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[//

There are any number of tools that can help someone manage diabetes. Lancets, digital blood-test kits and needles are a few of the tools. However, taking control can be as simple as making sure you’re eating the right kinds of food. Recommended foods include foods that are high protein and limited in fat. Add high-fiber carbohydrates and you’ve got a winning diet.

Below is a list of foods that diabetics, or anyone, should consider adding to improve their diet.

High Protein

Every cell in the human body uses protein and needs large amounts of it. Body builders drink it in shakes and low-carb, high protein diets were a craze for a while. Balance is key.

High-protein foods include:

1. Peanut butter
2. Eggs
3. Low-fat cheese
4. Foods with soy
5. Fish (extra plus: fish like salmon are a great source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids)

Limited Fat

Like all things in life, moderation is important. The body needs some fat everyday, but for diabetics, food that has limited fat is better.

Limited-fat foods include:

1. Olives
2. Nuts
3. Avocados

High-Fiber Carbs

Fruit and vegetables are great sources of fiber and energy. But diabetics need to avoid too much sugar from fruits.

1. Beans (black-eyed and kidney!)
2. Potatoes and yams
3. Oatmeal
4. Pasta
5. Barley
6. Flax
7. High-fiber cereal
8. Broccoli

What kind of foods do you eat to manage your diabetes? Have we left anything off?

There are two types of diabetes: Type I and Type II. Symptoms of Type I may develop rapidly within weeks or months of being diagnosed. Type II, however, can be much slower or there may be no symptoms at all.

Type I is caused by a genetic predisposition and research for preventing this type is limited. Existing research indicates that breastfeeding and giving children Vitamin D leading up to the first birthday may reduce the risk of developing diabetes later in life. Type II is more likely to be caused by environmental influences like diet, exercise, and weight. Maintaining healthy cholesterol, weight and living actively can reduce the risk of developing Type II.

Screening

Screening for diabetes should begin at age 45 and screening should become routine. Screening includes a blood test. People with certain risk factors should begin screening earlier than 45.

Risk factors include:

1. Overweight or obesity
2. High cholesterol
3. A family history of diabetes
4. High blood pressure
5. A family history of heart disease

Diet

Diet is an important factor in the prevention of Type II diabetes. Studies have shown that a poor diet, with a sedentary lifestyle, among young people has lead to an increase in juvenile diabetes. Foods that are high protein and fiber and low in fat may lead to decreased chances of developing diabetes. Check out tomorrow’s post for more details about proper diet and diabetes.

Exercise

Exercise is crucial in prevention of diabetes. Experts say that most people should have at least two and a half hours of activity per week to reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Check out some of our other blogs exercise tips and information.

Elbow Anatomy

Ever bumped your funny bone? Hitting the funny bone is the most common, minor elbow injury. The sensation isn’t very funny, but it passes quickly.

Other common elbow injuries include elbow dislocation, elbow fracture, tendinitis and tennis elbow.

Causes

Injuries occur from a variety of reasons, but some of the most common are:

• Pushing your limits or repetitive action during sports
• Work-related injuries
• Falling
• and while working on home projects

Treatment

Injuries to the elbow are often results from overuse or repetitive use. There’s no certain way to treat elbow injuries like tennis elbow, but using platelet rich plasma and physical therapy is an option. Also, arthroscopy has a good response rate.

Arthroscopy is 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. Utilizing instruments as small as 1/10 inch, corrective surgery is performed. Normally done as an outpatient procedure, arthroscopy causes less trauma to the tissues than traditional, more invasive surgeries.

Preparing for a doctors appointment

You should prepare for your doctors visit. The more your doctor knows, the better help he or she will be able to give.

• What are your main symptoms and how long have you had them?
• How did the injury occur? And when?
• How was it treated? Did you try at-home treatments and did it help?
• Have you ever injured your elbow before? Has it caused problems before?
• Does any specific activity make the injury hurt more?
• What prescription and nonprescription medicines have you tried?
• Do you have any health risks or preexisting problems?
• Does anyone in your family have preexisting joint problems?

If you’ve injured your elbow, make sure you see your doctor before it gets worse. Not addressing the problem could make the injury worsen.

Repetitive-use injury results from bad equipment, poor prep, training error and routines that focus on only one part of the body.

Preventing repetitive use can be simple:

1. Check with a physician before you begin a new training routine. Unique bone structure, growth spurts and muscle-tendon imbalances can lead to problems even if an athlete does everything else right.

2. Don’t overload. Pace yourself.

3. Shoes. Wear the right pair of shoes… and other equipment. Also, make sure to train during proper field conditions.

4. Slow and steady wins the race. Most repetitive-use injury happens at the beginning of the training and when the athlete is nearing his threshold. Improvement is important, but don’t overdo it.

5. Cross the tees. Cross-fit training (or mixing routines that work different parts of the body) is a great way to stay active and prevent repetitive injury.

6. The number one most important thing to keep in mind is listen to your body.

Have you experienced repetitive-use injury? How do you avoid it?

No matter the cause, sometimes the only answer to reclaiming an old lifestyle is surgery. When the knee reaches the point-of-no-return the only option might be total-knee replacement. This procedure is for only severe cases where everyday activities are becoming difficult to perform due to pain or risk of extensive damage to the joint.

What is Total Knee Replacement?

Total-knee replacement is the surgical procedure where damaged knee joints are replaced by an implant made of plastic and metal pieces developed to function like a natural knee. Variations in the implant have different benefits and risks. All benefits and risks should be discussed with your physician!

Risks include blood clots, some instability, blood vessel injury, stiffness and infection (which could require re-operation).

Who should consider this operation?

Only patients suffering from progressive pain and stiffness in the knee should consider Total-Knee Replacement surgery. Making the decision to have this kind of operation isn’t easy. Patients should ask their doctor about other options.

Average ages for the 600,000 annual patients is 65-70, but younger people have received an implant.

What is post-op life like?

The average life-span of an implant can be 15-20 years, but a patient’s lifestyle and activity is a factor. Post-op care involves physical therapy at the hospital and at home. Your doctor may limit some physical activities like high-impact running and high-demand sports in favor of slower-paced exercises and leisure sports. Swimming is an ideal activity for patients.

Here’s a list of important issues (but not all the issues) to discuss with your doctor:

• How will this surgery affect my daily activity?
• Will I have to give up sports?
• Can I damage the implant by running?
• How do I spot a problem with the implant?
• Can I begin a new sport?