anterior cruciate ligament isn’t involved, the situation may involve another ligament or the cartilage (meniscus).
What if your doctor doesn’t think much is wrong and even says you don’t need an MRI? Yet intuitively, you just “know” something is wrong?
Seek a second opinion. This is what my mother did and it turned out she had a meniscus tear and required surgery.
An ACL tear, by the way, may take up to 10 months to fully heal.
But you can’t make a serious knee injury go away by ignoring it.
Dr. Rue specializes in prevention and treatment of sports and exercise injuries. His primary focuses are knee, shoulder and elbow injuries including ACL and cartilage injuries, rotator cuff injuries and overuse tendonitis.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Lopolo
Cause of Elbow Pain When Carrying Things
If you suffer elbow pain when carrying things, especially in just one elbow, there is a likely specific cause of this.
“Elbow pain from carrying things is often due to lateral epicondylitis, otherwise known as tennis elbow,” says John-Paul H. Rue, MD, orthopedic sports medicine surgeon with Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD.
“The pain results from overuse and micro-tears of the tendons of the forearm muscles at their insertions on the bone at the elbow.”
What about Golfer’s elbow?
“Yes, golfer’s elbow can definitely cause pain when carrying things, especially if that involves forceful gripping,” says Dr. Rue.
“Tennis elbow is about five times more common than golfer’s elbow, so from a percentage standpoint, most elbow pain from lifting is due to tennis elbow.”
Golfer’s elbow is known as medial epicondylitis. You need not be a tennis player or golfer to develop these conditions.
Lateral refers to on the outside, and medial refers to inner or on the inside.
I once had pain in the left elbow when I carried things—as long as my hand was gripping the object I was carrying.
I then discovered I could carry the heaviest items if my forearm were placed beneath the object, and my hand was not holding onto it — such as picking up a table with my left hand palm-up and not gripping underneath it, but forearm supporting the weight.
Or, I could carry any weight of shopping sacks — as long as the handle of the sack was looped around my forearm, sparing my hand from holding on (gripping).
So it wasn’t the bending of the elbow that was causing pain; it was the gripping action of my hand (innervating the medial epicondyle tendon), even if my arm was straight.
The medical epicondyle controls most of the hand finger grip! When you carry things, at least items of weight, often you are applying a grip.
This will aggravate the inflammation of the medial epicondyle.
What about the lateral epicondyle? As Dr. Rue says, this too can cause the discomfort, but not because you’re gripping anything.
In the case of the lateral situation, if the forearm is angled a certain way, there will be pain.
Solution to Elbow Pain When Carrying Things
You first need a diagnosis. A sports medicine doctor is the physician of choice for something like this.
Once you’re diagnosed, you will then likely be assigned to a physical therapy program.
It’s pretty hard to go through life avoiding carrying things, especially if the pain is brought on by items that don’t even weigh that much.
Tendons take a very long time to heal. Do not expect a cure after only a month of therapy, though noticeable relief may occur after a fairly short time in cases where the discomfort is only mild.
Athletes will have higher standards for a complete resolution of symptoms.
Prevention of Elbow Pain
To prevent your elbows from hurting when you do the necessary carrying and lifting of day-to-day activities, you should do the following exercises:
Hand grips—these little devices are sold in the sports departments of retailers and online. Use these tools while watching TV or while waiting at traffic stops.
Chest press motions. These can be done with dumbbells, a barbell, equipment or tension bands. You can also build up strength via pushups.
Avoidance of repetitive stress to the forearms, though this will be difficult if you’re a tennis player.
Icing and rest are not enough, especially if your lifestyle calls for frequent carrying of things.
Do not assume elbow pain will go away on its own. Discomfort in a joint is not the same as a strained muscle that goes away after only a few days’ rest.
Dr. Rue specializes in prevention and treatment of sports and exercise injuries. His primary focuses are knee, shoulder and elbow injuries including ACL and cartilage injuries, rotator cuff injuries and overuse tendonitis.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Shaynepplstockphoto
Can Holding onto the Treadmill Hurt Your Shoulders?
Do you do the “shoulder bob” while you hold onto the treadmill when walking?
Have you noticed a mysterious shoulder pain recently that seems to have no cause? (more…)
Can Bench Pressing Cause AC Joint Separation?
A grade 2 AC joint separation is a kind of injury that some weightlifters think can be caused by the bench press.
Do not equate an “injured” AC joint with an actual separation. (more…)
Can an X-ray Miss a Grade 1 AC injury?
Since X-rays look at bones, is it possible that an X-ray can miss a grade 1 AC injury? (more…)
Best Exercises to Heal Golfer’s Elbow
You won’t believe what cured my golfer’s elbow, and it wasn’t quite the standard “rest, ice and avoid the offending activity” either. (more…)
Is an Obese Person Healthy Just Because They Exercise?
Exercise is great for any body, thin or obese.
But an obese person is NOT healthy just because she or he exercises.
One day on the “Dr. Drew” show, Jeannette DePatie, a NAAFA member who was leading exercise classes for the obese a that time, stated that fat people can be healthy as long as they focus on doing healthy things rather than on their size.
In the show she pointed out that the obese people in her aerobics exercise classes, over time, improved their mobility.
As a former personal trainer, I’ll agree that exercise improves ANYONE’s mobility — as I saw this occur with my clients who had compromised mobility.
This includes an obese older woman who had painful osteoarthritis in her knees.
According to DePatie’s reasoning, a smoker or heavy drinker can become “healthy” by taking aerobics classes.
Certainly, their mobility and stamina will improve, but unfortunately, the dangerous effects of smoking and drinking will still occur to the organs.
Obesity, too, has a negative effect on the organs, namely the heart.
Obesity Is an Independent Risk Factor for Disease
Shutterstock/Motortion Films
“Exercise can certainly help an obese person — it can improve heart health and keep a person more limber,” says Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, and Diplomate American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
“But it doesn’t do anything about the long-term negative effects of the obesity — like damage to the internal organs (heart, liver, lungs, pancreas and so on) or damage to the joints from the added stress of having to move all that extra weight.
“Bottom line — certainly exercise, but work on losing the weight too.”
Let us not equate the term “better health” with “healthy.” They are not one and the same. They have two different meanings.
Exercise classes, gym workouts, walking and eating healthier will not undo the intrinsic hazards that obesity inflicts on the body if the fat remains.
The organs will still suffer, even if a 300 pound woman has hired a personal trainer and is now doing the battle rope exercise.
The hope is that her new exercise regimen and better eating habits will result in at least a 120 pound weight loss.
She should not become content with her 300 pound body just because she’s doing box squats combined with an overhead dumbbell press.
- The only way to undo the effects of obesity is to lose excess body fat.
- Therefore, the individual absolutely must focus on losing fat.
I’d like to see more obese men and women working out in the gym, particularly in the free weight area.
But don’t let regular exercise sessions make you complacent about your plus-size body, either.
An obese man or woman STILL needs to lose weight, even if they’re hitting the gym seven days a week — even if your “numbers” are normal.
A UCLA study that analyzed over 136,000 patients (American Heart Journal, Jan. 2009) noted that 75 percent of people hospitalized for heart attack had a normal cholesterol profile.
Often, obese people cite their normal blood numbers as proof they are healthy.
There are many risk factors for heart disease. Obesity is one of them. Exercise does not cancel out the risk-factor nature of excessive body fat when it comes to heart and other organ health.
Dr. Besser provides comprehensive family care, treating common and acute primary conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Her ongoing approach allows her the opportunity to provide accurate and critical diagnoses of more complex conditions and disorders.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Shutterstock/Pressmaster
Sources:
sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090112130653.htm
heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/WeightManagement/Obesity/Obesity-Information_UCM_307908_Article.jsp
Cause of Eating Too Much: Fewer Brain Pleasure Receptors
Wow, could it be true, that something called “pleasure receptors” could be a leading cause of eating too much, of downing a whole box of donuts or quart of ice cream in one sitting?
So what’s causing you to overeat besides boredom, stress and delicious food?
The cause of overeating may be fewer pleasure receptors in your brain … according to Eric Stice, a senior scientist at the Oregon Research Institute, and a senior research fellow at the University of Texas. The study report is in the Journal of Neuroscience (2010).
Here’s what happens when you eat: More dopamine is released. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain.
The pleasure you get from eating your favorite foods is directly proportional to the quantity of dopamine that’s released.
Obese individuals, when compared to lighter-weight people, have a smaller number of dopamine receptors.
This suggests that the obese person will overeat to compensate for this smaller number of dopamine receptors.
The obese person will need to eat more, to get the same pleasure or satisfaction from eating, while slimmer individuals will need to eat less food to get the same rewarding response of satiation.
But the problem doesn’t stop there. In the obese person, the overeating to reap that satisfaction gets amplified by the overeating!
Says Stice in the report: “The weakened responsivity of the reward circuitry increases the risk for future weight gain in a feed-forward manner. This may explain why obesity typically shows a chronic course and is resistant to treatment.”
Now, before you blow this off as a bunch of baloney, images of the brain seem to support this finding.
Solutions to the Brain Receptor Issue
“There are receptors in the brain that target eating behaviors such as the ‘hunger’ hormone (ghrelin, among others),” says Susan L. Besser, MD, with Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore; Diplomate, American Board of Obesity Medicine and board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.
“These hormones help to regulate eating behaviors. There are pleasure receptors too, similar to receptors that contribute to cravings of other substances.
“So yes, these hormones and receptors do affect one’s eating behavior.
“By the way, there is research and now some medications that are used to block these receptors to reduce one’s cravings (an example of this would be Buproprion).
“Just like some people don’t have cravings for other substances — such as alcohol, drugs or tobacco — the same could be said about food cravings.
“Some people are just less susceptible to cravings. Does this mean they actually have more brain pleasure receptors? Possibly, but the research is very limited here (but ongoing).”
Other Causes of Overeating must Be Addressed
They are: stress, anxiety, boredom, social cues (being around other people who are eating; coworkers bringing in baked goods; spouse offering food), miscellaneous cues (TV, chatting on phone, smelling fresh baked goods at grocery store), upbringing (e.g., being rewarded or calmed with food) and poor health habits that trigger hunger, such as eating too much refined food, and inactivity.
Nevertheless, the functional magnetic resonance imaging that was used to measure brain responses in study subjects, can’t be ignored, either.
The participants were tracked for six months, and the imaging on their brains measured responses to a chocolate milkshake.
Those who gained weight showed much less activation in a key area of the brain (dorsal striatum) in response to the milkshake at the six-month follow-up, compared to their original brain scan, and relative to subjects who did not gain weight.
So if you think fewer dopamine receptors are causing you to overeat … re-examine your cues and triggers for overeating, and you’ll surely discover causes that are not related to hunger, though excess intake of refined foods can cause overeating by triggering hunger (white rice, anyone?).
A good trick to practice, if you find it difficult to control the urge to overeat, is to tell yourself ahead of time that you will absolutely stop eating when you realize you’re approaching satiation.
Satiation is when you still have room for more food, but your stomach no longer feels like it’s empty, and you no longer feel it’s time to eat.
Do not eat past the point of satiation, no matter how delicious the food is.
Remind yourself that you can store the food for later eating, when you’re hungry again.
Another trick is to remind yourself that the pleasure of eating is greatest when you’re hungry, not when you’re satiated, let alone full or stuffed.
Dr. Besser provides comprehensive family care, treating common and acute primary conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Her ongoing approach allows her the opportunity to provide accurate and critical diagnoses of more complex conditions and disorders.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
Source: sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727102030.htm
Best Barbell Fat-Burning Routines for Killer Calorie Crushing
Barbells bust bodyfat!
But you need to know the best fat-smashing exercises with barbells and know HOW to do them properly for optimal results.
Barbell exercises that work more than one muscle group are excellent for fat burning.
Because more muscles are used, more calories are burned.
Why spend hours and hours working out using isolated moves like sit-ups when you can burn more fat in less time with these powerful barbell moves?
Fat Burning Benefits of the Barbell Deadlift
No other exercise works as many muscles as the deadlift.
With this one move you can shred calories as you work your hamstrings, quads, calves, glutes, core, and upper body — all in a single shot.
Get a Good Fat Burn by Doing Barbell Squats
Squats are considered an essential exercise because of their calorie burning potential.
Freepik
The weight from the barbell only adds to the effectiveness of this move.
Squats have a positive impact on major muscle groups and overall strength, and it’s just so superior when it comes to fat burning.
Proper form is very essential when doing a barbell squat.
The Bench Press Is Not Just for Building Muscle, but Great for Fat Burning
When many think of the bench press, they picture sweaty, buff bodybuilders in a masculine-looking environment, but the bench press is for everyone.
Shutterstock/Nomad_Soul
If you’re interested in getting rid of some stubborn blubber, then the bench press is a must-have move.
Barbell Overhead Press: Standing Version
When you use a barbell to do the overhead press when standing, many muscles become engaged. This is a move highly effective in upper body muscle development as well as fat burning.
Discover the Fat Burning Action of the Bent-Over Barbell Row
Shutterstock/Catalin Petolea
Bent-over barbell rows engage the lower body, as you use it to keep yourself stable while performing the move.
This exercise also works the chest, biceps, back, plus your core.
As with all forms of lifting weights, proper form is essential.
If you use these five fat burning barbell exercises, the results will amaze you!
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
.
Top image: Freepick.com/lyashenko
How to Make Jogging Burn Fat, Not Muscle
Never mind those images of sickly-looking marathon runners; you CAN make jogging burn all the fat you want–by using a particular technique known as HIIT.
HIIT stands for high intensity interval training.
As a result of its simplicity and basic nature, you might despise jogging as a useless technique when it comes to losing weight.
To reap the full benefits of jogging, mastering the right form, while keeping in mind the following factors is paramount:
Warm-up: You’re highly likely to ignore this stage, since jogging itself might appear as a warm-up exercise.
Walk for five minutes, then stretch for a few minutes before you begin jogging.
Warming up also ensures that your cardiac system is well prepared to enhance your heart rate and improve your blood flow. The warm-up session ideally should not exceed 15 minutes.
After the warm-up, it’s time to begin HIIT.
You should practice diaphragm breathing, rather than breathing from the upper part of your chest, for this increases oxygen flow.
HIIT means brief (15-30 seconds) bursts of your fastest running or jogging, relative to the course you’re on.
So if you’re slowly trotting up an inclining trail, you won’t be outright sprinting it during a 15-30 second burst, but it will be your best “sprint” relative to the incline.
If the course is flat or you’re on a treadmill at zero incline, it will be more like a sprint you’ll do. If you’re on a treadmill, DO NOT HOLD ON.
When it comes to exhalation, use your mouth as much as possible. This ensures that you release as much heat as possible from your system.
After knocking yourself out or nearly doing so with the burst, slow to a very slow trot–very easygoing, maybe even a walk–and do this for two to four minutes to fully recharge you for the next brief burst.
Can you make it to eight bursts? Eight bursts total should amount to no more than four minutes of your hardest work.
But even after just four truly butt-busting bursts, you will begin feeling pretty worked over. Try to complete eight. Take five minutes between burst intervals if necessary.
This is how to make jogging burn fat: HIIT.
Post-workout stretching: To get rid of waste byproducts in your muscles faster, don’t ignore this step. Stretches should be as gentle as possible to allow your body to cool off and relax your muscles.
HIIT is superior to “steady state” jogging for burning fat.
