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SPORTS MEDICINE BLOG |
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Q. When should a sports injury be rested?
A. An
athlete must first realize that rest is bad and activity is good after an
injury. Over 90 percent of athletic injuries involve the
ligaments, tendons, and
muscles, which become stretched, torn, and weak. Resting injured areas just
encourages stagnation of blood and damaged tissue, resulting in increased
swelling and scar tissue formation. The longer an athlete restricts movement
after an injury, the longer it will take to heal. For each day of non-movement,
two days are added to the length of rehabilitation.
Answer by
Ross Hauser, M.D. |
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Q. The MRI says I need surgery
A. An MRI never could, nor can it ever, make the
diagnosis of what is causing the athlete's pain and injury. Only a health care
clinician can make the diagnosis. MRIs are notoriously inaccurate. People with
no pain often exhibit many abnormalities on MRI scans, while people with
injuries often show abnormalities that have nothing to do with their pain.
We have a lot of links on MRI's limitations
WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY MRI SHOWS
A HERNIATED DISC?
Never Have Knee
Surgery Based on an MRI Diagnosis
WHAT
DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE NOT ORDERING AN MRI?
Answer by
Ross Hauser, M.D. |
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Q:
I have a torn labrum in my
shoulder
I've had surgery on my
supraspinatus and physical/massage therapy. I still
seem to have an
impingement around the coracoid area of my shoulder, according
to my therapist. Would the labrum have anything to do with the impingement. I've
ruled out vertebral issues and there is no impingement to the brachial plexus.
Thanks for your input.
A. Typically we find that people who have chronic shoulders issues have laxity
in their
glenohumeral joint.
Because the main shoulder joint is not solid or stable because of
ligament injury, the laxity
causes a pinching on structures in the joint such as the
rotator cuff tendons
and
glenoid labrum. These types of injuries and mechanics are easily treated
with
Prolotherapy. Athletes only can generate power if their muscles can
contract against joints that are very stable. Joints where there is excessive
movement will cause the muscles to loose power. This is one of the main
reasons why athletic performance goes down with injury. There is no power there
even if during weight lifting the muscles have a lot of power. In other words a
pitcher might note that the amount of weight they can lift has stayed the same
but when they throw a pitch their speed has decreased from 92 mph to 85. I can
tell you as well as them that in the pros they are going to get rocked if their
fast ball is only 85. Bottom line is you need Prolotherapy.
Answer by
Ross Hauser, M.D.
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Q:
Will stretching help?
No matter what sport you watch, you will
always see athletes on the ground, trying to
manipulate their bodies into weird contortions in an effort to stretch out tight
muscles. What happens when you overstretch a rubber band? It snaps!
More>>> |
Q: DISLOCATED
SHOULDER
I dislocated my shoulder for the fifth time. The
previous two times, surgery was suggested. How long should I wait to see a
Prolotherapy doctor regarding treatment of this injury?
A. Go to the
Prolotherapist as soon as possible. Sounds like your ligaments
are in bad shape. You will need anywhere from 6 - 10 visits.
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ANTERIOR CRUCIATE: CASE HISTORY
A young basketball player suffered an Injury when another player fell on the
back of her leg. She felt immediate pain, but continued to play the rest of the
game. After the game her knee was painful and swollen. She limped around for a
few days and it seemed to improve. Each time she played it would swell and hurt
to where she needed to be pulled from the game.
She had torn her anterior cruciate ligament. Her knee was drained and she was
given
NSAIDS,
which did nothing to get rid of her pain. She even considered surgery, but came
to see me instead. She was in a great hurry to begin the season in 10 weeks, so
she received Prolotherapy injections to the anterior cruciate ligaments of the
injured knee once each week for five weeks. She allowed it to heal. She returned
for the next season and, despite the lack of pre-season training, she went on to
be a leading scorer—to her and her teammates’ delight. Prolotherapy does indeed
regenerate torn cruciate ligaments and, as a consequence, (In many cases) it
allows people to get right back into their sporting activities without some
prolonged rehabilitation program that is typically needed for knee ACL injuries.
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Disclaimer: The
physician you are visiting has had the benefit of performing medical
examinations and laboratory tests to determine the degree of your
symptoms. Important tools in not only prescribing a treatment plan but
also in determining your response. If you have concerns about your
treatment, please direct your questions to your physician because that is
the proper course to take.
Prolotherapy may not be effective for every
individual and there are risks involved, these risks should be discussed with
your physician.
Results achieved with some may not be typical of all. Please consult a
physician. |
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