Achilles Tendonitis - Lower Limbs Discomfort II

Achilles tendonitis, is an inflammation occurring at the Achilles tendon (located along the back of the foot) near the heel due to the overuse of it. It is the muscle that aids in the pushing off phase during activities such as jumping, running etc. It causes pain, irritation and discomfort at the affected area during activities such as running, jumping or even walking. It is seen more commonly in athletes but can occur to people that are less active too.

Causes for Achilles Tendonitis:

• Tight Calf Muscles
• Over-Pronation (occurs during walking where feet rolls inward)
• Insufficient stretching time
• Age (Elderly people tend to have bone growth at the back of the heel causing pain and discomfort as the Achilles tendon is irritated)
• Sudden increase in the intensiveness of the activity (usually relating to distance or speed)
• Lesser recovery time
• Inappropriate footwear 
• Inappropritae training surface (such as on a training on a concrete surface)

Symptoms of Achilles Tendonitis include:

• Swelling of the Achilles Tendon
• Pain felt during exercising
• Pain felt along the back of the heel (normally in activities which requires push-off of the feet such as walking, jumping, running etc)

Treatment:

• Ice the swollen area
• Have adequate amount of rest after each activity

Prevention:

• Engage in strengthening exercises (specifically more to exercises that strengthens the hamstring)
• Stretch well and thoroughly before engaging in any activity
• Avoid training on concrete surfaces or surfaces that might strike an impact on the heels
• Have adequate amount of rest after each activity

Sciatica - Lower Body Discomfort

Sciatica refers to pain, numbeness and weakness felt along the lower back all the way down to the calf regions, the condition is usually caused by injury or pressure on the sciatic nerve (the nerve starts in the lower spine and travels down the back of each leg). It is more common for Sciatica to occur at either left or right side of the lower lumbar and patients may suffer more intense pain especially at night, when they cough, after they sit or stand too long or during defecation. 

Source:  Click here

Some common causes: 

• pelvic injury (from sports or fall) 
• slipped disk (protrusion of a disk along the lower spine) 
• piriformis syndrome 
• tumors (compression of tumors against the sciatic nerves)

Patients should do adequate local exercises to strengthen the lower back and abdominal muscles to improve on the condition. Here are some examples:

• Swimming is one good way to prevent and also to improve this condition. 
• "Air-cycling", lying face up and kicking legs away from the body to 'cycle' in the air.
• Leg-raise or leg-lift.

Bed rest is recommended ONLY within the first week of having a more severe Sciatica, after that gentle exercises will improve the condition. For mild cases, the pain will get better on its own though the recurrence rate is high.  

It is best to seek advice from medical doctor if the pain is excruciating or persist after some time. 

Tennis Elbow - The injury that even non-atheletes suffer from

I believe people who play tennis as a competitive or recreational sport will suffer from tennis-related injuries such as tennis elbow, wrist strains, ankle sprains etc.

We won't be touching on all the injuries today but will only touch on the first injury mention which is the tennis elbow.

Tennis Elbow, also known as Lateral Epicondylitis is a condition where the elbow region (outermost part of the elbow closer to the forearm) is painful or having soreness due to the inflammation of the tendons. This is due to the overuse or repeated use of the arm and forearm muscles leading to the occurence of the injury. This injury can happen to anyone but more commonly seen in people who engage in tennis or other racquet sports. Most of the time, it occurs on the dominant hand (frequent use) but can also occur in the non-dominant arm or even on both arms.

Causes for Tennis Elbow:

• Repetitive use or overuse of the wrist in activities (eg painting, typing etc)
• Using a poor technique when playing tennis or other racquet sports (such as a poor backhand)
• Using a improper equipment

Symptoms for Tennis Elbow:

• Pain felt around the outer area of the elbow
• Weakness experience by the forearm
• Increasing pain felt when movements done involving the wrist such as lifting, using of utensils etc.

   

Treatment for Tennis Elbow:

• Take a break and avoid activities that cause pain to be felt on the elbow
• Ice the elbow region where the pain occurs, this will reduce swelling too
• Wear a support (such as elbow guard) below the elbow to allow the tendon to heal or during training/strengthening

How to prevent Tennis Elbow:

• Adopt a proper technique while doing sports
• Strengthen the muscles around the elbow (such as forearm, upper arm etc) through push-ups, pull-ups 
• Stretching should be done to warm up the muscles before engaging in the activities
• Reduce in the amount of time spend on the activity and have longer rest time

Tennis elbow is painful and can lead to life-time damage to the arms if not treated. If the symptoms persist for long period of time, do seek help from your personal health provider, medications will be given to improve on the condition. This condition takes time to recover, prevention is always better than cure. Support Safe Sports!

Athlete's Foot - The Itch, The Pain, The Embarrassment

Do you ever wear closed-shoes for long period of time? 

Do you often keep your feet wet for a prolonged period of time? 

Do you seldom get any minor cuts or nail injuries on ur feet? 

Do you tend to sweat a lot? 

If your answer is yes for any of the above question, please continue reading, it won't take up much of your time for you to understand the high risk of you developing Athlete's Foot (a.k.a. Hong Kong's Foot) --- Tinea pedis, the fungus infection. Tinea is the same fungus that causes ringworms in human. 

Athlete's Foot
Picture Source: click here

Athlete's Foot, as the name implies, is oftenly found among athletes. The reasons are because of the long training hours of athletes, and the long hours of feet being trapped inside the sport-shoes or covered shoes which are often stuffy and humid. 

Athelete's Foot is caused by tinea fungal infection (most commonly) whereby the fungus grows on the skin in feet, especially in between toes. There are also cases where the same fungus grows on palms and between the fingers. The fungus strives in moist and warm areas, the condition is highly contagious as it can be passed from person to person simply by sharing of personal items such as towels, footwear etc. 

Symptoms 

Some common symptoms of Athlete's foot: 

• Scaling and flaking of the infected skin, not to be confused with psoriasis (skin disease).
• Redness and burning sensation on the affected skin. 
• Blisters and cracked skin, for more severe cases pus may be seen.  
• Swelling and inflammation.  

Onychomycosis
Tinea fungus spread to nails.

The infection can be spread to other parts of the body. An example is when the infections spread to the nails, resulting in the nails  becoming thickened, discolored and crumpled. 


The symptoms produce a lot of discomforts and pain, especially during training.  

Treatment and Prevention 

Anti-fungal creams can be used to control the infection. Application of the cream persistently for 1-2 weeks until the infection has completely cleared help to prevent recurrence of the infection. Some topical creams can be used to reduce itchiness on the affected areas, and thus prevent scratching and speed up recovery rate. Self-care and prevention are also important to eliminate the infection completely. 

These are some things you can do: 

• Wear clean cotton socks and shoes, keep a few pairs of clean socks with you to change them out if your feet sweat a lot. It is important to keep your feet dry. 
• Wash your feet thoroughly with soap, preferably anti-bacteria soap, and dry your feet completely. Do this twice a day and especially after training. 
• Use powder to keep your feet dry, especially in between the  toes. 
• Avoid going to common bathrooms and swimming pools if you have been infected. If you really have to go, do wear a pair of slippers. 
• Avoid sharing of towels, shoes, slippers etc with other people. 

By ensuring good personal hygiene and keeping the infected areas clean and dry at all time, the fungus will not be able to strive. 

However, if the symptoms persist after the above actions, do visit your health care provider. You might require a stronger anti-fungal medications to get rid of the stubborn fungus growing on your skin. Athlete's foot may last for a short period of time or longer depending on the severity of the infection. Often, the condition will recur even after recovery. The symptoms produce a lot of discomfort and pain, especially during training. Therefore, long term preventive measures will be required to prevent infection as well as reduce the risk of recurrence of the infection. 

The Runner's Knee - The Common Agony in Athletes

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), also commonly known as Runner’s Knee is a condition where the cartilage under the kneecap has worn off causing pain or discomfort around the knee area.

Runner's Knee Site

Causes of Runner’s Knee:

•  Engaging in activities that require lots of knee bending such as jumping, running etc
• Excessive training (jogging, sprinting etc)
• Injuries
• Worn-out shoes, improper footwear, wrong-sized footwear
• Muscle weakness or muscle imbalance (between the quadriceps and the hamstring)
• Insufficient warming up of the knees before exercising
• Flatfoot

Symptoms for Runner’s Knee:

• Grinding or clicking sound produced when the knee is flexed (bend or straighten)
• Pain around the knee area during or after activity, and persists at rest
• Feeling of weakness or instability of the knees
• Pain during walking, squatting, kneeling, running or even at rest
• Swelling of the affected knee

Treatments (in general):

• Let the knee rest for as long as possible and avoid putting weight on the knee, until the pain has subsided totally
• Ice the knee to reduce swelling and pain
• Provide extra support by using elastic bandages, straps or sleeves and by compressing the knee
• Elevate the knee on a pillow when sitting or lying down to reduce swelling
• Stretch often and engage in strengthening exercises

Use ice-pack to reduce swelling

Preventions:

• Strengthen the thigh muscle and do regular stretching
• Avoid running on hard surfaces such as concrete road
•  Adopt a proper running form or technique such as bending your knees when landing or landing on the balls of the feet when jumping
• Wear appropriate footwear and use shoes with good shock absorption to reduce impacts
• Do a proper stretching and warming up before exercising
• Getting arch supports for your shoes may help with flat feet (able to get it from stores or can be custom made)

There isn’t a definite duration for recovery of Runner's Knee. The recovery rate depends to a large extent on each particular case (such as age, extent of injury etc).