Ice pack, which is a form of cold therapy - is absolutely wonderful for relieving the pain of injured knees. However, there are some safety precautions that anyone using cold therapy should know and be aware of.

There are four stages to cold therapy:
1- A cooling sensation that lasts for several minutes
2- The cooling sensation will turn into a dull ache that lasts a few minutes
3- A burning sensation is the next phase and will usually last less than a minute
4- Numbness will set in.

When practicing cold therapy on an injury, the stages should be followed through to numbness because the ease of movement will return briefly and it will help reduce inflammation.

Reasons for a cold pack will vary but they can be used for injuries, when tendonitis flairs up, relief after surgery, sprains and soreness.

Never wear a cold pack when sleeping and if you are alone, have someone check on you after 15 minutes via phone or stop by if you’re using a cold pack. Prolonged exposure to extreme cold can damage tissues and slow down your healing if the treatment is overused. Also, if you suffer from any problems with circulation or are diabetic; consult your physician to make sure that cold therapy is okay for you.

Under the right circumstances, cold therapy is an easy way to get pain relief and help your body heal itself, just make sure that cold therapy is the right way to treat your injury and you’ll be back in the game in no time.

It’s a call no parent wants to get. You’re at work, engrossed in the crisis of the moment that’s yours to solve and your phone rings, it’s your child’s coach and he’s hurt his knee at football practice, and right now it looks pretty bad.

Sports injuries are going to happen as long as there are kids and sports. However, there are some things you can do to help keep yourself from getting a phone call like the just mentioned.

First of all, make sure that the sports your child is enrolled in are overseen by adults that are certified athletic trainers (ATC). An ATC is also trained in the prevention, recognition and immediate care of athletic injuries.

Next, make sure your child understands that protective gear necessary for playing his or her chosen sport as well as wearing that equipment at all times during play. That, “Just this once” time your child doesn’t wear pads or a helmet can be the time he or she suffers an injury.

The importance of warming up and stretching muscles can’t be said enough. Muscles must be warmed up or they run the risk of tearing or strain. Light stretching, jogging and other light warm up exercises will greatly increase your child’s chances of not being on the injured list.

Talk to your child about “R.I.C.E.”. Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation is one of the best early treatments for an injury. Talking to your child about what RICE is as well as why it’s done will help your child not only understand what to do in case of an injury, he or she won’t panic or get upset when these procedures are done in case of an injury.

With warmer weather approaching, it’s also important to talk to your child about heat related illness. Children perspire less than adults and require a higher core body temperature to trigger sweating. Heat-related illnesses include:
*dehydration (deficit in body fluids)

*heat exhaustion (nausea, dizziness, weakness, headache, pale and moist skin, heavy perspiration, normal or low body temperature, weak pulse, dilated pupils, disorientation, fainting spells)

*heat stroke (headache, dizziness, confusion, and hot dry skin, possibly leading to vascular collapse, coma, and death). All of these are dangerous conditions and can even be fatal, but they can be easily prevented by staying hydrated and resting if they experience any of the above symptoms while playing in hot weather.

Sports are important, they help kids stay fit and develop valuable social skills. Knowledge about how injuries happen and what to do when they do is some of the most powerful information you can give you child. Talk to your child and go over the easy tips outlined here and you’ll have taken a great first step to avoiding that phone call!

Within your knee join there is a very smooth fibrous connective tissue, known as articular cartilage. This covers the areas where each bone comes into contact with one another, the $20 phrase would be articular surfaces.

Under normal circumstances, a normal joint this articular cartilage allows for smooth movement within the joint as well as acting as a shock absorber. However, there is a very common disease called Osteoarthritis (also called degenerative joint disease)and that is the degradation of this much needed cartilage. As the disease progresses, the cartilage itself becomes thinner and in some cases may wear away altogether. Along with decreased mobility, there is also pain associated. In addition, the bones themselves become thicker and may form bony “spurs”. Associated with these changes is the inflammation of the synovial membrane or thin lining which surrounds the knee joint to keep the synovial fluid or lubrication in place. Osteoarthritis can form in any joint but is more common in weight bearing joints such as the knee and hip.

Causes of Osteoarthritis

What exactly causes of osteoarthritis are unknown and the reason some people get it and others do not is still being researched. However there are a number of factors that are commonly associated with the onset of the disease that show a direct link to increasing your chances of Osteoarthritis:

Previous Injuries - Previous trauma to a particular joint increases the risk osteoarthritis forming there.
Heredity - Some individuals have a defective gene responsible for cartilage production which increases their susceptibility to osteoarthritis.
Weight - As osteoarthritis commonly occurs in the weight bearing joints, like the knee and hip, excessive body weight can hasten the progression of the disease.
Repetitive overuse - This may be as a result of excessive exercising or repeated strain on a joint over a number long period of time.
Crystal Deposits - Some crystal deposits such as uric acid crystals in gout may accumulate in joints and cause cartilage degeneration and wearing.

Common Symptoms of Osteoarthritis

Deeply aching pain in the joint and pain will often be increased with movement.
Inflammation that is in the joint more often than not.
Stiffness in the joint, most often in the morning. Movement or gentle stretching will decrease the stiffness. A “grinding” feeling or actual sounds coming from the joint upon movement.

If you’re over 50 years of age, osteoarthritis is common in your age group and in particular, women seem more prone to have this condition in one or both knees. Additionally, individuals that play sports such as football and have had a previous injury should be on alert for the symptoms of this condition.

Treatments for Osteoarthritis

While there’s still no cure for this condition, there are a number of things you can do to help alleviate the pain. Wearing a knee support or brace will help by compressing the area around the joint and giving it support. Some people get relief through the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. Losing weight and lightening the burden of the knees is another positive step you can take and significantly slow down the progression of the disease. Hot and cold treatments as needed can offer a good measure of relief from the pain and inflammation, particularly after exercise or activities that used those joints. For extreme cases, knee replacement is also an option.

A groin strain is a tear or rupture to any one of the five adductor muscles. The most common muscle to be injured is the adductor longus muscle which connects from the pubic ramus to the medial (inner) surface of the femur (thigh bone)and it can really sideline a person from their activities if it suffers a strain.

The main function of this set of muscles is simply to pull the legs back towards the midline, a movement termed adduction. When walking normally, the muscles pull and help swing the lower limbs and maintain the balance of the body. A rupture or tear in the muscle usually occurs when sprinting, changing direction or in rapid movements of the leg against resistance such as kicking a ball.

What are the symptoms of groin strain?

* Tightening of the groin muscles and this may not appear for up to 24-hours after the initial injury.
* A sudden sharp pain in the groin area or adductor muscles during exercise.
* Bruising or swelling is common a 1-2 days after the injury.
* Inability to contract the muscles by squeezing the legs together or possibly lifting the leg out in front.
* Pain on stretching the muscles.
* A lump or gap in the adductor muscles themselves may be felt.

There are three grades of muscle strain:
Grade 1 is the mildest with only mild discomfort and a little tenderness.
Grade 2 is more severe and is painful with movement or touch and often there is marked swelling of the area.
Grade 3 is the most severe muscle strain and will be extremely painful with a complete loss of the ability to run and sometimes even walk.

Groin strain treatment

* Apply R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) immediately.
* Rest and use crutches for support if you must move and need assistance.
* See a sports injury professional and get an exercise program to slowly rehab those strained muscles and get yourself back into activities a lot sooner.

Common exercises for rehab of the strain include stretching exercises that are very gradually increased as the healing occurs to build up strength and endurance in the groin muscle.

If you’re curious about the condition Golfer’s Elbow, it’s the polar opposite of Tennis Elbow. Whereas Tennis Elbow is a condition of the outside of the elbow, Golfer’s Elbow attacks the inside of the elbow. The $20 term is flexor / pronator tendinopathy is also seen in tennis players (yes, tennis players can actually get Golfer’s Elbow) that use a lot of top spin and power their forehand shots.

Symptoms of golfer elbow include:
* Pain on the bony bit on the inside of the elbow.
* Weakness in the wrist.
* Pain on the inside of the elbow when you grip something hard.
* Pain when wrist flexion (bending the wrist palm downwards) is resisted.
* Pain on resisted wrist pronation - rotating inwards (thumb downwards).

Common Treatments for Golfer’s Elbow

* Ice the injury for two days (20 min’s on up to six times a day)
* Rest the affected area.
* After 2 days apply heat and use a wrap to hold it in place.
* Use a brace or support to reduce the load on the elbow enabling it to heal.

If You Choose to See a Sports Injury Specialist

* Apply ultrasound or laser treatment.
* Prescribe anti-inflammatory medication.
* Use sports massage techniques.
* Give a steroid injection.

Rest of the elbow is paramount to healing this injury completely. Under proper rest, cold and heat treatments, you can be back in the swing as quickly as two weeks when your Golfer’s Elbow is minor.

Swelling feet is a problem nearly every pregnant woman will tackle at one point or another.

It’s one of the most common complaints and it’s simply when the muscles in the feet have a buildup of fluid that is excessive. This fluid buildup can lead to a rapid weight gain that is purely from the fluid itself. Although it’s more likely to occur in the warmer months, standing without shifting your weight or sitting (where the weight of the stomach on the thighs slows circulation) can both contribute to swelling feet.

There are a few things you can do when your feet swell. Elevate your feet higher than your heart. This means actually taking a little time to relax and literally putting your feet up. Another thing you can do is to put a cold pack on your feet and/or ankles for a short period of time, this will lessen the pain and the “tingly tightness” many women say they feel as their feet are swelling.
If you must stand or sit for a long period of time in your job, take a break and walk around, stretch and change positions. If you feel your feet swelling, stop and put them up. You’ll head off a lot of swelling incidences in this way.

You can help yourself avoid swelling feet by eating a low-salt diet and drinking plenty of water. It may sound crazy but when you’re retaining water, it is important to drink plenty of plain water to help your body flush out the excess fluid. Coffee and tea may be made with water but they are actually dehydrating and should be avoided.

Additionally, if you’re having the problem with swelling feet, as minor as it seems, do discuss it with your primary care physician, as it can be an early warning sign of pre-eclampsia which can endanger both mother and baby, and tends to be an issue in first-time pregnancies more often than not.

So, drink your water, put your feet up and treat those feet!

A major advance in medicine has been made using a very old method. Cryo Therapy isn’t new but the levels and exactness it can be applied with are. In short, it is the process of applying extreme cold directed at damaged tissues and cancer cells. It has the remarkable ability to stop cancer cells from rapidly spreading to other areas of the body.

Individuals with injuries can use cryo therapy to heal themselves and get back into the rhythm of life a lot faster. Although this type of therapy has been use since the mid-1960’s to treat various types of skin tumors, skin tags and other anonomlies; there wasn’t the ability to direct it at specific types of cancers such as prostate, liver and cervical cancers. The cryo therapy is usually recommended when surgery is not an option for the patient and the results of cryo therapy can be promising.

How cryo therapy works is very simplistic. It simply kills the damaged and cancerous cells by blocking off their blood supply through the freezing and thawing of those cells - which renders the harmful cells the cryo therapy is directed at - essentially dead. Another plus to cryo therapy is although you may imagine that cold applied to areas may be painful but cryo therapy is quite the opposite. The majority of patients report no discomfort whatsoever and the few that did encounter discomfort during the procedure reported it as mild.

If you have cancer or you know someone that does - talk to your doctor and explore cryo therapy - it may be a very healthy option to pursue as there is no surgery, no healing time and very little discomfort involved. Additionally, this method of treatment usually has outstanding results on sports injuries that would otherwise take months upon months to heal.

You probably never think about your shoulders and why would you? They are there on your back just doing their job of letting you to push, pull, lift and twist your arms in every direction. If you work out at your gym regularly, you’re more likely to suffer a shoulder injury if you aren’t careful and we have 5 tips to help you ensure that your shoulders stay in their place and aren’t thought about regularly instead of becoming a painful reminded of ,”Oops I shouldn’t have done that”.

Pain is a signal from your shoulders and if you feel any pain whatsoever, stop and see if it continues. You could be tearing ligaments or muscles in the area through over-use or over-excertion, so don’t fall into the motto of, “No pain, no gain” pain is a signal from your body something is amiss. Investigate it.

Tip 1 - Remember your age. You could probably get away with a lot more abuse and malformed lifting techniques in your younger days. If you’re lifting weights and it hurts, modify your lifting style and if it continues, stop. If you push it, you could put too much strain on your shoulders and pay the price with a throbbing, aching shoulder. Higher reps with lower weights is the way to go.

Tip 2- Talk to a pro. This is especially beneficial if you’re going back into the gym and working out after a long absense. Get some tips from someone that is well versed in muscles and exercises to target specific body areas.

Tip 3 - Concentrate on working groups of muscles instead of individual muscles. For optimum shoulder strength, work your muscles in groups. The best work outs will incorporate moves that work a number of muscles instead of just one.

Tip 4- Always do your warm ups. You may think you don’t need to every single time, but you do. Warm up those muscles before you work them and stretch them out. It’s been proven time and again through various studies that a simple warm up can avoid a majority of work out injuries. Doing too much, too often is the number one cause of injuries in people that are new to or revisiting regular work outs.

If you do injure your shoulder, ice and rest are the best remedies for nearly all shoulder injuries, and that’s when you’ll probably be remembering your shoulders, with every movement! Use these tips and keep your workouts (and your shoulders) healthy!

The March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine had an outstanding article about helping decrease the number of overweight teenagers, specifically teenage girls who are at a greater risk for a myriad of health issues including diabetes and heart disease.

A study done by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) named the TAAG (Trial of Activity for Adolesent Girls) was published in the March issues under the title “Promoting Physical Activity in Middle School Girls,” and it showed the programs which linked schools in 6 geographic regions of the U.S. with community partners (such as the YMCA or YWCA, local health clubs, and community recreation centers) increased time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among the middle-school female students by about 2 minutes per day, or 80 calories a week.

This is not a huge commitment for the teenage girls and the outcomes were promising health-wise. Physical activity was measured using accelerometers (a device for measuring the acceleration of motion), rather than self-reported to ensure that the results were accurate. The study showed this moderate after activity could prevent excess weight gain of about 2 pounds per year and could prevent the teen from becoming overweight in later teen years or as an adult.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the TAAG showed a reduction of nearly 9 minutes of sedentary behavior in girls in the intervention schools. Furthermore, the best results were seen in programs offered between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, which suggest that after school programs are more effective than programs offered at other times, such as morning weekdays and weekends. Research has shown that adolescents, especially girls, become less active during the teen years and are at a greater risk of obesity.

The study results support the need for schools and community programs to work together to provide opportunities for physical activity programs in after school settings. Even better, if you’re able, get out and get active with your child after school. Stop on the way home from school at a park, take a brisk walk and talk about the events of your days and if you work or are unable to do so, consider signing your daughter up for after school activities - her health will benefit greatly!

If you’d like more information on the NHLBI’s Obesity Education Initiative and the NIH’s We Can! public awareness program to prevent childhood obesity, can discuss resources that encourage increased physical activity, the value of decreased screen time, and better food choices for children and families. Check out their website at We Can! (Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition), http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov .

Whiplash is usually thought of as purely a result of a fender bender in a car. However, it’s also a common sports related injury although the reason for the injury is the same.

A whiplash is simply an injury that has occurred because the full body was traveling forward usually in a vehicle of some sort and then vehicle was suddenly stopped due to an impact. A whiplash can also occur from a blow suffered to the neck area that stops the body’s forward movement.

A whiplash is a sneaky condition. It usually won’t rear its painful head for anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after the injury. And it’s very easy to spot when it’s happening. There will be a marked pain and stiffness in the neck which will develop slowly and peak after about two to three days. Additionally, there will be a reduced range of motion in the neck area. Headaches are also a common side effect from a whiplash.

As with any injury to the neck, have it checked by a medical professional to rule out anything serious such as an injury that mimics whiplash initially but may actually be a more serious injury. Once you rule out anything serious, you can manage your whiplash at home. One of the best treatments you can do early on for a whiplash is to use ice on the affected area to manage the pain. 10-15 minutes of ice on the painful area with 20-30 minutes off is a good schedule to follow.

Range of movement exercises are also good. Let pain be your guide for how far the head may be turned on the neck and don’t push it. Mobility will return slowly, but you need to keep those muscles loose through a little exercise.

One exercise you can do is to sit up straight with your hands on your thighs and keeping your shoulders forward, move your head to the left as far as pain will allow and again, don’t push it. Try to hold to a count of 10 but it’s okay if you only make it to 2 in the beginning. Repeat with the right side and do this at least twice a day.

No matter how it happened, whiplash is no fun but with rest, ice and exercise; you can get back on your feet and be a 100% again in no time at all.