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Exercising With Arthritis

When you’re experiencing pain brought on by arthritis, you may feel yourself naturally slowing down. However, exercise is one of the best ways to prevent arthritis from worsening, and can help alleviate painful symptoms. Arthritis sufferers who don’t exercise may fall victim to muscle stiffness and increased joint pain, making it more difficult to function on a daily basis.

Why Exercise?

Arthritis sufferers can reap many rewards with a healthy dose of exercise:

• Weight Loss: Losing weight reduces the strain placed on your joints. Losing just 10 pounds,has been shown to noticeably reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis. For instance, many cases of knee osteoarthritis are brought on by too much weight being placed on the knee joint.
• Building Muscle: Exercising helps to strengthen the muscles around your joints. Strong muscles can better support the joints, thereby reducing the pressure placed on them. Some exercises can also increase stability in the joint.
• Improving Flexibility: Increasing your flexibility through exercise can help improve the function of your muscles, bones and joints. This means movement becomes a little smoother and may require a little less effort. Increased flexibility also greatly reduces your risk of a fall or injury.
• Enhancing Sleep: Exercise can lead to a better night’s sleep. A good night’s sleep allows your joints the rest they need and can help you feel energized in the morning, leaving you more likely to get out there and exercise again!

Types Of Exercise

Often a doctor will recommend therapeutic exercise before giving the go ahead to participate in recreational activity. Therapeutic exercise is lead by a professional and prescribed very specifically to address the symptoms of your arthritis.

• Range of motion exercise– These types of exercises usually focus on increasing flexibility and improving range of motion. They are especially helpful in reducing stiffness and improving posture. Yoga is a good recreational activity that includes both stretches and range of motion exercises.
• Low-Impact aerobic exercise– This type of exercise works large muscles in the body. It is aimed to help with the function of the lungs and heart. Because aerobic exercise usually involves repetitive and rhythmic motion (almost like dancing) that is low-impact, this type of exercise is a good way to have fun while working out. Walking, swimming and biking are all considered low-impact aerobic activities.
• Strengthening exercise– This type of exercise is aimed at improving the strength of your muscles and increasing joint support. Strength training can greatly reduce your risk of experiencing bone loss as a result of inactivity. Resistance is a key component strengthening exercise. Slowly increasing the amount of resistance is what helps build strength over time. Strong muscles can help support aching joints.

Staying Safe During Winter Workouts

Winter is upon u and being bundled up inside seems like the only place to be. This is a season that often threatens our exercise routines. Cold temperatures, dark mornings and evenings, snow and ice – there are all kinds of excuses to prevent you from hitting the trails or the gym. Consider these tips to keep your workouts in check over the next few months:

• Switch it up– You can use the cold weather as an excuse to change up your workout routine or try a new indoor sport. Your body benefits from participating in an array of physical activities that work and strengthen different groups of muscles. Instead of your usual 5 mile neighborhood trek, try swimming laps in an indoor pool.
• Build flexibility– Stretching works to loosen and warm your muscles before a workout and helps prevent cramping and soreness when cooling down. Flexibility also helps allow your body to perform at its best. Need to get up and do something, but can’t leave the house? Allow yourself an some time to really stretch your muscles (anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour) and then try a stationary workout, like sets of crunches, push-ups or squat jumps.

Stay Smart Outdoors: Winter Workouts

Some conditions allow for cold weather workouts as long as you take certain precautionary measures. No one can keep you from working out in extreme weather, but doing it responsibly is completely up to you.

• Cover up- Exposure is what makes you vulnerable to the dangers of cold weather. Depending on the temperature, be sure to cover certain areas of your body to either better maintain internal temperature or protect vulnerable skin from frostbite. Covering your skin doesn’t mean waddling out for a run in a ski suit. Overdressing is actually one of the most dangerous things you can do in cold weather. Wearing too many clothes causes you to sweat more and holds in that sweat (which will become cold). Wear a thin, water resistant layer (you can have more than one) of clothing between you and the winter air. Cover your head with a hat.
• Factor it all in- What’s the windchill? Is there a chance of precipitation? Is there ice on the ground? Is the sun out? What is the humidity level? There are several things you should consider before making the decision that a workout is safe.

How A Correct Squat Can Help You Prevent Injuries

Many athletes constantly suffer from injuries. While sometimes these injuries are caused by sports accidents involving heavy impacts, often they are related to improper body movements during exercise, which put excessive strain on the body. Not only does incorrect movement during exercise hurt your body, but incorrect movement during any type of activity you engage in throughout your day can be harmful as well. Maintaining a healthy diet, getting ample sleep and regularly exercising are all important to stay in good shape, but these are not enough to become your best, fittest and healthiest self. Knowing how to correctly move your body is crucial to prevent injuries and live a pain-free life. Especially if you often engage in very intense exercise, it is important to learn how to use your body in the correct way and to minimize the strain put on your joints, muscles and tendons. But even if you aren’t into sports, any movements that you perform during the day, for example while sitting at your desk at work can leave your body in a very bad state if you aren’t moving correctly.

Pain Affects Your Overall Quality of Life

If you regularly engage in exercise that leaves you with a constant lower back pain or come home from work with a sore neck every day, this will affect your overall quality of life. You won’t be able to sleep properly, you might be in a bad mood if the pain doesn’t go away and might not be able to play sports as you once did. All of this will wreak havoc on your physical and mental health. Eventually, small discomforts can turn into serious injuries that might require surgery or become chronic conditions. If you are constantly hurting, you need to take action. Just as you stop eating candy or start better brushing your teeth when you are having oral health problems, a badly functioning body also needs to be treated. The earlier you take action, the easier it will be to repair your body and have it function at 100 percent again. Let’s look at a key body movement that most humans perform daily, which can leave the body impaired if consistently performed incorrectly.

Get Your Squat Right

A squat isn’t just an exercise that is performed by gym-goers, it is actually a basic human movement that each of us performs, in a way, many times each and every day. Every time you sit down and stand up from your sofa, desk chair or toilet, you are performing a type of squat. If you carry out this movement incorrectly, your body will warn you about this through a pain signal. It might take a lot of incorrect squatting movements for you to become aware of the pain, but eventually the pain will become more intense, especially if you often carry out bad form squat movements during high intensity exercise.

If you can’t perform a proper squat, this indicates that you either don’t know how to do a squat correctly, or that you just lack the range of motion in certain parts of your body to perform a good squat.

Learning how to squat correctly is important for many movements you perform during everyday life, as well as for just about any type of sport. Anytime you perform a squat movement, whether it be at the gym or when picking up your bowling ball, you need to execute the squat movement using correct form in order not to excessively strain your body.

To squat correctly, you need to make sure you start off in the right position, with a neutral spine and your feet more or less straight, positioned just outside your shoulders. Keep your body weight centered over the middle of your feet. You use your feet to create stability by sort of screwing them into the ground, pushing them outward, your left foot to the left and your right one to the right, while keeping them in their straight position. Squeeze your glutes and tighten your abs. Keep your ears over your shoulders and look forward. Lift your arms up to about chest level and make sure your shoulders are pulled back. Slightly rotate your hands externally. Now you start lowering yourself, keeping your arms in front of you and your back flat, driving your knees sideways. Try to keep your shins vertical and don’t overextend your lumbar spine. Once you go further down into your squat, you’ll start to become aware of any issues with range of motion you might have. Keep going down pushing your knees outward while holding your abs tight, back flat and shins vertical. You want to drop your hip below your knee, but if this is not possible without compromising your form, you shouldn’t try to force it. It is better to perform a higher squat correctly than to sink lower down with bad form. Come out of the squat the same way you sank down into it, keeping proper form.

Regularly performing a squat will help you determine whether your body is in good shape or if you need to work on your mobility. Anyone should be able to perform a basic squat for at least ten minutes without compromising form. If you can’t perform a correct squat, you’ll have to work on the parts of your body that are lacking range of motion. Determining what these are can be quite difficult and you might want to consult with a physical therapist about this. Daily stretching and mobilization exercises can help you improve your body’s range of motion and consequently enhance your performance and prevent injuries.

What If Your Pain Doesn’t Go Away?

If you are suffering from severe pain in your feet, ankles, shoulders, elbows or knees that isn’t being resolved by moving correctly and performing the right mobilization and stretching exercises, you may need to see an orthopedic surgeon for a thorough diagnosis of your injury.
Matthew Boes, M.D. has years of experience treating sports related injuries. He loves playing sports himself and knows the feeling of not being able to properly play the sport you are passionate about due to injury. Contact Dr. Matthew Boes today for more advice on injury prevention or to schedule an appointment to diagnose your injury.

The Stiff or “Frozen” Shoulder

Although not related to the cold weather of winter, I thought it would be helpful to discuss a common shoulder problem known as “adhesive capsulitis” or “frozen shoulder.” Frozen shoulder most often affects people between the ages of 40 and 60 and is more common in women. Normal shoulder function depends on pain-free, fluid, and unrestricted motion of the joint. As such, patients afflicted with frozen shoulder can be significantly debilitated with everyday activities such as work, recreation, and sleep impacted. Though the cause of frozen shoulder is not clearly understood, there are certain known risk factors. Below we’ll delve into the symptoms, risk factors, and possible treatment options for frozen shoulder.

Symptoms

Frozen shoulder results from thickening of the tissue that surrounds and stabilizes the shoulder joint making it tight and difficult to move. The tissue may also become significantly inflamed and or irritated making motion of the shoulder painful. Frozen shoulder often follows three predictable phases each with slightly different symptoms as outlined below.

•A dull ache and onset of worsening pain during the first stage (“freezing phase”).

•A slight reduction in pain during the second stage (“frozen phase”) where the shoulder becomes significantly stiff with very little mobility in the shoulder.

•A slow return to normal and pain-free motion in the shoulder in the final stage (thawing phase).

Each phase may last from a few weeks to several months with the complete course of the condition lasting for 18-24 months.

Risk Factors

There are certain factors that can make a person more likely to develop frozen shoulder. These includes:

•Diabetes

•Thyroid dysfunction (hypo- or hyperthyroidism)

•Parkinson’s disease

•Cardiac disease

•Immobility. If a person becomes immobile for a period of time, usually do to a surgical procedure or injury, then their risk for developing frozen shoulder increases.

Treatment

The most common treatment for frozen shoulder is non-surgical with the aim to reduce irritation and pain in the shoulder and then slowly regain full motion through gentle stretching exercises.

Common treatment methods include:

•Anti-inflammatory medicine

•Steroid injections

•Physical Therapy – both home stretching and office-based treatments

In rare cases where non-surgical treatment fails to resolve the condition, surgery is generally very successful at restoring full shoulder function. The procedure is done athroscopically, or through tiny incisions, and involves gentle manipulation of the shoulder with the patient anesthetized as well as release or cutting of any tight scar tissue around the shoulder.

Runner’s Dilemma: Shin Splints

The feeling of the wind at your back. The resounding thud of your feet. The ground passing beneath you. A comforting burn in your chest. If you’re a runner, there are a plethora of elements you enjoy about this activity. However, the ache and pain of shin splints is definitely not one of them. Most runners will experience medial tibial stress syndrome at some point in their running career. Fortunately, the condition is easily managed and shouldn’t get in the way of your running!

What Causes Shin Splints?

Shin splints occur when excessive force or strain is placed on the muscles, connective tissues and bone of the shin. People with extreme arches (either very flat or very arched) are often more susceptible to experiencing shin splints. While shin splints most commonly affect runners, dancers are also at risk. If your running shoes are ill-fitting or extremely worn, your feet may lack the support they need, making you more susceptible to shin splints. Downhill running also makes you more likely to develop this condition.

How Can I Prevent Shin Splints

You can help prevent shin splints by:

•Avoiding sudden increases in activity or changes in workouts. Instead, slowly ease into a new workout, allowing your body time to adjust.

•Engage in other low-impact activities in addition to running.

How Are Shin Splints Treated?

Shin splints, like any other overuse injury, are often treated with rest. This doesn’t mean completely avoiding activity, but instead engaging in low-impact activities (biking, swimming, etc.) until the shin has had time to heal. An over-the-counter pain medication can help manage discomfort, as can ice.

Fact vs. Fiction: Debunking Sports Injury Myths

Don’t believe everything you hear. This old adage also rings true when it comes to sports injuries. You’ve probably encountered a few coaches or friends who are sure they know exactly what your injury is, why you have it and how to treat it. Following are a few common sports injury myths and the truth behind them.

•Following ACL reconstruction and recovery, the knee will be stronger than it was prior to the injury. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. Your original ACL will always be stronger than a replacement. Your natural tissues will always support your knee more effectively. However, if the procedure and recovery goes well, a replacement can develop comparable strength.

•Curveballs cause injury in young pitchers. In reality, poor technique and overuse more likely causes injury in young pitchers. It’s not throwing a particular pitch that puts a player at risk. It’s that certain pitches are more difficult to execute properly.

•Heat after an injury will help with healing. This isn’t always true. Check out this blog post, which debates whether ice or heat is more effective in relieving the symptoms associated with injury. You should never apply heat to a swollen or inflamed injury.

•If you have shin splints, you should run on them until the pain subsides. Shin splints are usually the result of overuse and should be treated with rest, ice and anti-inflammatory medication. When you return to running, look into preventative measures, such as key stretches and making sure your shoes fit and are compatible to your foot-type.

Remember that every injury is different and your best bet is to speak to a physician if you have a sports injury that will not go away.

Goals Impact Feelings After Win/Loss

Are there factors that can predetermine how strongly you feel a loss? Maybe if you or your team were rumored to win. Maybe if the loss breaks a winning streak. And maybe, a new study published in Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology says, if your goals from the outset were to keep others from outperforming you.

The study, published earlier this month, set out to determine how the goals a player sets prior to competition can affect the amount of shame or pride they feel after either winning or losing. What the study found may not completely surprise you, but it can serve as a reminder that the satisfaction a player takes from a win or loss is greatly affected by their outlook before the game even begins.

• The study asked more than 50 students to play 24 rounds of Tetris.

• Participants were informed of the criteria for earning a point, which was changed prior to each round.

• Participants were then asked to rate their feelings of shame and pride.

The study found that a person’s motivation in a game (i.e., prevent being outperformed by others v. outperform others) greatly impacts the amount of shame or pride they feel upon winning or losing. Those who were instructed to outperform others felt more shame when they lost. Those asked to prevent being outperformed by others felt more pride if they won. These feelings also determined whether or not a person wanted to continue playing or stop altogether.

Researchers who lead the study encouraged athletes to “focus on what they can achieve, and not what they have to lose.”

Matthew T. Boes, orthopaedic surgeon, knows that maintaining a good attitude and positive outlook is all part of the game!

Orthopaedic Injuries And Driving

If you’ve suffered an injury that has left you in a cast or brace, or recently undergone a procedure that is associated with a lengthy recovery phase, you’re probably looking to get back to your normal routine as soon as possible. However, one question I often get is about driving and when one can safely get back behind the wheel.

Obviously, every case and injury is different, and therefore timing may vary and you should talk to your doctor about specifics. However, following are general rules-of-thumb.

• You should never drive if you have a cast or brace on your right leg or on your wrist or elbow that prevents you from safely operating a car.

• If you recognize that your injury/treatment in any way requires you to do something different than what you’re used to when driving, you should be cautious about getting behind the wheel. Although you may be able to adapt and make the necessary changes, any sort of delay in reaction can have serious consequences.

• If you are sleeping poorly because of pain or medication as a result of your injury, remember that your reaction times and alertness may be affected.

• If you think you are ready to get behind the wheel, consider going to a large, empty parking lot and make sure you can operate the vehicle safely.

Getting back to your normal routine after an injury and/or surgery is important. Don’t be afraid to talk with your doctor about any issues you are facing or questions you have regarding the recovery process. Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr. Matthew T. Boes is always open to discussion. Call today!

Three Ways To Prevent Your Child’s Athletic Injury

As the parent of a young athlete, it’s likely that few things make you prouder than seeing your child playing a sport they love. The possibility of them suffering a sports-related injury can have your feelings split between a desire to see them healthfully participating and an instinct to protect them from harm. While you can’t predict or prevent your child from having a sports-related injury, you can play a significant part in reducing your child’s risk.

• The majority of sports-related injuries in young athletes result from improper technique or training. While you yourself may not know a lot about the sport your child plays, there are plenty of coaches and trainers who do! Do some research before settling on a team or coach, and look for qualities like knowledge of the sport, experience, willingness to guide and help players and patience. Make sure that your child listens to instructions and follows the guidelines and training routine set out for them.

• A physical assessment and open discussion with a doctor before allowing your child to begin a sport is crucial. A physical is designed to spot anything that could prevent your child’s safe participation in the sport of their choice.

• Make warm ups and cool downs a part of any practice, even at home. Even if your child is looking to toss a ball around outside with some friends, encourage a light and quick warm up to get the muscles going. Suggest they take a walk around the block as a group before. To cool down, have your child perform some simple stretches and drink a glass of water.

Call Dr. Matthew T. Boes orthopaedic surgeon if your child suffers from a sports related injury!

Avoiding Injuries Caused By Weight Training

Shoulder injuries are the most common type of injury among athletes employing weight training to build strength and muscle. These injuries are often a result of overuse. Bursitis, tendonitis and various strains and sprains are all painful results of training incorrectly.

Here are some ways to prevent these kinds of injuries.

1. Do the same amount of “push” and “pull” exercises. For every exercise that requires a pushing motion, match it with one that requires pulling. This way you are working complimentary muscles equally.

2. Use a neutral or parallel grip. This grip requires you to keep your elbows close to your body (proper training) and is the easiest on your shoulders. Your palms should face each other when in a neutral grip.

3. Design a workout schedule that allows you both enough shoulder workout time and enough time between those workouts to recover and rest. Many athletes who weight train use an “upper/lower” split, meaning the first half of the week they’ll work their shoulders and the upper half of their body, while the second half they’ll work the lower.

4. Adjust your routine to avoid exercises that cause you discomfort. You should be able to differentiate between the good burn of a challenging lift, and the discomfort, unnatural, pinching pain caused by an exercise that doesn’t suit your body and musculature.

5. A wide grip when doing pull ups does not widen your musculature. It puts unnatural strains on your body. Always keep your grip closer together, and comfortable, when doing pull ups.

Call Dr. Matthew Boes orthopaedic surgeon today if you’re seeking a little more advice on safe workout and injury prevention!