Injuries & Rehab

[Bally]

Originally Posted by Which Tyler

Probably some inflamation at the site of the Achilles attachment; possibly a bone spur.
Ice it and rest it, and it SHOULD clear up.

As the icing advice got lost in the cull, here's a reminder.

get a proper ice pack (£4-5 from any chiro/osteo/physio; bit more from most boots/lloyds/superdrugs). Should be slightly gel like even after weeks in the freezer.

wrap in a thin layer of material (tea towel, t-shirt, some come with their own socks); ensure it;s all dry

apply for 10-15 minutes (for limbs, 15-20 for trunk)

remove and put the ice pack back in freezer for 45-50 minutes

repeat ad nauseam





remember 30 minutes is NOT 3 times as good as 10 minutes - in fact, it's worse than 10 minutes.


Rest does NOT mean bed rest - it means apply common sense. If it hurts, back off

Cheers aids, done it this evening and will carry on.

Working well, far less discomfort, ta mate.

[Greg1863]

Turns out I have runners knee - have to do a variety of stretches, wear arch supports in the gym and only cycle/swim/upper body for a 5/6 weeks at the minimum. FML...

[Pooh]

only just noticed this thread, dislocated my shoulder just about a month ago now, im having physio a few times a week, got a mri scan next month.

[audit monkey]

Have a very annoying knee injury ATM. Don't remember specifically anything happening to it but the morning after the game my knee is very swollen on the outer side, discomfort under the kneecap, feels like something is out of place. If i press down with my right leg I get some pain down the outer bone. It's not stopping me running per se, I'm aware of it but it feels unstable.

[Long Bind]

Any tips for strengthening / stabilising knees in general?

5 years ago I dislocated my kneecap. Turned out it was because my quads were weird since I'd bulked up without any real focus on keeping everything balanced, and I have an oddly shaped knee groove which together allowed 1 of the quads to pull the kneecap out to the wrong side.

Long story short, lots of physio and shedding of weight (both muscle and fat) eventually brought me to this season playing hooker/flanker rather than hooker/prop. A couple of matches in and I've been told that I've probably got a partial tear to the medial collateral ligament in the same knee. I've RICED it since Saturday and am starting to see a reduction in swelling and am getting a bit more movement back in it but obviously I'm a bit worried that the knee isn't up to contact.

Any easy home exercises that I can do to give the knee a bit more support to hopefully stop the same thing happening not long down the line?

[Which Tyler]

Originally Posted by audit monkey

Have a very annoying knee injury ATM. Don't remember specifically anything happening to it but the morning after the game my knee is very swollen on the outer side, discomfort under the kneecap, feels like something is out of place. If i press down with my right leg I get some pain down the outer bone. It's not stopping me running per se, I'm aware of it but it feels unstable.

if it feels unstable then it's worth having it looked at.
number of structures there that can be damaged, most likely being the lateral colateral ligament and the meniscus (sounds like the latter could well be the diagnosis) in which case you'd rather have it treated than ignored and played on.


As for general knee strengthening exercises; probably none that you haven't already done LB.
VMO awareness exercises (gain conscious control that the innermost portion of the Quads should contract before the outermost when you try to straighten the knee; raising to conscious control of that).
Followed by VMO squats (normal squats with a football held between your knees [by your knees])
Theraband exercises, again to strengthen VMO
figure of 8 running, side-step running and wobble board exercises

That's about it though I'm afraid

[Long Bind]

Cheers Aid,

I remember the VMO awareness stuff and the theraband exercises but had forgotten about the squats; do I just do them with my own body weight or is there any use in squatting like that with a bit more weight? I'd assume that the closer foot spacing means that large weights aren't a great idea.

[Which Tyler]

Originally Posted by Long Bind

Cheers Aid,

I remember the VMO awareness stuff and the theraband exercises but had forgotten about the squats; do I just do them with my own body weight or is there any use in squatting like that with a bit more weight? I'd assume that the closer foot spacing means that large weights aren't a great idea.

start off with body weight, then use reasonably small weights.
Foot spacing should be about the same as at your hips, so you shouldn't be using silly weights - it's also all about technique, not the size of weights; you HAVE to be getting the VMO to fire as much as possible

[Greg1863]

Hi Aid, wondering if you could offer a bit of insight or advice into my latest problem...

Recently got a really dull pain in my right forearm - I can't really isolate where or what it is... just the general area and a sort of "all around" pain. It's not excruciating but really distracting and preventing me from doing a variety of things I'd usually do.

I usually do a lot of weight training and quite heavy weights, but I don't think thats related - as I take a week off gym, as is recommended, and it occured on the last day or two of my week off...

Played rugby today too, but didn't last long as lifting in lineouts was getting iffy as my forearm pain kicked in. Any tips? Should I ice it and rest it? If so, for how long? Physio can't fit me in for another week or so, so advice would be much appreciated mate!

[Which Tyler]

sorry mate, I'd really need more info before being able to comment at all. Pain in the forearm could be due to just about anything.

Have you tried backing off on the masturbation? could be simple muscle fatigue