Active Rest: Staying strong while injured
Like many of our patients and active adults, I too will suffer a sports related injury from time to time. I recently tore a muscle in my hand from doing a variation of push-ups, and was unable to move or use my hand for the first 2 weeks of the injury. This was obviously an acute injury going through a stage of inflammation, swelling and pain. I wanted to find ways of staying active while protecting my hand during this injury phase, thus maximizing healing potential for that region. This concept is called “Active Rest”, a period of time where activity modification is necessary to heal an injury while limiting the onset of muscle atrophy and to maintain cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. Easier said than done for a hand injury!
During the acute phase, not only will the injured body part hurt, but ANY connected mechanism to that body part will be affected. Running and jumping impacts the inflamed hand and wrist, but so does eating, opening doors, and maintaining ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living). Further, any isolated exercises to the lower extremities such as leg presses, knee extensions and abdominal crunches would also likely raise the blood pressure during exercise which causes an inflamed region to become noticeably painful. So the P.R.I.C.E.S. (Protect, Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation and Stabilization) protocol was necessary until the acute stage was complete, in my case, about 2 weeks after onset of injury. Athletic taping and Kinesiotape provided much of the protective stabilization initially.
During the subacute phase, active inflammation stops, but disability sets in from lack of use to the region. Associated body parts, namely the elbow, shoulder and chest muscles are affected by hand injuries. Once pain is mild to moderate in severity, running can be resumed, and non-grip machines such as leg presses, pec-deck, abs, lunges, and back extensors are chosen in order to resume modified exercise activity.
Some additional ways I treated my wrist injury was with the use of Acupuncture during inflammation, food based anti-inflammatory supplements like MSM and Turmeric, and even used PRP injections (Protein Rich Plasma) whereby my blood was drawn, spun, and the protein rich plasma was reintegrated into the injured area to accelerate tissue healing.
Dr. Adrian has been a South Pasadena Chiropractor and Strength and Conditioning Specialist since 2000, and has consulted professional athletes, adults, and youth for training and rehabilitation advice. To see the exercises and machines mentioned in this article, visit our blog on our website, www.southpaschiro.com.
