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Calf muscle rehab

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Strained my calf muscle quite badly - any tips for rehab so I'm fit to ski again in a couple of weeks?

Thanks
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Deep Heat Very Happy
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
High heels. wink
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(Vanilla) Ice
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
whatever works for u SMALLZOOKEEPER, wink
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RICE
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fatbob,

Is it a strain, a pull or a tear..? The pain will be a obvious clue..!! A strain is bareable but the other two would stop you walking full stop IMV. But for all 3 CP says it all. The only thing you can hope to do is not aggrivate it and try and get more blood to it to aid/speed recovery.

I had a sports physio who used to virtually scrape the skin off your hamstrings, apply deep heat which would sting the tender skin like hell and then Ultrasound.. a bit old school but it made sense to me
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
JT - hate to disagree I tore calf muscle and skied on it for >2 weeks before deciding to see the doctor..... No idea I had done so...

Apart from the first night when it was hard to walk back to lodge - in fact hard to walk at all after I sat down for a coffee/drink it did not hurt really at all.... The only sign of problem was my leg being black from above knee to ankle.... (Yes BLACK and the whole leg) and after about 1/2hour in a ski boot it would swell so that I could not feel feet... so I would have a coffee and massage leg and rebandage and ski on....

RICE the night of injury certainly helped.... but the only painful spot was where the doctor poked and I tried to hit the Fitzwilliam after I recovered .... he tells me that is where the tear was.... He assured me that if I had applied heat that first night I would not have been walking/skiing around... but I had barely a hobble for a few days.....
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Did the RICE stuff immediately after the injury & few subsequent times. Frequent ibupofen. Walking around on the flat not too bad but downstairs a bit tricky and very stiff first thing in the morning (no double entendre intended!). Think I need to get referred to a physio for ultrasound/deep massage as its over a week now
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RICE
for 24-48 hours....

so you ice for 10mins of every hour (new was 20mins in every 2 hours)......

I DID NOT DO WHILE ASLEEP.... or while skiing.... but did quit skiing early each day (about 3-4 hours a day) and iced after that as above..... Compression bandage stayed on for the first 2 days and while skiing for a few more as it insisted on swelling up dammit!

Depending on doc then no ibuprofen for 24 hours either.... (the snow doc I knew banned all NSAIDS for 24 hours)

a week later & sore & can't walk - get help!
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little tiger,

Thats not like a tear I've known...but if it works for you
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
In the running world RICE is now been questioned. But at the moment its the standard reaction.
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JT
After my last round with the physio she decided my "pain response" to things muscular may be a bit weird....
She would tell me to tell her the level of pain on scale 1-10 while she accosted me so she did not overdo it.... after I came back black and blue repeatedly she decided to ignore me and just do less than what she had.....

Part of sensation of "pain" associated with injury is the sense of "wrong" - I have no real sense of "wrong" so only sense the true pain feedback and pressure response.... This may be why I skied on a medial ligament injury all afternnoon and tried to go back the day after as well (stopped by friends who disliked my attempts at "walk")

HOWEVER.... it sure did not STOP me walking at all.... and the doctor and my instructor both kept insisting i should not have been able to walk and ski on it .... but I did....


Nick C - the last time I checked the RICE bit there were mods (like the 10 mins per hour rather than 20 per 2) ..... the R is the most... used to be very REST... now it has a big blurb hanging on it about resting only re the actually injury - so mobilise but not use the mangled part.... Like the sports doc had me in a pool with a kickboard 3 days after I did the medial ligament.... not RESTING on crutches like the 30 docs I worked with wanted....
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
little tiger, yep it's about blood flow which helps the healing hence the exercise to increase the bloodflow. which also leads to the other question mark. ICE is been questioned as it restricts the bloodflow so creates a longer repair time.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
I was told that is why they changed it to 10mins out of 1 hour.... 2 hours was too long at too cold for good tissue health.... so although the cold helped to reduce swelling there were problems (not as bad as wehen people put ice straight onto skin but close).... in the same vein we were told to try to avoid ICE if at all possible - but to use a proper icepack.... the gel pack is less "intense" cold..... If ice is needed a good THICK layer between it and skin was suggested...


I am amazed at the number of people that ice injuries for AGES in one hit.... even before the changes I could only barely handle 20 minutes of icepack and regularly split it into 2 halves.... it just felt WRONG... my body does not want to be cold that long!


The sports docs I know are MOST insistent that the injury needs the time to rewarm and that icing must NOT be more than the stated time (10mins per hour).... They were very happy that i had iced this way.... rather than a large wack...

Now for the life of me I cannot remember wtf that article was from with the changes (sorry).....
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 Poster: A snowHead
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Oh and Nick C - of course RICER only works for acute injury really.... many running injuries are actually overuse type.... so they have different causes.... not so useful to ice an injury that is due to (for eg) insufficient healing time for tissue(quite a bad idea you would think).... or muscle imbalances....
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When I used to get a lot of minor injuries (full-contact karate), I would try to increase the circulation to the area, rice for the first 24 hours, after that I would altrnate between ice and heat, massage as much as could be done without making injury worse, maybe some swimming or soaking in a hot tub.
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
that is sort of what we used for injuries from fencing....

we always carried an esky full of ice packs....
bandages etc also....

after about 48 hours we would use Hirudoid, heat/cold alternating, massage, light exercise etc to improve the circulation....

Did not work on the guy that cracked his ribs withou knowing and had them set out of line though.... wink
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have discovered a product called Biofreeze, which I found to be excellent, have only used it on relatively minor aches and strains but it worked really well. It feels like the opposite of deep heat. I cant say it theraputic for the injury but it certainly helped relieve pain and meant skiing was possible the next day snowHead
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menthol

counter irritant - so relieves pain.... also cooling....

i think that is main ingredient - good old menthol and camphor cream.... I used to make huge amounts (very strong) which my old boss sold for codl sores back in the days....
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apparently its ILEX, from a south American Holly Shrub!!!! it isnt tested on animals or men in Northwick Park!
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
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The RICE procedure generally tends to work but what you need to take a look at is the length of time you ice the injury.

Upon initial injury it should be no longer than 10 minutes, this will constrict the blood vessels and prevent swelling. Further icing should take place every 3-4 hours and be about 15-20 minutes in duration. This increase in duration will initially constrict bloodflow to the site of the injury and then after 10 mins the blood vessels will dilate, flushing the area with fresh, nutrient rich blood which will speed the healing process.(hence why you only ice it for 10 minutes initially)

Whenever you are applying ice to an injury you should always place another medium between ice and skin. When I prescribe ice to any of my clients I recommend that they wrap the ice pack or whatever they are using in a damp towel/cloth to prevent direct contact with the skin. The area should then be checked regularly to ensure the skin is still a healthy pink colour. If the skin starts to turn white then damage is occuring to the tissues and the area should then be slowly and gently re-warmed.

fatbob, if you want any further info then feel free to drop me a PM.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Nells, Biofreeze is good stuff IMHO, I never go away from home without a tube of it in my wash bag. Friend of mine recommended it to me a couple of years ago when I started running. I was using deep heat but it burned me ( brought up blisters ).

I also used it as part of my rehabilitation after spraining a medial knee ligament skiing in December 2004.
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Nells wrote:
apparently its ILEX, from a south American Holly Shrub!!!! it isnt tested on animals or men in Northwick Park!


my tube lists alcohol as the active.... then MENTHOL, CAMPHOR, and ilex as non-actives....

Ilex - contains caffeine btw... (don't know what that has to do with injuries but it is one of the reasons why the tea is drunk)

all the other cool gel things contain (shock horror) ... alcohol, menthol, camphor.... only about 2% menthol but quite sufficient as a counter irritant and to produce cooling effect...
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