It is not only important for coaches to be prepared in emergency situations, but for parents and friends to be prepared as well. The National Center for Sports Safety recommends that spectators carry a first aid kit of their own to games and practices. This kit should include the items listed below.

• Sport Safety Training Injury Prevention and Care Handbook
• Non-powdered Barrier Gloves
• Resuscitation mask/face shield
• Cold Pack
• Bandage Strips
• Patch Bandage
• Elastic Fabric Flexible Bandage
• Kling Roller Gauze
• Eye Dressing Kit (Eye Patch and Clear Medical Tape)
• Eyewash
• Adhesive Tape
• Antibiotic Ointment
• Anti-septic wipes
• Alcohol Wipes
• Triangular Bandage for sling
• Insect Sting Ointment
• Hydrocortisone Cream
• Sun Block (30) SPF
• Insect Repellant
• Scissors
• Tweezers

Temperature highs have been in the 30s while lows have ranged in the teens. Since we’re used to warmer temps here in Alabama, freezing weather is an easy excuse to not keep your resolution. Here’s what you need to know to keep warm and motivated when the thermometer drops.

• Wind chill can make it worse. Wind chill will eliminate the area of warm-air insulation around your body and get through clothes. Check the forecast and pay attention to wind chill. If it is below zero, skip outdoor routines.
• Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water before, during and after any exercise. It’s just as easy to get dehydrated in cold weather as it is in the heat.

Properly gearing-up is a good way to stay motivated.

• Head, shoulders, knees, and toes. When your body gets cold, blood rushes to your core. So it’s important to wear clothes that keep your extremities warm. Wear a hat, headband, or helmet for the head where up to 40% of body heat escapes. Layer gloves and socks if you don’t have insulated pairs.
• Motivation. Maintaining the self-control to exercise can be tough in ideal weather. Freezing temperatures make it tougher. Properly gearing-up and preparation is a good way to maintain the motivation.
• See your physician first. There’s a reason we repeat this so much. Beginning any sort of routine means you should check with your doctor. Even if you’re a veteran of living an active lifestyle you should make it a point to get a physical. Especially if you’re used to particular environmental conditions; joints and other parts of the body are affected by the environment.

What are you doing to stay motivated in times of unexpected weather changes? Tell us in the comments.

5 Steps to Acceptance

Injuries can change your life dramatically — sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently. Accepting a part of your life has changed can be a challenge, just like any other traumatic experience. Some people in beginning recovery will go through five stages of acceptance similar to the steps of acceptance for a death.

1. Denial about the injury’s severity or that the injury even happened is first. This could be from shock or fear.
2. Giving up some control over life during recovery can be frustrating and leads to anger. Anger maybe directed at yourself or at friends and family.
3. When the anger subsides you may begin to bargain with yourself. You promise you won’t train as hard or you will train harder than before.
4. Feelings of depression about the future are next. Will your body be the same? What will you have to give up? How much will my life be different?
5. Acceptance is the final step. This last step is also the only proactive step where real recovery can begin.

Once reality sets in you can begin talking with your physician or physical therapist about the recovery process. You should do the following together:

• Talk about developing a support network. This can be friends, family and others going through similar recovery. It’s important to keep in mind that injury and recovery affect everyone differently so never compare your progress. Also, your network should be ready to listen, offer support and never push you.
• Determine, with your medical professional, a list of milestones. Be realistic and honest with yourself. Make sure to listen when your physical therapist offers his opinion or gives orders. A good PT will be honest even when it hurts.
• Find the things in life that motivate you. Motivation makes the recovery process easier.
• Explore other hobbies or interests. Ask your PT what activities are acceptable during recovery, and then listen. Hobbies and interests keep your mind sharp and keep your thoughts away from your injury.
• Think happy thoughts.

Your physician or PT may have other suggestions, but if he or she doesn’t bring up your emotions then you should. Communicate and be open. Depression makes recovery difficult and it could lead to a re-injury if you’re not honest with yourself.

Share your recovery stories in the comments. Did you feel depression or other emotions during recovery?

Here’s how:

• If you’re a runner, replace your shoes regularly.
• Watch your step when outdoors. Holes are ankles worst enemy.
• Warm-up before any running and sports.
• Ask your physician if you should wear an ankle brace.
• If you’re active, cross train to avoid overuse injury.

Sprains, strains, Achilles Tendonitis, and blisters are ankle-related problems. Some ankle injuries can be treated at home with ice packs or by elevating your feet. The more severe problems require a trip to your doctor.

Certain injuries to the ankle respond well to arthroscopy, a surgical technique in which the physician inserts a needle-shaped fiber optic telescope, or arthroscope, in the joint through an incision approximately 1/8 inch long.

Normally done as an outpatient procedure, arthroscopy causes less trauma to the tissues than traditional, more invasive surgeries. You may want to discuss the arthroscopic procedure with your physician to see if it is the right solution for your particular ailment. Your doctor can guide you and explain expectations, including your timetable for recovery.
I’ve been lucky and have never severely hurt my ankles. Have you?// <![CDATA[//

And since an estimated three million kids are injured each year while playing sports it’s hard to blame anyone for tip-toeing the line. There are three kinds of injuries you should be on the look out for when your kid starts a sport: growth-plate injury, sprains & strains and overuse injury.

Sprains & Strains

A sprain is caused by a ligament being stretched too far. A more severe tear in the ligament is a strain and is often caused the same way as a sprain. Symptoms include inflammation, localized pain, swelling and loss of normal function of the limb. There are simple ways to treat a minor sprain or strain:

• Rest: The sprain should be rested. No additional force should be applied on site of the sprain. If, for example, the sprain were an ankle sprain, then walking should be kept to a minimum.

• Ice: Ice should be applied immediately to the sprain to minimize swelling and ease pain. It can be applied for 20-30 minutes at a time, 3-4 times a day. Ice can be combined with a wrapping to minimize swelling and provide support.

• Compression: Dressings, bandages, or ace-wraps should be used to immobilize the sprain and provide support^.

• Elevate Keeping the sprained joint elevated above heart level will also help to minimize swelling.

Growth-plate injury

Growth-plates are the areas of developing tissue on the ends of a child’s bones. As a child becomes an adult, the soft tissue hardens to become bones. If an adult injurers the same place as a child, it may just ache. If the growth-plate is damaged your child needs to see an orthopedist. Growth-plates are located in the fingers, feet, ankles, hips, forearms, collarbone, upper legs, and lower legs. Damaged growth plates can result in improper growth and can cause lasting pain.

Overuse injury

Some parents may believe that a kid should focus on one or two sports, but they would be wrong. Kids’ bodies are meant to go through the same kinds of motions and movements over and over. In fact, when a kid focuses on one sport that kid is more likely to have an overuse injury at least once. Overuse injuries can result in severe problems that can only be resolved through surgery. Overuse injuries include:

• Tennis Elbow
• Little League Elbow
• Shin Splints
• Knee injuries
• Constant pain in specific parts of the body including the back and shoulders.

Precautions should be taken to protect kids. The best precaution is to have a coach trained in sports safety and injury prevention. An affordable and comprehensive test can be found at NCSS (www.SportsSafety.org). The NCSS was founded by Dr. Lemak to improve safety training and injury prevention on all levels of youth sports.

Other precautions are constant adult supervision, a physical exam before and after a sport’s season, proper safety equipment, warm-ups before a game and cool-downs after a game.

Tell us if your coach is prepared for emergencies on the field.

Number 1 is a turkey feast.

Number 2 is friends and family.

Number 3 is the Thanksgiving parade.

And number 4 is some sort of athletic event.

For some, the most important part of the day is the sport event. Sometimes it’s just watching football. For others it’s getting out into the yard with a mix of old vs. young, casual players vs. semi-pros and mom vs. dad. To give you ideas….

Here are 5 Athletic Thanksgiving Traditions:

1. A Wiki-history of Thanksgiving Football.
2. The “Turkey Bowl.”
3. A Plan for Getting a Great Position for NFL Football.
4. Top 5 Family Traditions for Thanksgiving (number 2 is Football).
5. A Thanksgiving Football Poem.
   

Do you have an athletic tradition for your family and friends?

This is what will power looks like.

We know several things are true in fitness. It is hard to begin. Keeping momentum is more difficult. There are hurdles to overcome (sometimes real hurdles). And fitness is not one-size-fits-all; that’s something we’ve said before on this blog, but it’s worth repeating.

Setting foundations is important when trying to achieve fitness goals.

The Basics – a dash of preparation and a lot of will power

Motivation comes and goes, but will power lasts a lifetime. Or something like that. Truth is motivation alone isn’t enough to build a foundation. Why? Motivation is hard to come by and easy to take for granted. Some days, you pop a B-12 and you’re ready to take on the World. Most days probably aren’t like that and it requires an equal amount of prep and will power to get through a workout.

Prepare yourself by planning your routine. If you belong to a gym, check out their class schedule. Stay consistent each week while working out different parts of your body each day.

Once you’ve developed the will power to get active, feel free to mix-it up. Gym people: see what new classes are being offered. If your routine is out-of-home, download a video podcast for something different.

Going stag is better than not going at all

A partnership or group should not be part of your foundation. The moment you have to go stag, your foundation will crumble. That’s not to say partnering with a friend for a workout is a bad idea. But almost anything you can do by yourself, you can do with a group.

You have to be strong alone before you can be strong with a group.

Ring, Ring – it’s your body calling

Probably the most important thing anyone can do when creating a foundation for fitness is learning to listen to his or her body. If you’re pushing yourself, you’re just hurting yourself.

Having an ache or sore muscle isn’t the same as pain. Learning to tell the difference between what you should be feeling and what you are feeling can be difficult. Before you start any activity get a physical. A physical will help you know the limits of your body. And if you start to feel uncomfortable about any ache, check with your physician ASAP.

What are your foundations?

A higher-fiber alternative to plain milk, this smoothie doubles as a smart breakfast or a milk shake-like treat. One serving of the smoothie contains 315 milligrams of calcium, roughly the same amount as a glass of milk. Freeze and store extra bananas in zip-top plastic bags so you can whip up this smoothie in a flash.

Where will my doctor be?

Dr. David Lemak and Dr. Agee are joining the move. Our outstanding team will be pioneering work in the field of orthopedics and sports medicine as we continue our successes and join the complimentary team already established at Trinity. Last month Trinity was named #1 for overall cardiac care in Alabama by HealthGrades.

Dr. Lemak said, “The Trinity team has a clear vision for creating the region’s premier sports medicine
and orthopedic center where we can provide exceptional care for the area’s athletes and
orthopedic patients, and I welcome the opportunity to be a part of this exciting effort,” in a press release released today.

Dr. Michael Patterson will stay at our Shelby County location.

We’re moving big!

Over 100 physicians and doctors have studied under Dr. Lemak and our practice. And we’re still counting. Trinity is currently seeking regulatory approval to complete construction on the hospital project on Hwy 280. The construction would allow us to focus on creating a state-of-the-art hospital with cutting-edge medical technology that would make us the premier destination for improving life after a sports or other kind of injury.

Dr. Lemak had his hand in the architecture of the building, surgical service and designing operating suites.

We will continue to train the next generation of doctors while giving our patients personalized care.

About Trinity Medical Center
Trinity Medical Center is a 560-bed, comprehensive medical center. The hospital offers
programs and services in all medical and surgical areas.  This includes cardiology,
robotic surgery, oncology, neurology, women’s health, mental health, digestive diseases,
geriatrics, physical medicine and rehab, sports medicine, cardiac and pulmonary rehab,
and emergency care.  The hospital’s medical staff includes more than 600 physicians
representing 30 specialties and subspecialties.  Long recognized as a leader in
Cardiology Services, Trinity Medical Center has been ranked by HealthGrades in 2010
as number one in Alabama for Overall Cardiac Services, number one in Alabama for
Cardiology Services, and  number one in Alabama for Coronary Interventional
Procedures.  Trinity is also the recipient of the HealthGrades Coronary Intervention
Excellence Award™ in 2010.
Lemak Sports Medicine and Orthopedics is redefining health and wellness for athletes,
active professionals, and youth. Lemak Sports Medicine currently provides sports
medicine coverage to over eighteen high schools and four universities throughout
Central Alabama, as well as numerous professional sports teams and leagues. Lemak
Sports Medicine currently has two locations; Brookwood Medical Plaza and in Shelby
County in Alabster.