This article dives into the world of sports injury rehabilitation, exploring common injuries and their causes, immediate management strategies, and long-term recovery approaches. We’ll look at how NSAIDs play a role in pain management, the importance of proper warm-up and cool-down routines, and techniques to address issues like tendinopathies and delayed onset muscle soreness. You’ll also learn about the significance of balance exercises and improving range of motion in the rehabilitation process. Throughout, we’ll highlight pharmacists’ crucial role in supporting athletes on their path to recovery, offering insights on medication management and injury prevention strategies.

Common Sports Injuries and Their Mechanisms

Sports injuries can occur in various forms, ranging from minor discomfort to severe trauma. Understanding these injuries and their mechanisms is crucial for effective prevention and treatment. Let’s explore some of the most common sports injuries athletes encounter.

Sprains and Strains

Sprains and strains are among the most frequent sports-related injuries. They involve the stretching or tearing of tissue, with sprains affecting ligaments and strains impacting muscles or tendons. These injuries are classified into three categories based on severity:

1. Grade I (Mild): Tissue is stretched with slight swelling and mild loss of range of motion and strength (0–25%).
2. Grade II (Moderate): Involves stretching and some tissue tearing, moderate swelling, and loss of range of motion and strength (25–75%).
3. Grade III (Severe): Complete tissue tearing with significant swelling, bruising, and near-complete loss of range of motion and strength (75–100%).

Common sites for sprains include ankles, knees, and wrists, while strains often affect the lower back and hamstring muscles.

Overuse Injuries

Overuse injuries develop when a muscle, tendon, ligament, or bone is repeatedly stressed without adequate rest. These injuries are particularly common in endurance sports and activities involving repetitive motions. Some examples include:

• Tendinitis: Inflammation of tendons, often affecting the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hip, knee, or ankle.
• Shin splints: Pain along the shinbone, typically seen in runners.
• Stress fractures: Tiny cracks in bones due to repetitive force.

Acute Traumatic Injuries

Unlike overuse injuries, acute traumatic injuries result from sudden accidents or impacts. These injuries often cause immediate pain and restrict activity. Common acute traumatic injuries include:

• Ligament tears
• Tendon tears
• Joint dislocations
• Bone fractures
• Contusions (bruises)

Athletes in contact sports like football, hockey, and wrestling are at a higher risk for these types of injuries.

To address sports injuries effectively, the P.R.I.C.E. therapy is often recommended:

• P: Protect the injured area
• R: Rest and restrict activity
• I: Apply ice for 10–15 minutes every 3–4 hours
• C: Compress the injured area with an elastic bandage
• E: Elevate the injured area above the heart

Understanding these common sports injuries and their mechanisms helps athletes, coaches, and healthcare professionals take appropriate measures to prevent and manage them effectively.

Pharmacist’s Guide to Immediate Injury Management

First Aid Principles

When it comes to sports injuries, immediate and appropriate first aid can make a significant difference in recovery time and prevention of further damage. The PRICE method is a widely recognized approach for managing acute injuries:

1. Protection: Safeguard the injured area from additional harm.
2. Rest: Limit activities involving the injured part for 48–72 hours.
3. Ice: Apply ice for 20 minutes at a time, 4–8 times a day.
4. Compression: Use an elastic bandage to reduce swelling.
5. Elevation: Keep the injured limb above heart level to decrease swelling.

For bleeding wounds, it’s crucial to stop the bleeding first. Apply direct pressure using a clean dressing, and if bleeding persists, seek immediate medical attention. For nosebleeds, have the athlete sit down and pinch their nostrils shut for several minutes.

Over-the-Counter Treatment Options

Pharmacists are key in recommending appropriate over-the-counter (OTC) medications for sports injuries. NSAIDs like ibuprofen and naproxen are commonly used to reduce pain, inflammation, and swelling. Naproxen is often preferred due to its longer half-life. Topical NSAIDs, such as diclofenac, can be applied directly to the affected area, minimizing systemic side effects.

Acetaminophen is another option for pain relief, though it may be slightly less effective than NSAIDs for musculoskeletal pain. However, it has fewer side effects with prolonged use and can be used to treat lingering pain after initial NSAID courses.

Other OTC options include:

• Lidocaine 4% patches for localized pain relief (approved for athletes 12 years and older)
• Topical preparations containing capsaicin, menthol, or camphor for counterirritant effects
• Arnica cream or gel for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties

When to Seek Emergency Care

While many sports injuries can be managed with first aid and OTC treatments, some situations require immediate medical attention. Athletes should seek emergency care if they experience:

• Uncontrolled or persistent bleeding
• Difficulty breathing
• Chest pain
• Loss of consciousness
• Severe headache, dizziness, or double vision (potential signs of concussion)
• Extreme pain or obvious deformity
• Inability to use the injured area

Pharmacists should advise athletes to stop activity immediately if they suspect a serious injury and to avoid “working through” the pain, as this may cause further harm. By providing guidance on immediate injury management and knowing when to refer for emergency care, pharmacists play a crucial role in supporting athletes through the rehabilitation process.

Rehabilitation Strategies: From Acute to Chronic Phase

Early stage recovery techniques

The R.I.C.E method (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) is a widely recommended approach for early-stage recovery. This doctor-suggested technique helps treat injuries and promote healing. Rest prevents further injury, ice reduces pain, compression controls swelling, and elevation minimizes discomfort. These steps are crucial in the acute or immediate care stage of rehabilitation.

Progressive rehabilitation exercises

As the athlete moves into the subacute or recovery stage, progressive exercises become essential. These exercises aim to restore strength, flexibility, and balance. The rehabilitation process typically includes:

1. Range of motion exercises
2. Strengthening exercises
3. Stability training
4. Sport-specific skill development

Quadriceps extensions, hamstring flexions, and hip exercises are common components of knee rehabilitation programs. These exercises should be performed daily, with 3 sets of 10 repetitions, gradually increasing resistance as strength improves.

Return-to-sport considerations

The decision to return to sport is not made in isolation but involves input from the medical team, physical therapist, coach, and the athlete’s support network. The StaRRt framework, a 3-step model, helps guide this decision:

1. Assessment of tissue health
2. Evaluation of tissue stresses
3. Consideration of risk tolerance modifiers

Athletes should only return to play when the risk assessment falls below the acceptable threshold. This process is viewed as a continuum, comprising:

• Return to participation
• Return to sport
• Return to performance

Pharmacists play a crucial role in this process by providing guidance on medication management, supporting adherence to rehabilitation protocols, and offering strategies for injury prevention. Their expertise ensures athletes receive comprehensive care throughout their recovery journey.

Pharmacist’s Role in Long-Term Injury Management

Pharmacists play a crucial role in supporting athletes through their long-term rehabilitation journey. Their expertise extends beyond simply dispensing medications, encompassing a wide range of services that significantly enhance the recovery process.

Medication management for chronic conditions

Pharmacists are instrumental in managing medications for chronic sports injuries. They guide athletes on the safe use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), analgesics, and corticosteroids to reduce inflammation and alleviate pain. However, they also monitor long-term use to avoid potential side effects. For rapid pain relief, pharmacists may recommend paracetamol or, in some cases, opioids, always ensuring the athlete’s safety and adherence to anti-doping regulations.

In addition to traditional medications, pharmacists advise on regenerative medicine options. These include:

1. Hyaluronic acid (HA) for joint lubrication and tissue health
2. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy for accelerating healing
3. Prolotherapy for stimulating the body’s natural healing processes
4. Prolozone therapy for tissue repair and regeneration
5. Perineural Injection Therapy (PIT) for reducing neurogenic inflammation

Advising on alternative therapies

Pharmacists also guide athletes on complementary therapies that can support their recovery:

• Acupuncture for pain relief and healing promotion
• Chiropractic care for spinal adjustments and pain reduction
• Mind-body techniques like yoga and meditation for pain management and stress reduction

They provide valuable advice on the safe use of dietary supplements, ensuring athletes avoid substances banned by sports-governing bodies.

Collaborating with healthcare team

Pharmacists work closely with other healthcare professionals to optimize therapeutic outcomes. They participate in anti-doping activities, provide crucial drug information, and educate athletes on basic anti-doping rules. Their role in interpreting lab results and recommending appropriate over-the-counter medications is invaluable.

In collaboration with sports physicians and rehabilitation teams, pharmacists contribute to personalized treatment plans. They help close the gap between prescribed medications and their effects on athletes, ensuring treatment efficacy and safety across different sports.

The post Sports Injury Rehabilitation: Pharmacist-Approved Strategies appeared first on Medika Life.

Have you ever thought you were physically more robust, flexible, and agile than in reality? I had convinced myself of this falsehood in 2020. During the height of the pandemic, on a cold winter night, out of boredom, I decided to showcase and brag about my dazzling gymnastic abilities to my parents in the form of a bridge pose that rocked back and forth. The result? Over the next 24 hours, I was unable to walk and hunched over in severe pain.

Fast forward a year; I neglected to shovel snow properly and, again, doubled over in agony, unable to stand straight. In both of these instances, I seemingly recovered after a few weeks. Finally, in January 2023, when lifting my dog into the car, I heard a crunch in my lower back, which culminated in an inability to walk for a couple of weeks and experienced piercing pain with most movements. This time, recovery wasn’t in the cards. Coupled with a lower back issue, I began to feel a strong electric current coursing down my right leg, a constant source of aggravation and sleep loss. Despite all this, I still finished the downhill ski season, not wanting to suffer from FOMO. Talk about obsessive-compulsive!

Over the spring and summer of 2023, the sciatic nerve pain escalated; I was constantly sleep-deprived and felt agitated at the most minor things in life, never mentally operating at total capacity. In August 2023, at the urge of family and friends, tired of hearing me complain, I booked an MRI to discover the root cause of the issue.

The Diagnosis

The MRI results were immediate; I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease, a deterioration of the lower three rungs of my spine. The issue was most likely caused by a curvature of the spine pre-existing from birth, along with the above-mentioned physical activities, which exacerbated the condition.

Proposed Solutions

Armed with a diagnosis, for the first time in my life, I decided to embark upon a short-term leave of absence from my corporate career and take care of my mental and physical health.

In consulting with medical practitioners at Medcan, a Canadian privatized healthcare provider, I was provided with two options:

1. Cortisone shots in the lower spine.
   Pro — potential immediate relief?
   Con — A band-aid solution that will not fix the root cause or extract positive benefits after some time.
2. Titanium plates can be inserted into the lower spine via an operation.
   Pro — not aware of any.
   Con — 50% chance of success with high risk of issues later in life.

Neither of these options intrigued me, and I felt annoyed at the limitations of modern Western medicine. Have we yet to evolve beyond archaic practices?

I used my frustration as motivation to research other potential procedures to cure the issue, and after a mad Google search, I discovered stem cell therapy. But wait, aren’t stem cells made up of baby placentas and ethically questionable? No. Quite the contrary. We’ll return to the process in a moment.

Next, I contacted and met with Dr. Shammaa from the Canadian Centres for Regenerative Therapy in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for a clinical assessment to determine if I am an ideal candidate for a stem cell procedure.

Dr. Shammaa reviewed the MRI and affirmed the Medcan diagnosis:

Multilevel degenerative disc disease, most pronounced at L4-L5 with the central disc protrusion impinging upon thetraversing L5 nerve roots.

Given my age and active lifestyle, he confirmed I made an ideal candidate for the procedure, a spine issue he treats roughly once a month for other patients suffering the same circumstance. The most prevalent challenge is stem cell injections in the knee as a replacement for knee replacement surgery. The doctor also confirmed my suspicion that the sciatic nerve was pinched by one of the degraded rungs of the spine and would have to be decoupled during the procedure.

After giving Dr. Shammaa’s details more thought, I decided to embark upon the process, and we agreed upon Wednesday, November 8, 2023, for the date of the procedure. Since stem cell therapy is considered ‘experimental’ and not covered by the Canadian health care system, I incurred an out-of-pocket cost of 18K. Ouch.

What Is Stem Cell Therapy?

According to the Canadian Center for Regenerative Therapy, stem cells are a part of a field of research called Regenerative Therapy:

Regenerative Therapy is a branch of translational research in tissue engineering and molecular biology that deals with the “process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function

The Mayo Clinic describes stem cells as:

Stem cells are the body’s raw materials — cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions in the body or a laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells.

In my example, I was an excellent candidate for stem cell replacement therapy, as the Mayo Clinic continues to articulate:

Stem cells can be guided into becoming specific cells that can be used in people to regenerate and repair tissues that have been damaged or affected by disease

The Stem Cell Procedure

On November 8, 2023, the stem cell operation proceeded as planned at the Toronto clinic. Initial blood work was drawn to ensure vitals were functioning as expected, as you can see by my “joyous” expression in the picture below.

The next step included inserting approximately 25+ needles from my lower hips to the top of my back to freeze the entire area to ensure I remained awake for the procedure. While the process was agonizing, my body started to reject the needles halfway through and ejected some from piercing through the skin.

Once my back and thigh area were frozen, the doctor took a larger needled and extracted bone marrow from my right hipbone, which would be used to remove fresh stem cells.

Next, six strategically placed larger needles were injected into the lower three rungs of my spine, three on each side. Here, the new stem cells were injected into the six needles. I was able to feel fluid and movement in my lower back as the injections occurred, an odd and unpleasant sensation.

The grand finale saved the worst experience for last. I was required to stay awake for the process to verbally verify whether the sciatic nerve decoupled from being caught in the lower spine. Dr. Shammaa forewarned me of the pain to follow and provided a stress ball to hold onto. While he microscopically moved the sciatic nerve, I experienced highly sharp jolts of pain coursing through my lower back and right leg. SweatHot and cold sweat poured out of my body, and I screamed in agony, yelling obscenities that would make a nun’s face turn yellow. I felt like I was holding onto a high-powered electric fence, the source coursing through my body.

Overall, the process took approximately 3 hours, with a hopeful outcome. Not long after, I drank a glass of water, slowly sat up, and, with assistance, was placed into a wheelchair, hauled out, and moved into my car for a long journey home in rush hour traffic and pouring rain.

Aftercare & Recovery

As of writing the blog post, I’ve been in recovery for one month. Some days are better than others, and more recently, I have begun to feel more significant discomfort in my lower back, which may be a positive indication of an active healing response. Unfortunately, the healing process takes eight months to a year for stem cells to grow fully. I will know if the procedure works once I conduct a second MRI in late winter 2024 to visualize growth progress.

My body is currently experiencing extreme fatigue, which is normal, given the additional stress on the system. I have frequent brain fog and sometimes forget words, an often frustrating dilemma when speaking with friends and loved ones. Another annoyance is my inability to accomplish as many tasks as I used to due to exhaustion; I’m currently learning to go easy on myself with the knowledge this, too, shall pass.

A few weeks ago, I felt intense anger rising from within and became curious about where the emotion came from. After consulting my naturopathic doctor, she confirmed how, in Chinese medicine, there is a belief humans hold their frustration and fury within the lower back area (along with the liver). And given the invasive nature of the poking and prodding from the needles, there is little wonder I am expressing anger.

While in recovery, my sole objective is to create and maintain an anti-inflammatory environment within the body to ensure maximum success toward stem cell growth. The current protocol includes:

• Follow an anti-inflammatory diet
• Consume specific vitamins and minerals
• Cupping the back and the stomach
• Acupuncture
• Physiotherapy
• Red light therapy
• Oxygenate cells in a hyperbaric chamber for 1–3 hours a day

In a future post, I will discuss the benefits of hyperbaric chambers in stem cell development, a fascinating topic.

My goal is to inform the public of the miracle of stem cell technological advancement; there are promising medical options beyond what traditional medical practitioners offer. I’m happy to answer any questions you have and will inform readers of progress once more information is known.

The post My Life-Changing Journey With Stem Cell Therapy appeared first on Medika Life.

ARC Innovation and Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest medical center and a Newsweek ranked world’s best hospital for the last five years, announced today the integration of technology developed by two startups, Cognishine and Kemtai, to augment healthcare in the hospital’s newly expanded rehabilitation ward.

Sheba Medical Center is home to Israel’s largest rehabilitation hospital. Amid the Israel-Hamas war, Sheba expanded the hospital with the addition of a new state-of-the-art 36-bed ward to treat wounded soldiers. The new ward leverages a range of innovative digital medical technologies to augment medical staff capabilities and improve overall quality of care. 

“Now is the time to innovate. During the COVID pandemic, Sheba created innovative solutions to save lives and helped set the health protocols for the rest of the world,” said Prof. Eyal Zimlichman, Chief Transformation Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Sheba Medical Center and Director and Founder of ARC Innovation. “Times of crisis present an opportunity to accelerate innovation and transformation in care. And this is exactly what we are setting out to do, given the immense need for rehabilitation in Israel at this time.”

To maximize the effectiveness of the new ward, Sheba called upon Israel’s startup ecosystem, inviting health tech companies to submit solutions for potential use in the rehab hospital. Out of 82 companies that applied to the project, eight were selected to pitch their solutions to a panel of Sheba clinicians and industry leaders. Out of these eight companies, Cognishine and Kemtai were selected to begin a pilot program at Sheba, with the aim of incorporating the solutions into day-to-day rehab treatment.

Cognishine’s digital platform supports therapists in providing effective care for cognitive, emotional, speech and language disorders. Digitizing traditional therapeutic processes, the company offers a wide range of activities based on real-world scenarios to help patients to regain cognitive, speech and social-emotional capabilities.

“Cognishine extends the reach of medical professionals, enabling them to continue providing care through digitized therapeutic activities aiding cognitive abilities,” said Nimrod Zilkha, Co-Founder & CEO of Cognishine. “We are honored to play a role alongside Sheba helping soldiers recover from the war and get back to their daily lives.”

Kemtai is an AI-powered exercise platform for physical therapy and rehab, compatible with most phones and computers. The app provides real-time feedback and corrective guidance during exercise, enabling patients to improve their performance and accelerate recovery.

“Kemtai is enabling patients to fully adhere to their rehabilitation exercises with AI-guided, real-time guidance, helping achieve the best possible outcomes,” said Dr. Mor Amitai, CEO of Kemtai. “Our pilot at Sheba will see even more patients with physical limitations recover through augmented exercise.”

# # #

About Sheba Medical Center

The largest and most comprehensive medical center in the Middle East, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer is generating global impact through its medical care, research and healthcare transformation. Sheba’s City of Health boasts acute-care, rehabilitation, children’s, cancer and geriatric hospitals, research and innovation hubs, medical simulation center and center for disaster response on one comprehensive campus in the center of Israel. Sheba serves as a true hospital without borders, welcoming patients and healthcare professionals from all over the world and consistently providing the highest-level medical care to all in need. Sheba has been ranked a World’s Best Hospital by Newsweek five years in a row (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). For more information, visit: https://sheba-global.com/

The post Sheba Medical Center Selects Two Digital Startups for Integration into Newly Expanded Rehabilitation Ward appeared first on Medika Life.

At work, you may have been taught to always say “yes” to your boss — even when your inner self wants to say “no.”⁠ ⁠

In relationships, you may have been taught to always say “yes” to your partner — even when your inner self wants to say “no.”⁠ ⁠ We all need social connection.

And if we’re only rewarded by others for saying “yes” and disapproved of for saying “no,” we may become habituated to ignoring our inner voice.⁠

The body doesn’t like that. The body may feel betrayed when you ignore your inner voice. The body may do things to defend your inner voice:⁠ ⁠

🔸 Like getting a migraine so you don’t have to attend that event you said “yes” to but really wanted to say “no” to.⁠

🔸Or getting back pain so that you don’t have to sit at that desk job you took because you thought you “should” even though you really wanted to follow your passion.⁠

🔸Or getting a stomach ache so that you don’t have to spend time with that person who disrespects your boundaries.⁠ ⁠

If we are conditioned to always say “yes,” we may find ourselves in conflict with our body when it says “no.”⁠ ⁠

🌸 BUT just like with couples therapy, conflict resolution is possible between mind and body. ✨⁠ ⁠

The first step to conflict resolution is: Each party needs to have their side of the story heard and acknowledged.⁠

👉 Here’s something you can try:⁠

Ask your mind, with pen and paper 📝:

Dear part that always says “yes,” what are you feeling? What would you like me to know? What are you trying to protect me from?⁠ ⁠

And see what flows out onto the page 📄.⁠ ⁠

Then, ask your body 📝:⁠

Dear part that says “no,” what are you feeling? What would you like me to know? What are you trying to protect me from?⁠

You may find that the mind and body have similar goals — just different ideas about how to get there.⁠

If you need support with chronic pain and anxiety, take my FREE QUIZ called “Why the *bleep* am I still in pain?!” so I can help you get some clarity.

The post If You Don’t Set Boundaries, a Symptom Flare-Up Might Step In and Do It For You appeared first on Medika Life.

In my opinion, this confusion often stems from a false binary that is unhelpful to our recovery: The notion that mind-body healing and “medical issues” are two entirely different and separate things. And that taking one route seriously means excluding the other.

This all-one-or-the-other mindset can add to the nervous system stress that is already ramping up symptoms. So I want to offer you another perspective here:

For some types of chronic pain, releasing your fear of the pain can actually resolve your symptoms completely, it’s true.⁠ But this is not the case for all stress-related conditions.⁠

Chronic stress, anxiety and fear can lead to complications — like bacterial infections, inflammation, chemical sensitivities, ADHD, codependency, IBS, recurring injuries, etc., etc., etc.⁠

And often these complications require other tools to support their unraveling — from behavioral interventions to postural adjustments to antibiotics — on top of the self-love, emotional expression and fear reduction that is needed to address the underlying issue of nervous system stress.⁠

This integrative approach doesn’t negate the validity of either top-down medicine or bottom-up healing. This isn’t an either/or situation. Rather, an integrated approach uses top-down medicine to complement and support bottom-up mind-body healing, and vice vesa.

Is this perspective helpful to you? Let me know!

With encouragement and love,

💖 Anna

The post Untangling the False Binary of “Medical vs. Mind-Body” appeared first on Medika Life.

The good news is: We can change the way that we respond to flare-ups. And if we do so consistently, it can have a very significant impact, reducing the intensity and persistence of flare-ups.

Over time, symptom flares can go from being a pervasive and overwhelming headline of your life to a manageable and even helpful footnote that reminds you to slow down and take care of yourself when you’re dealing with the inevitable stresses in life.

👉 Here are some mindset hacks to re-configure the way you respond to flare-ups:

1️⃣

Don’t treat it like a personal flaw; treat it like the flu.

Don’t get mad at yourself; take care of yourself.

2️⃣

Don’t under-react and power through it, or pretend it’s not happening.

Don’t over-react and catastrophize or tell yourself that you’re “back at square one.”

Do take care of yourself and reassure yourself that this will pass — and that it’ll pass more expediently if you care for yourself like a loving elder would care for a child who has the flu, with warmth and kindness.

3️⃣

Don’t try to make it stop or go away.

Do support yourself while it passes through your system.

What we resist persists; what we support ourselves through will pass through us with greater ease and expedience.

4️⃣

You can also think of a flare-up as a rainstorm passing through you.

If you pretend that the rainstorm isn’t happening and you keep powering through, you’ll get drenched and sicker than you needed to.

If you try to fight against the rainstorm by sealing up your tent, the wind will destroy your tent.

But if you acknowledge that the rainstorm is happening, shelter in your tent and open a vent to let the wind pass through, you’ll get coverage without your shelter getting destroyed. And every storm runs out of rain, eventually. After the storm passes, you can dry yourself off, pick yourself up, give yourself a hug and move forward.

How do you like to take care of yourself while you’re “sheltering in your tent?” I like to lie down, slow down my breath, listen to soothing music, cuddle with my cats, watch some mindless television, take a walk if I feel up to that, take a painkiller (following recommended safety guidelines) if it persists… What are your self-care strategies to get you through a storm?

With lots of love and warmth,

💖 Anna

➡️ If you need support with chronic pain and anxiety, take my FREE QUIZ called “Why the *bleep* am I still in pain?!” so I can help you get some clarity.

The post Mindset Hacks for Chronic Pain Flare-Ups appeared first on Medika Life.

Pain is a danger signal that’s created by the nervous system when it feels unsafe. Sometimes the danger is a physical wound, like a broken arm. But when pain is chronic, the danger is more often an emotional wound that has gone unacknowledged and therefore untreated.

All wounds — whether physical or emotional — need to be treated in order to heal. Unfortunately, culture has trained us to ignore emotional wounds, which leaves them festering and untreated for years on end. Our cultural conditioning is so ingrained that we may not even be aware of our emotional wounds.

How do we reverse this cultural habit of emotional invalidation, which keeps us chronically unwell?

First, we need to look at the cultural beliefs that keep us suppressing our emotions.

For example, common cultural beliefs tell us that:

• A person whose actions inflict harm is “evil.”
• A person who is “evil” must be punished.
• A person who is “good” couldn’t possibly inflict harm.
• A person who claims that a “good” person harmed them is causing that “good” person to be punished.
• A person who causes a “good” person to be punished is “evil.”

How are you feeling as you read these common, authoritarian cultural beliefs? Are you feeling safe, relaxed and expanded? When I read them, I feel worried, tense and contracted.

These fear-instilling cultural beliefs lead us into distorted webs of self-blame like this:

“My mom isn’t evil, and I don’t want her to be punished. And I don’t want to be evil by causing her to be punished. Therefore, I have to prove that she’s good by convincing myself that she’s never caused me any harm.”

This is the kind of distortion that cements our denial of our own emotional experience. And this is the kind of denial that prevents us from acknowledging our emotional wounds. So, we leave these wounds untreated and festering for years and years, making us chronically unwell, riddled with symptoms like anxiety, depression, physical pain and more.

Part of healing our bodies and minds is healing our beliefs and our language.

When someone you love hurts your feelings, instead of saying things like:

“They were just doing their best, so I shouldn’t feel hurt.”

You could try an alternative like this:

“Whether or not they meant to, their words and actions hurt me and now I need to tend to the wound.”

Likewise, when we hurt someone we love, we can acknowledge the impact without going into character assassination or denial.

Instead of:

“I hurt you, so I’m a terrible person.”

Or

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, so you shouldn’t feel hurt.”

How about something like:

“It wasn’t my intention to hurt you and I’m sorry that my actions wound up doing just that.”

What do you think? Do you relate to this?

What are the cultural beliefs that keep you in the habit of emotional suppression? And when you write those beliefs out on paper, are they really beliefs that you want to live by? Or would you like to write out some new beliefs of your own choosing?

With love, compassion and sincere belief in YOU,

💖 Anna

The post Beliefs That Block Recovery From Chronic Pain appeared first on Medika Life.

Oxford Languages’ definition of forgiveness begins like this: “[To] stop feeling angry or resentful…”

Forgiveness is one route — and only one of many routes — to releasing anger. And anger, when kept inside, can perpetuate symptoms like anxiety, depression and chronic pain (more on that later.)

But in my experience, forgiveness is NOT the only route to healing. And if we feel pressured to forgive, it can have a very damaging effect on our recovery. For many of us, we absolutely need to take a different path.

Anger is a threat response. Its goal is to neutralize a threat and restore us to safety.

But the hierarchical culture that we live in has conditioned us to suppress our anger. We’ve been taught to turn the other cheek and accept boundary violations and injustices, big and small. We’ve been taught to do as we’re told, not as we feel. We’ve been taught that anger is bad and forgiveness is good. We’ve been taught that forgiveness is the only acceptable way to release anger. And I’m sorry-not-sorry, but this is just baloney.

When forgiveness comes naturally, it can be a wonderfully cleansing and healing experience for the forgiver. But when forgiveness is pushed as a way to get rid of anger, it becomes just another way of suppressing anger. And when healthy anger is habitually suppressed, it distorts into a destructive force that either eats us up inside and fuels chronic symptoms, or comes out in externally destructive forms that harm others and decrease the safety of our society as a whole.

By contrast, when anger is expressed in a constructive way, anger is capable of fueling life-serving and even life-saving actions. You know that story of a mother summoning super-human strength to lift a car and save her child? That is an epic example of what healthy anger can do. Anger, in its wholesome form, is a protector.

To heal from symptoms (and to heal as a society!) we need to reconnect with our anger in a healthy, life-serving way. And we need to practice healthy ways of expressing and releasing anger so that it doesn’t stay trapped inside of our bodies. We need to offer anger constructive ways to perform its intended purpose: to protect us from threats and restore us to safety.

Often, the reason we still feel angry is because we still feel under threat — from a person who’s still crossing our boundaries or an internalized belief that’s still harming us or an environment that’s not healthy for us.

And while we can’t always change the people or environment around us, we can turn towards establishing safety — within ourselves and our immediate social connections.

Forgiveness is not the only way to feel a sense of peace and release our grip on anger. Other ways include:

• Set firm, protective boundaries with people whose words and behaviors are harming us. This neutralizes the threat and restores us to safety and peace.
• Reject internalized beliefs that are self-blaming and replace them with beliefs that serve our well-being.
• Surround ourselves with people who have our best interests at heart. Engage their mutual support in protecting ourselves from those who wish to harm us.
• Recognize when our immediate environment or relationship is unsafe and get support in finding safer environments and relationships.
• Recognize when past stresses and traumas are distorting and diminishing our sense of our own agency in our current environment. If we are in an accepting environment, recognizing our own agency and speaking up for ourselves can make our environment feel safer!

What do you think? Does any of this resonate with you? Do you have a different perspective? I’d love to know!

Sending warmth, encouragement and infinite belief in you,

💖 Anna

➡️ If you need support with chronic pain and anxiety, take my FREE QUIZ called “Why the *bleep* am I still in pain?!” so I can help you get some clarity.

The post Forgiveness Isn’t the Only Way to Heal appeared first on Medika Life.

The design of a washing machine looks more or less the same as it did 50 years ago: a white box with an opening in the middle some 60 cm from the floor. This is ergonomically impractical, however, and means that older adults are no longer able to do their laundry at home.

I’ve written on the ergonomics and office furniture problem as it applies to women workers. There’s another area of our lives, washing machines, where the designers have failed to consider the excessive demands on our musculoskeletal frames, pain, and these machines. The problem was first outlined in the literature in the 1960s-1970s when concerns for workers in industry were outlined.

The cleaning industry was one where workers developed serious MSDs. New research has outlined this work’s problems, measurements, and potential improvements. But they also may have discovered a hidden cost, too.

Ergonomics in the home directly relate to the industry’s cost for work-related activities that result in injury. Although Worker’s Compensation or healthcare insurance pays for medical treatment incurred by injury on the job, it has been established that home-related injuries may predispose workers to injury exacerbation. These injuries, therefore, would appear to be work-related but had their genesis in the home via domestic work, which is a necessity of life.

Biomechanical risk factors exist in the home but are not usually thought of as precipitating work-related injuries. The joints, the back, and the shoulders, in particular, can be injured in the home during normal home maintenance activities.

Home Layout and Washing Machines

Some areas where design changes would appear to be needed in innovative changes involve kitchen layout and storage, kitchen utensils, and cleaning materials. Although we no longer use scrub boards or wring clothing out before hanging them up, washing machines and dryers have not eliminated stressful activities that, in the past, led physicians to refer to these injuries as “washerwoman strain syndrome.”

The syndrome has also been deemed De Quervain syndrome because of repetitive housework such as chopping vegetables, stirring and scrubbing pots, vacuuming, cleaning surfaces, drying dishes, pegging out washing, mending clothes, gardening, harvesting, and weeding.

Low back injuries are directly related to the top-end loading washing machines, typically 36 inches off the floor with a depth inside the drum of 24 inches. The person doing the laundry must flex their trunk 45 to 80° to pull a heavy load out of the machine. The average height of an American woman is 5’4″, and reaching down into the machine can be difficult.

Once washed clothing is removed, it must be lowered to the floor into a container before it is taken to the dryer. Dryers present another potential danger for body mechanics since individuals generally have to lean over with these heavy loads to place them into the dryer, necessitating a twist on their spine of 90°. It has been estimated that disc compression forces can be as high as 578 pounds during this activity.

But not all washing machines are of top-loading design. Frontloading machines present the same danger to the spine as the dryers since they similarly require bending over to remove wet laundry from them. If a home has both a frontloading washing machine and a frontloading dryer, the person doing the laundry has twice the potential injury to their body.

Even the materials needed to do the laundry, such as detergents, can present another concern. If they are stored on an upper shelf, then the individual has to move them down to use them. Forces required and which can impact the spine or lower back can be close to or over 1000 pounds of stress. The shoulders are also, similarly, brought into play and placed in danger. Again this is a function of setting the laundry detergents on an upper shelf.

Aging is frequently associated with the gradual degeneration of
physiological and cognitive functions, such as impairments of vision
and hearing, loss of hand grip and dexterity, and decline in motor skills…

Regarding the elderly, few studies have investigated the ergonomic use of household appliances by them. Since it is becoming more prevalent for the elderly to live alone and less likely to live with their children, household appliances have increased in importance in their facility to be helpful for these individuals who wish to live independently.

Although some washing machine manufacturers have attempted to increase the ability of their machines to provide new functions, elderly individuals have found that they suffer from feature fatigue and consequent low useability and satisfaction with these products. A focus group of elderly washing machine users indicated that there was a problem with the buttons on the operating panel that were too dense and made it seem too complicated. They didn’t feel that many buttons were required for the actual operation of the machine, and the controls were too small and too close together, so it was hard to select the correct button.

Again, as with other washing machine users, elderly users found that top loading machines were difficult to lean into, and frontloading machines were also problematic because they required stooping down. A preferred machine would have a tilt open door, allowing the person to stand almost upright.

How independent would you feel if you couldn’t do your laundry when you wanted? Paying for it, on an often fixed income, to be done by someone else isn’t an option.

But what about anyone with a physical disability? No one seems to be addressing this particular need, and one wonders how disabled users can use one of the currently available washing machines and what they might prefer.

Is there a psychological aspect to the washing machine syndrome? Yes, if you consider that lower back pain results in depression and distorts a person’s ability to act in an even-tempered manner. As noted, patients with debilitating chronic low back pain show personality characteristics that deviate significantly from the normal population norms but do not reach maladaptive forms of personality disorders.

It would seem there’s creative work to be done, and more user input is needed for the washing machine to indeed be the innovation we all thought it was when it was first introduced.

The post Washing Machine’s Tyranny of Design Must Be Stopped appeared first on Medika Life.

Today we explore how you can promote your bone health. I recently wrote about how vitamin D supplementation may not be associated with a lower risk of bone fractures:Vitamin D: What? It Doesn’t Prevent Bone Fractures?VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTS DO NOT REDUCE FRACTURE RISK, at least among adults in midlife and older adults. That is the…medium.com.

But what can you do to optimize your bone strength? Let’s examine exercise — types and duration — that can help you dodge bone issues. First, a look at poor bone health.

Poor bone health

Bone is living tissue, one that constantly breaks down and replaces itself. Osteoporosis happens when the new bone formation does not keep up with the bone loss.

Osteoporosis results in bones becoming brittle and weak — even mild stresses such as coughing may result in a fracture. Fractures secondary to osteoporosis commonly occur in the spine, wrist, or hip.

Osteoporosis strikes men and women and can affect individuals of any race. The highest risk is among older women who are past menopause.

Your osteoporosis risk hinges, at least partly, on how much bone mass you attained in your youth. Our peak bone mass has an inherited genetic component, and mass varies by ethnicity. The higher your peak bone mass, the lower the odds you’ll get osteoporosis.

Bone density peaks at about 30 years of age. Women lose bone mass more rapidly than men. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteoporosis

I approach osteoporosis risk-reduction with a two-pronged approach: 1) maximizing peak bone mass; and 2) minimizing bone loss.

Osteoporosis risk-reduction — Peak bone mass

To optimize your peak bone mass, have a healthy lifestyle during the bone-forming years, especially adolescence. Here are the components:

• Nutrition. Adequate calcium and vitamin D intake are important. Children ages 9 to 18 should consume about 1300 milligrams of calcium daily, preferably from calcium-rich or calcium-fortified foods. A meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials showed a small increase in total body mineral content in children receiving calcium supplementation (300 to 1200 milligrams daily) compared with those taking a placebo.
• Physical activity. Exercise promotes bone health. On the other hand, excessive physical activity can harm bone health.
• Avoid smoking. While cigarettes damage bones, quitting can improve bone density (within one year of cessation).
• Avoid alcohol. Chronic heavy alcohol use, especially during adolescence and young adult years, can dramatically hurt bone health, increasing the future risk of osteoporosis.
• Avoid eating disorders. For example, anorexia nervosa, an increasingly common eating disorder in female adolescents, is linked with drops in bone mineral density and increased fracture risk.

Nutritional disorders in adolescence (such as inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, and celiac disease) can interfere with bone formation. In addition, congenital disorders such as cystic fibrosis appear associated with low bone mass.

Osteoporosis risk-reduction — Minimizing bone loss

Alas, I am beyond peak bone mass time. My goal is to stabilize my bone mineral density (BMD) or reduce my rate of bone loss.

The United States Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis suggests adopting a pyramid approach to preventing osteoporosis. Doing this means that we focus on physical activity, nutrition, and fall prevention. The second tier of risk reduction includes addressing diseases and drugs associated with bone loss. The third tier involves the use of bone-building drugs.

Let’s start with tier one:

• Physical activity and bone health. Do you do weight-bearing physical activity? Doing so can improve bone mineral density modestly for pre-and postmenopausal women and men. The Surgeon General suggests we aim for 30 minutes on most days of the week. An added benefit? You may improve your muscle tone and reduce your chances of falling.

Weight-Bearing Exercise: 8 Workouts for Strong BonesHere are the latest weight-bearing workout trends. What are the best ways to exercise and improve your bone health when…www.webmd.com

• Nutrition and bone health. The optimal intake (diet plus any supplements) of vitamin D and calcium is not established for men or premenopausal women, with many advocates suggesting about 1000 milligrams of calcium. The World Health Organization recommends 500 mg of calcium daily, and the United Kingdom sets the goal at 700 mg.

Interestingly, in 1997, an Institute of Medicine (USA) panel lifted the recommended level for calcium intake from 800 to 1200 milligrams daily for women over 50. The panel based this recommendation based on calcium balance studies lasting only weeks.

We don’t have evidence that consuming that amount of calcium reduces the risk of breaking a bone. The recommendation remains, however. The optimal amount for men or premenopausal women is not known.

What about vitamin D? The 2018 US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concluded that “there was insufficient evidence to assess the benefits and harms of calcium and vitamin D supplementation for the primary prevention of fracture in men and premenopausal women.”

The panel recommended against supplementation with 400 international units of vitamin D (and 1000 milligrams or less of calcium) for the primary prevention of fractures in postmenopausal women. It concluded that there is no good evidence to assess the benefits and harms of higher doses.

Individuals at higher risk of being low in vitamin D (such as older individuals confined indoors) may benefit from higher doses. If you take vitamin D supplements, you may wish to consider adding vitamin K:Top 6 Sources of Vitamin KVITAMIN K IS AN ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT central to bone and heart health and blood clotting. You have heard about the roles…medium.com

One potential downside of calcium supplementation? You may raise your risk of kidney stones. Those in the landmark Women’s Health Initiative study who took calcium and vitamin D had a higher risk of kidney stones compared with those taking a placebo. Getting that calcium through food may be best, as high dietary levels may protect against kidney stones.Healthy Foods High in CalciumYour body holds an abundance of calcium. Around 99% of this mineral is stored in your bones and teeth.www.webmd.com

Of course, you shouldn’t smoke (for numerous reasons). Cigarette use is linked with reduced bone mineral density and a higher fracture probability.

Excessive alcohol consumption (more than two United States drinks or three United Kingdom units) harms bone health for many reasons.

Finally, I won’t review pharmaceutical agents (such as hormonal replacement therapy for menopausal women) that help to fight bone loss.

Oh, one more thing: Resistance training may also help you dodge premature death:

Weight-lifting and LongevityRUN, SWIM, JOG, OR WALK. So many cry out for all of us to get more physical activity. But are we being remiss in not…medium.com

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