INJURY CAUSE, PREVENTION AND RECOVERY: PART III
Part III: RECOVERY
1) Rest. Avoid resistance exercising the same muscle group 2 days in a row. Muscles need time to recover. Therefore it is sometimes more efficient and one gets stronger exercising the same muscles every other day. And if you have an injured muscle or joint, you may need to rest that area for longer than you would like. Most prolonged injuries are from lack of sufficient rest and recovery time.
2) Drink Lots of Water. Hydrated cells heal faster.
3) Electrolytes. Drink coconut water, take a Magnesium/Potassium supplement, or put just a pinch of sea salt in your glass of water.
4) Fish Oil. Omega 3’s help one’s body get rid of the lactic acid buildup more quickly, as does warming down.
5) Chiropractic. We are not “back doctors," although our primary focus is the spine and nervous system. The spinal cord is encased and protected by the vertebra. The brain, by the skull. Chiropractors make sure one’s nervous system is not being interfered with via vertebral subluxations. These are misalignments in the vertebral column that irritate the nerves and cause them to be over facilitated; in other words, they keep firing, which causes muscles to continually contract. (As an aside - if the nerves that are being irritated innervate the internal organs such as the stomach, intestines or pancreas, this can cause digestive and gastrointestinal problems; the kidneys and liver, detoxification problems, etc.)
6) Applied Kinesiology. Kinesiology is the study of muscles and movement. Applied Kinesiology utilizes muscle-testing techniques to determine where there are muscular, structural and functional imbalances in the body. Treatment involves balancing the musculoskeletal system by stimulating various reflexes to enhance lymphatic circulation and blood flow, and/or treating the muscle at its origin and insertion (where they attach via tendons to the bone), or in the belly of the muscle where the muscle spindle is regulating contraction and relaxation. Treatment may also involve recommending specific nutrients to speed up the healing process. Overall, Applied Kinesiology includes many techniques to help all the body systems work together efficiently and effectively to promote healing.
How do you know if you need help?
1) If you injure yourself by overdoing it or using incorrect form, and your body doesn’t self-repair within 3-4 days using the tools I have just given (rest, fish oil, electrolytes, water, stretching), you may have a subluxation in your vertebrae or other joints. This can cause nerve irritation, which in turn leads to improper functioning of your muscles and joints.
2) If your spine is not properly aligned or you have a muscle injury, your body will compensate, consciously or subconsciously, by altering posture or using other muscles - the synergists. You may think you’re fine, but then in a few days, or even weeks, another problem crops up. You may think it’s unrelated, but a majority of the time it IS related. So another sign of needing assessment and treatment is a recurring injury, either in the same muscle/joint or one that may appear to be completely unrelated.
3) Lastly, everyone should have her/his spine checked. Poor spinal alignment and poor posture can lead to a whole host of problems: musculoskeletal, digestive, endocrine, genitourinary, cardiovascular, etc. Remember, the cranium and spine protect your brain, spinal cord and spinal nerves. The brain and nervous system have supreme control of all functions in the body. Therefore, if one has poor posture, recurrent injuries, or weakness there is very likely an alignment problem - a structural imbalance. As with any mechanical or biomechanical system, structure dictates function. So to recover from injury and perform maximally make sure that your structure is aligned and balanced!