Guidelines To Take Care Of Your Achilles Tendon While Stretching

The Achilles Tendon helps in the foot’s flexion at the ankle joint. Its functionality in transmitting force from your muscles onto your bones and vice versa. The efficiency of its functionality equates to the greater the ability of our body parts to work together in order for us to achieve our activity goal.

For example, when we run, we need our calf muscle (gastrocnemius) and hamstring muscle (semimembranosus and semitendinosus) to work together. Normally, the gastrocnemius comprises two separate muscles—one for each leg—which we call the medial and lateral heads (inner and outer sections).

When there is an injury to this tendon, it leads to heel pain, inflammation, or stiffness in the foot. This article will help you focus on some important aspects while you stretch your Achilles Tendon.

Key Stretching Exercises That Will Not Affect Your Achilles Tendon

All ankle stretches should be done slowly. It should take about 1-2 seconds for you to feel the tension in the stretched muscle, but no longer than that, otherwise, it will cause damage.

If you stretch your Achilles by pulling too hard or fast, it can cause torn collagen tissue, which is very painful and takes forever to heal.

Exercises you can easily practise include;

1) Ankle plantar-flexion

While standing on your right leg, grab your left foot with both hands and pull upwards towards you. Put all of your weight on your right leg while doing this stretch. Keep the heel down at all times.

2) Ankle dorsiflexion

While standing on your right leg, grab your left foot with both hands and pull upwards towards you. Push down on your left toes at all times while doing this stretch. Keep the ankle joint locked by pointing downwards at all times.

3) Calves -seated

Sit down with your legs straight in front of you. Put one leg up at a time and place both hands on the ball of your foot, pushing down for ten to fifteen seconds each time.

You can do these stretches while sitting down or standing up if it is more comfortable that way. Go gently from one position to another without bouncing or resting in-between positions.

You can practice on the Lower calf muscle, higher calf muscles, outer calf muscle, and inner calf muscles. When doing all forms of calf stretch, make sure that you are pointing your toes downwards. Keep the ankle locked by making sure that the foot is straight, not curved, or bent, at any time!

How to stretch effectively without discomfort

Make sure your muscles are warm before continuing with the stretches. The calf muscles are a very complex network of muscles and they need to be stretched properly or it will hurt.

The easiest way to stretch them is by using a standing position while leaning on something like a wall or a chair for balance. If you’re feeling any pain while stretching, stop immediately! This is not healthy and can lead to permanent damage.

When your Achilles tendon pains after a workout or strenuous activity, it’s best to take some extra rest and wait for about 24 hours before resuming your activities. This will ensure that there won’t be any side effects from prior fatigue and enable you to stretch safely, causing no damage. According to a leading orthopedic doctor you should always consult a physician before starting any exercise program.

Everything You Need To Know About Gas Pedal Knee

The Gas pedal knee is also known as “patellar tendonitis”, “jumper’s knee” or, by its more formal name, patellar tendinosis. It refers to an overuse injury of the patellar tendon where it inserts into the top area of the tibia (the larger bone in your lower leg). The area of the patellar tendon is most commonly affected and can be very painful.

Gas pedal knee occurs during activities that require repeated, powerful knee extension (straightening) movements such as throwing or kicking a ball, jumping, long driving, and weightlifting. It usually affects one leg more than the other and can happen in one or both legs.

What Are The Symptoms of Gas Pedal Knee?

The gas pedal knee occurs when the patellar tendon becomes overloaded during sporting activities, leading it to become weakened and inflamed. The tendon can either under-react (from inadequate training) or over-react (from excessive training). On the first appearance, it looks like an injury but actually more closely resembles tendonitis or tendinosis.

Symptoms include pain on the front of the knee, especially during impact activities such as jumping and running. Swelling around the patellar tendon at the top of your shinbone (tibia), an achiness and stiffness around your kneecap, and weakness in the muscles that extend down through your lower leg (gastrocnemius and soleus muscles).

How Can You Prevent It From Happening To You?

Implementing self-management techniques focused on improving blood flow to this area as well as practicing correct training programs can both help you maintain good knee health.

Insufficient warm-up before exercising is one of the major contributors to sports injuries, so make sure you take the time to warm up before a heavy workout. Here are a few tips on how you can help prevent this from happening:

1. Conduct A Thorough Warm-Up

It is recommended that you do at least 5-10 minutes of light aerobic exercise or calisthenics before engaging in your “workout” session. During the warmup process, your muscles and connective tissues receive fresh oxygenated blood, which makes them more pliable and much less likely to be injured during strenuous activity.

2. Stretch Regularly

Stretching is an integral part of any strength training routine as well as a means through which you can improve your overall flexibility. A flexible muscle is a healthy muscle. Stretching helps to prevent injury by strengthening muscles and connective tissues, improving balance and joint stability, which makes you less prone to injuries.

3. Perform Squats And Deadlifts

These compound exercises are amazing for building powerful leg muscles, particularly your quadriceps (front of thigh), glutes (buttocks), hamstrings (back of the upper leg) as well as calf muscles. They also help strengthen your patellar tendon, thus reducing the risk of injuries such as the gas pedal knee.

Take Care Of Your Body

To keep up with the demands you place on yourself, you need to give your body ample time to recover after strenuous workouts. This means getting enough sleep every night, eating a healthy diet, and taking the time to do some light stretching after exercising.

Exercise For Orthopedic Patients

What is Lateral Epicondylitis?

Lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow as it is more commonly known, is a disorder involving the outside region of the elbow. It occurs when small tears form to the tendons that attach to this area and cause pain and inflammation.

The symptoms for this condition range from a dull ache to severe pain, which has been described as burning, stabbing, or sharp pain. The intensity of the pain is typically worse with gripping activities, such as opening jars or lifting objects, and may subside during periods of rest.

Lateral epicondylitis occurs most commonly in people who perform repetitive motions using their arms and wrist, such as tennis players and assembly line workers.

Other causes include;

• Repetitive bending of the wrist backward, which can be caused by typing.
• Positioning your hand with the palm down for long periods of time.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome, in which there is pressure on the median nerve that runs from the forearm into the palm.
• Muscle Imbalances resulting in one set of muscles being stronger than the opposing muscles.

Lateral Epicondylitis Treatment Options

The best way to treat tennis elbow is through conservative methods. Treatment options include:

1. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, reduce inflammation and pain.
2. Corticosteroid injections in the inflamed area.
3. Wearing a tennis elbow splint, which is a band that wraps around your forearm to reduce stress on the injured area.
4. A physical therapist can teach you exercises to stretch and strengthen the muscles of your arm and hand.

Lateral Epicondylitis Stretches

If you experience constant and repetitive stress actioned on your arm; stretches are ideal in improving tendon resistance and promote endurance of your muscles. While you may experience discomfort while conducting these exercises, you shouldn’t feel pain.

The best lateral epicondylitis stretches;

1) Wrist Extension Stretch

Extend your arm in front of you with a straight elbow, palm facing down, then slowly turn your wrist so the fingers are facing up, gently apply pressure with your other hand. Hold for 15 seconds and repeat stretch 8-10 times per day, 5 times on each occasion, and 7 times a week. Alternate your arms after each 15-sec duration.

For strengthening purposes, you can add weights, but you’ll have to use a bench either standing or in a seated position. Place your arm with palms facing down bend your wrist as far as possible. To begin, you can perform the task without weights and gradually increased from 1 lb to 3 lb.

2) Wrist Flexion Stretch

Extend your arm out in front of you and bend the wrist so your fingers pointing toward the floor, using your other hand stretch your wrist towards your body, switch hands after 15 seconds, and repeat 5 times. Do the stretch 8-10 times per day.

One thing to note, these exercises should be conducted as warm-up more strenuous activities. For strengthening purposes, you can also add weights, but this time around, place your arm on a bench with palms facing up.

Do Not Ignore Lateral Epicondylitis Symptoms

Lateral epicondylitis can be an extremely painful condition, so it’s advisable not to ignore the warning signs. If you frequently battle this injury, take some time out of your daily schedule to complete these stretches and strengthen your arm.

The estimated duration for this exercise is between 6-12 weeks. Constantly practicing lateral epicondylitis therapy exercises may just save you from any future discomfort.

“One of the great ways to prevent these kinds of injuries is to exercise,” says Brian Brown from bbbrownfitness.com

Club foot is a medical condition that causes one or both of an individual’s feet to resemble the shape of a club. It’s a condition that occurs during the first three months of pregnancy and affects 1 1 in every 1 1, 000,000 babies born worldwide.

The cause is unknown, and it can affect one or both feet. A clubfoot occurs when the tendons and muscles which work together to flex, extend and move the ankles, knees, hips, and/or spine are shortened or have been tightened.

In other words, this condition occurs due to muscle pain in the foot, which leads to the deformed growth of the bone structure. This condition may affect both legs but is sometimes found in one leg only.

Though club foot cannot be completely cured, club foot treatments have shown tremendous results and can help improve the appearance and function of your child’s feet.

And when treatment doesn’t work, sometimes surgery is recommended to correct the condition.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptom is downward-pointing deformed or rotated feet (in-toeing or out-toeing), meaning they turn inward toward each other with the soles facing up; this causes difficulty walking as toes scrape along the ground, resulting in pain when club foot.

An ankle that turns outwards as well as upwards. In rare cases, the ankle will only turn outwards. This difference causes a child to walk on their ankles instead of their toes, affecting balance and causing the child to have a limp when walking. This can also cause pain in the knees and hips.

Clubfoot Treatment Options:

Although Club foot treatments were first practiced as early as 6000 BC. In this procedure, the Greek doctors would rotate the club foot toward a “correct” direction and secure it in place with a bandage or splint that was worn for several months. This process is similar to how orthopedic surgeons fix club feet today.

The goal of treatment is to restore painless movement within normal limits by correcting the deformities in the feet.

Treatment options:

• Ponseti method.

• Ponseti Half Soles.

• Surgery.

The Ponseti Method:

The Ponseti method involves applying a plaster cast to your child’s foot every 2 weeks, beginning immediately after birth. Each cast is held in place with Velcro straps that are progressively tightened until the foot is fully corrected at around 12-18 months of age.

During this process, your little one must wear a postoperative brace and be fitted for special shoes called “Ponseti Half Soles” to cover the top of their feet and help reduce friction as they walk.

Thereafter, braces may need to be worn for another few years as the bones continue to grow and become strong enough to carry weight on the feet.

• Ponseti Half Soles:

Once your child turns three years old, they may need to wear special shoes called “Ponseti Half Soles”. You can buy the clubfoot shoes online, which are similar to flip-flops without backs.

They help reduce friction as your child walks., which usually occurs when they are between 6 months and 18 months old. Your child can wear the Ponseti shoes for years to help reduce friction as your child walks before transitioning to normal shoes.

Surgery:

Although surgery may be an option, it is not commonly used because there are risks that could have long-term effects. Surgery should only be considered if the deformity is severe or if the clubfoot fails to improve after several months of non-surgical treatments, which usually occurs when they are between 6 months and 18 months old.

Surgery primarily focuses on lengthening tight tendons in the foot – such as those connecting muscles to bones (the Achilles tendon), those controlling movement (peroneal tendons), and those keeping the bottom of the foot stiff (plantar fascia).

ClubFoot Treatment Plan

If you believe your child’s clubfoot will require long-term care, it is best to consult with a clubfoot specialist to create an appropriate treatment plan. The goal of treatment is to restore painless movement within normal limits by correcting the deformities in the feet. Club foot treatments have shown tremendous results and can help improve the appearance and function of your child’s feet.

While healing a broken fracture may not be as strenuous as nursing a broken bone, they are both the most painful experience to go through. The human body just isn’t equipped to handle broken bones at all – so if you break one, don’t expect it to be fully healed within a few weeks.

The bone healing process normally takes an extremely long time. But over the years, there have been improvements in the medical arena, including a treatment regimen that includes bone healing supplements that make your bones heal much faster.

With this said, there are some things out there that will help your bones heal faster. In this article, we’re going to explore some more natural ways for you to speed up your bone healing process.

The Best Bone Healing Supplement

Besides undergoing medical procedures, a good diet is always a great idea to speed up your bone healing process. Some of the best food supplements to include on your diet include;

Mineral Supplements

Vitamin supplements help in the healing of broken bones in multiple ways. They provide your body with proper nourishment and they improve the ability of your body to absorb calcium.

Calcium is an essential mineral that’s crucial to bone health – which means that you need to take it every day. Calcium deficiency can lead to weak bones, which then become susceptible to breakage.

So if you want fast bone healing, make sure you’re including enough calcium in your diet daily. You can get dosages from natural sources or even supplement yourself with oral forms of calcium.

One excellent source of natural minerals is food! Therefore, when considering what foods should be a part of your diet while trying to heal a fracture, here are some suggestions:

Calcium-rich foods – dairy products, almonds, kale, turnip greens, and broccoli.

Vitamin Supplements

Vitamin A – helps in the development of cells that are necessary for the production of bone.

Vitamin C can help fracture healing by promoting calcium absorption, and it also helps in collagen production, which is essential to the formation of new bones.

Vitamin D – Vitamin D helps keep our bones strong. People who don’t get enough vitamin D tend to lose bone density faster than people who get enough vitamin D!

Besides taking supplements rich in vitamins, you should also include a lot of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Eating green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, bok choy, and broccoli will actually provide your body with a good amount of all the important vitamins that help your body heal from fractures.

Herbal supplements

Herbs with antioxidant properties are the most effective bone healing supplements because they can protect your body from free radical damage and reduce inflammation.

There are various herbs that you can include in your diet to help heal broken bones faster than usual, including:

Bromelain – it reduces swelling, which speeds up fracture repair by relieving pressure on nerves that are trapped or pinched. Bromelain is found mostly in pineapple juice.

Turmeric- curcumin is very popular for its anti-inflammatory properties and for its ability to boost the immune system too! It’s also a more natural substitute for ibuprofen if you suffer from frequent headaches or painful injuries.

Ginger – helps fight against swelling and bruising, which means it can help you heal faster. Ginger is abundant in antioxidants too!

Ginseng – also helps increase blood circulation to bones so they can heal faster. It’s also popular as a libido enhancer too.

The Bone Healing Process

These are just some of the fast bone healing supplements that can help your body recover from fractures quicker than usual. However, we’d like to point out that whatever kind of supplement you take to aid your bone healing journey, always consult your doctor first and follow their advice to the letter.

And don’t forget: no matter what methods you use for improving how fast your fractures will heal; make sure you get sufficient rest and not do anything strenuous until your fracture has healed completely.

Fibromyalgia is a chronic medical condition that causes widespread pain all over the body. This includes the muscles and joints, which often leads to problems with day-to-day activities.

The symptoms of fibromyalgia are aggravated by inactivity, making exercise an important part of both management and prevention. Exercise has been shown to reduce pain associated with fibro as well as improve sleep quality, mood, and energy levels all at once.

Best Fibromyalgia Workouts

Exercise works on multiple levels for people with fibro, including boosting mood, increasing energy, reducing pain, and making it easier to fall asleep. Many types of exercises have specific benefits for those living with fibromyalgia.

Here is a look at the best exercises for fibromyalgia;

Swimming Pool For Fibromyalgia Treatment

Taking part in regular exercise reduces stress and boosts endorphins, which can help relieve muscle pain and stiffness. One of the easiest ways to get started with an exercise program is swimming pools.

Not only does swimming take virtually no pressure off joints, but it also provides a gentle workout that promotes flexibility and mobility. Daily swimming exercises should be done for people suffering from fibromyalgia because lack of physical activity is one of the biggest contributors to the condition.

People who suffer from fatigue may find themselves more tired after swimming, but this disappears quickly when resting or sleeping. It takes time to build up strength when starting any new activity, but swimming pools are an excellent choice for those living with the condition.

Walking Is The Best Exercise For Fibromyalgia

The same can be said of walking, which is one of the best exercises for fibromyalgia sufferers. Walking requires very little equipment or preparation and can be done almost anywhere at any time.

It’s also low impact, meaning it puts virtually no stress on muscles or joints, making it perfect for people who suffer from chronic pain. Exercise guidelines suggest getting around 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.

This may seem like a large amount to those with less stamina, but even taking a 10-minute walk 5 times per week has been proven to be clinically effective in reducing symptoms. It is important not to overdo it during the first few weeks of a walking program, as this could result in injury.

Fibromyalgia Exercises: Yoga and Stretching

Another great option for those suffering from fibro is yoga. There isn’t one type of yoga, and they offer different physical and psychological benefits to those with fibromyalgia.

For example, Hot Hatha yoga incorporates long-held restorative poses that promote deep relaxation, while Iyengar focuses on holding each pose longer than usual to work into deeper ranges of motion that may otherwise be difficult.

Although there’s no definitive evidence as to why stretching helps relieve pain associated with fibromyalgia, it has been proven to reduce stress levels, which can further exacerbate symptoms.

Those who suffer from fibromyalgia tend to have a more rigid musculoskeletal system, and stretching can help increase flexibility along with reducing pain. Yoga isn’t for everyone, but it does provide a wide variety of benefits.

If a certain type of yoga is unbearable or makes symptoms worse, try another type until there’s one that feels right.

Enjoy Your Fibromyalgia Workout Routine

The best exercises for fibromyalgia are those that not only feel good but also provide long-term benefits. Swimming may be excellent for many people with the condition, but if it doesn’t help decrease pain or fatigue, try something else.

Keep trying until there’s an exercise routine that feels right and provides greater quality of life. It is important to remember that everyone is different and what works well for one person may not work at all for another.

The key is finding a balance between physical activity and rest in order to better manage symptoms that affect daily activities, sleep patterns, and enjoyment of hobbies.

Knee pain is something we all go through once in a while. It can be quite an annoyance and can really stop you from doing what you love. Jumper’s knee is a common condition in athletes where the kneecap becomes inflamed.

It is most commonly seen in people who participate in sports which involve jumping, such as volleyball, soccer, basketball, tennis. The symptoms of the jumper’s knee vary from mild stage 1 to stage four (severe).

Patients complain of pain on or around their patella that gets worse with physical activity involving jumping. They may also complain of swelling and crepitus (crunchy feeling when you move your leg).

Diagnosis can be conducted by your physical therapist will examine your knee and look for tenderness around or behind the kneecap. If you experience pain when bending and straightening your leg, this is also an indicator that something might be wrong with your patellofemoral joint.

What are 3 effective treatments for jumper’s knee?

1) Relative rest: This means avoiding any activity which involves high-impact, especially landing from a jump position, which can help decrease pain and inflammation of the patella tendon.

2) Ice: Ice your knee for 15-20 minutes every 3 hours onto swollen areas can reduce inflammation. You can use ice packs or a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a towel (do not hold the ice directly on the skin).

3) Exercises: Your physical therapist will prescribe some exercises to strengthen your thigh muscles and help increase stability around your patella, which will help decrease pain.

Exercises That Help With Jumper’s Knee;

Step-ups onto a step or box

Stand in front of a step. Put your affected leg on the step and stand up straight, holding onto the railings for support. Hold this position for 10 seconds and slowly lower yourself back down. Repeat this exercise 10 times, then do the same amount with your other leg.

Wall squats with a ball

Stand with your back against a wall and keep your feet hip-width apart. Slide down the wall as if you were about to sit in a chair, using your hands if needed for balance. Keep your knees directly above your ankles at all times (do not let them fall in or out).

Hold this position for 10 seconds before returning to starting position, never letting heels touch the ground (variation of this exercise would be to use an actual squat rack that has safety bars set at knee level, allowing for easy return to standing after each repetition).

Freestyle Swimming Exercises

The freestyle drill is usually done with one arm at a time, so this would be called a Single-Arm drill. Remember to keep your neck in line with your spine to help you see where you are going.

Start by lying on your back, then start kicking up towards the surface of the water. Once you can feel that you are buoyant enough, start swimming using the arms only (no legs), which makes it a stroke drill.

Using one arm at a time, take three strokes and then switch arms. Try not to move your neck while switching sides to breathe, but rather use the momentum of the stroke to rotate your body and take a breath.

Jumpers Knee Exercise Routine

Do these exercises before and after activity to help strengthen the specific muscles involved in patella tracking. It’s ideal to perform these hip and knee strengthening exercises, three days per week, to decrease your chances of suffering from this overuse injury again.

A meniscus is cartilage tissue in the knee joint. It works to cushion the knee movement and help distribute body weight evenly on your knees. This cartilage can tear when you are playing sports or get injured because of, for example, a fall.

The symptoms that appear after having torn cartilage in the knee are similar to those following a meniscus tear.

The most common symptoms include:

– Pain when walking (especially up or downstairs)

– Swelling around your knee

– Feeling of instability in your knee

You should definitely consult with your doctor if you experience these symptoms since they can be caused by a more serious problem than just a torn meniscus.

The good news is that it is possible to rehabilitate your knee and get rid of your symptoms without surgery! The rehabilitation process consists mainly of physical therapy, which includes:

– Strength training to make sure you don’t put too much pressure on your knee.

– Stretching exercises to keep the tendons loose and prevent them from pulling on the knee joint.

– Exercises that put pressure on the joint to promote cartilage health.

The Best Torn Meniscus Treatment

The best treatment option for a torn meniscus is not surgery, but rather a set of exercises designed by a physical therapist after a complete examination of your knee. Through these exercises, you will strengthen the muscles around your knee, promote blood circulation and increase the health of your cartilage.

This process will definitely take a bit longer than surgery, but it is much less invasive and safer in the long run. Physical therapists are specialized in applying various techniques of physical treatment, including therapeutic exercise, manual modalities (such as massages), electrotherapy, and gait training.

A physical therapist will first do a thorough assessment of your injury before determining the appropriate treatment plan for you.

Therapeutic Exercises

The physical therapist can teach you a set of therapeutic exercises that will help heal your knee through the rehabilitation process. Strength training is important in this case because it brings stability to your knee joint and prevents further injury from happening during treatment. Physical therapy for torn meniscus can include:

– Exercises specifically designed for strengthening and light stretching the muscles around your knee (quadriceps, hamstrings, calves)

– Lightweight cardio exercises to increase blood circulation and strengthen your heart

Physical therapists also recommend wearing a brace to support your knees when walking or doing strenuous activities. You could purchase one yourself, such as the Vive Meniscus Brace, which provides adjustable compression at the location of any pain without compromising full movement.

Manual Modalities

Manual modalities, such as massages, can also help you in the rehabilitation process. Physicians recommend a doctor-supervised therapeutic ultrasound treatment to promote healing in your knee and increase blood circulation. The doctor will apply a gel on your skin that will allow an ultrasound probe to deliver heat deep into tissues where it is needed the most.

Physical therapists use manual therapy techniques such as joint mobilization, soft tissue massage, and muscle energy technique because these methods help restore function by removing restrictions in muscle groups around your knee joint without putting too much pressure on it.

In addition, physical therapists may recommend you to get treatments from massage therapists or chiropractors who have been taught how to perform these practices specifically for a torn meniscus injury.

Electrotherapy

Another method of treatment is electrotherapy, which can be done by a physical therapist. Electrotherapy treatments such as ultrasound and electrical stimulation help accelerate the healing process in your knee through increased blood circulation. These therapies increase cell metabolism and reduce pain associated with a torn meniscus. They also help relieve muscle spasms around your knee joint.

The best part about this treatment is that you can get these treatments at home! In fact, many physical therapists recommend that their patients use an ultrasound machine to self-treat their knees daily or even before exercising for faster results. You can purchase devices online such as a Theraband Knee Inferno Wrap in order to start healing your injury today without having to pay thousands of dollars for therapy sessions.

How Long Does It Take For A Torn Meniscus To Heal?

Some patients require two or three months of physical therapy before their knee is fully recovered. But most injuries can be treated within 2 weeks with appropriate instruction in-home care techniques by professional physical therapists.

Physical therapist not only have the expertise to design an appropriate exercise program but also recommends a set of exercises for a speedy recovery from a torn meniscus. Whether you had surgery or not for a torn meniscus, the rehabilitation process takes a lot of patience, and it’s important to know that you won’t be able to resume your sporting activities soon.

Here are some of the most effective orthopedic exercises.