I have tendonitis. I strained the connective tissue on the inside of my knee. Apparently this isn't a common injury. My PT has only seen it twice. Ever
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I'm admittedly enabling you, but my philosophy is that you have to find some way to stay active when dealing with connective tissue issues (fascia, ligaments, tendons). Those things generally get poor blood flow, which is why they are so slow to heal.
If you can find something that a) doesn't aggravate it but b) elevates your heart rate and circulation (increasing the blood flow to the injury), I think you're going to heal much quicker than if you are sedentary.
No studies to point you to on this, just knowledge gained from a) working with horses, and b) my own experiences. Apparently I bounced back from my tendon injury much quicker than the norm, and I credit it to all the ellipticalling and bike riding I did while injured.
As long as I'm playing doctor, I also recommend alternating ice and heat on it (again, increased blood flow). And be very careful with anti-inflammatories, as there's some evidence that they actually slow healing (again, it's that blood flow thing).
I'm with you - overall, since running my health has been better. Even if he told me not to do anything cardiovascular, I would have anyway. :) IF I can run Pike's Peek, I'm not going to be able if I don't run for 2 weeks. I just won't have the stamina to do it. Luckily we have a recumbant bike at home, so I can watch tv while I ride it. I just don't like it.
I'm with you on the ice/heat thing. I hadn't heard that about anti-inflammatories (since they thin the blood, I'm surprised it slows the blood flow...), but I'm not taking any. I try not to since I donate blood so often and you can't take anything but tylenol before giving blood and I hate tylenol.
FWIW, I think it's a good idea to treat the race as optional. I know that with my injury, I immediately switched my half-marathon from "planned" to "optional", which allowed me to prioritize my healing. It's not fun at all, but when you're injured, you really do have to make recovery job 1.
Oh man, hope that gets better soon! I only disobeyed my doctor's "no running for a month order" once and I paid for it. I guess the most important part is that you get better! I can always carry you down 355 if you're not allowed to run it.
LMAO! Sorry I'm picturing you carrying me down 355, and it's freakin' hilarious. :) Thanks for the offer, but if I can't run the race, then I will be on the sidelines screaming my head off for everyone. I'll even make signs.
Weird that he didn't suggest swimming as a no-impact form of cardio...do you have access to a pool to do laps? MUCH better for your injury. Especially followed up by a soak in a hot tub after you work out.
And YAY to the Maple Leaf Rag from your Canadian buddy!
I actually did go swimming this weekend! (Sam did ok swimming, but only after I asked.) Granted, it wasn't like I was doing laps - I took my brother's girlfriend's 13 year old daughter, so we were going down the slides and diving and just plain goofing off. Still a work out, tho. *wink*
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If you can find something that a) doesn't aggravate it but b) elevates your heart rate and circulation (increasing the blood flow to the injury), I think you're going to heal much quicker than if you are sedentary.
No studies to point you to on this, just knowledge gained from a) working with horses, and b) my own experiences. Apparently I bounced back from my tendon injury much quicker than the norm, and I credit it to all the ellipticalling and bike riding I did while injured.
As long as I'm playing doctor, I also recommend alternating ice and heat on it (again, increased blood flow). And be very careful with anti-inflammatories, as there's some evidence that they actually slow healing (again, it's that blood flow thing).
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I'm with you - overall, since running my health has been better. Even if he told me not to do anything cardiovascular, I would have anyway. :) IF I can run Pike's Peek, I'm not going to be able if I don't run for 2 weeks. I just won't have the stamina to do it. Luckily we have a recumbant bike at home, so I can watch tv while I ride it. I just don't like it.
I'm with you on the ice/heat thing. I hadn't heard that about anti-inflammatories (since they thin the blood, I'm surprised it slows the blood flow...), but I'm not taking any. I try not to since I donate blood so often and you can't take anything but tylenol before giving blood and I hate tylenol.
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And YAY to the Maple Leaf Rag from your Canadian buddy!
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Maple Leaf - ha!
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