Chronic injuries can significantly hinder one’s quality of life, especially for athletes and active individuals. In Arizona, there’s a growing interest in naturopathic care as a means to prevent and treat these persistent conditions. This article delves into effective strategies for preventing chronic injuries and explores natural pain treatment options available in the state.
What is Chronic Pain?
Pain is a common occurrence in athletes because of their active lifestyles. Some pain is acute (a sudden injury, like an ankle sprain), but it can become chronic injury (such as complications after surgery, improper treatment, reinjury, etc.). If you have an old, nagging injury, then you’re well acquainted with chronic pain.
Chronic pain is persistent. Inflammation in the body causes it to last for weeks or years. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to an injury as it starts the healing process. Oftentimes this isn’t enough, and it’s simple to push treatment to the side when your plate is full with balancing your career, family, and hobbies. However, neglecting treatment can progressively escalate the issue.
The Risk of Injury Rises for Athletes as They Age
Chronic injuries develop over time due to repetitive stress, overuse, or improper healing of acute injuries. Unlike acute injuries, which occur suddenly, chronic injuries persist and can lead to long-term discomfort and disability. Common examples include tendinitis, stress fractures, and osteoarthritis.
Our bodies naturally evolve and change over time. As you get older, you may notice physical changes such as a loss of muscle mass, decreased flexibility, increased stiffness in your tendons, and a decline in strength. This does not mean that you are any less of an athlete! Indeed, exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body as you age. Keeping fit and eating healthy is beneficial for warding off diseases and injury and improving your quality of life.
Around age 40, many athletes and individuals start to notice that they are becoming injured more easily and are healing slower. This is a common age where newly active individuals visit their doctor for the first time or seasoned athletes come back for more treatment.
You may also feel the weight of your chronic injuries aggravating other parts of your body that weren’t painful before because your body is overcompensating. And if you keep pushing your doctor’s appointment further down your to-do list, you’re only going to be in more pain. It’s important to stay on top of your health in all phases of life so you can keep doing the things you love, pain-free.
Common Chronic Injuries in Middle-Aged Athletes
You’ve been an athlete for a lifetime and are accustomed to challenging your body. You love waking up at the crack of dawn to train or hit the gym straight from work and look forward to the adrenaline rush that comes with hitting a new PR or winning a game. But you’ve probably noticed that your muscles stay fatigued longer than they used to or that your joint pain is flaring up more than normal.
Around age 40, your cartilage and tendons become drier and your ligaments lose elasticity, making it a little more difficult to recover. Some people age sooner than others, but if you’ve been active your entire life you are more likely to keep up the healthy habits. Common sports chronic injuries in middle age are:
- Stress fractures: Thin, hairline fractures caused by repetitive force and overuse (commonly seen in runners and soccer players)
- Tennis elbow: An overuse injury that comes with repetitive movements and soreness outside your elbow, caused by inflamed tendons
- Rotator cuff and bicep injury tears: Injuries that are caused by falls or wear and tear from repetitive movements (such as lifting weights or swinging a hammer). Your rotator cuff is crucial in allowing your shoulder to move.
- Lower back pain: Any pain in the lower back that includes but is not limited to a slipped disc, arthritis, disc degeneration, acute injury, and more. This can be caused or aggravated by a sedentary lifestyle.
- Muscle strains: Occur when your muscles are overstretched (strained), forcing a tear to occur. This tear can be small or large and may need extensive treatment in some cases
Can Future Chronic Injuries Be Predicted?
Whether you are an athlete or not, you are bound to become injured at some point in your life. Some of us are more injury prone than others and some are more resistant, but you should still take proper care of your body.
Dr. Samantha Ramanan
Naturopathic Physician/Owner
A history of injuries, especially recurring ones, can indicate your risk of injury. Of course, participating in high-risk activities such as football or hockey will drastically increase your chances of injury, but that doesn’t mean that having an active lifestyle guarantees injury. Injuries are accidents, and accidents can happen at any level of fitness to anyone, including an individual with a sedentary lifestyle.
Old Chronic Injuries Can Turn Into Chronic, Lifelong Problems
Despite the intelligence and natural ability of our bodies to heal themselves, we often neglect them, particularly during our youth. At some point, you may have pushed yourself to play with an injury, only to experience pain later.
Unfortunately, this mistake from your youth can turn into a lifelong, chronic injury that will bog down your gym or game time. Even with proper care, some injuries flare up more often than others, causing debilitating pain.
When to See Your Doctor
If you are experiencing any type of pain, you should speak to your doctor right away. Putting off symptoms or thinking you can “tough it out” can harm your health. You only have one body—taking care of it should be a top priority. Thankfully, modern science and natural medicine have teamed up to provide you with the relief you’ve been looking for.
Reach out to your doctor for proper treatment if you experience chronic pain daily, especially if it worsens or prevents you from completing your daily tasks. This will enable you to return to a pain-free life and resume your activities.
Preventing Chronic Injuries in Middle-Aged Athletes, Naturally
As an athlete, you are accustomed to experiencing pain. Athletes often experience the agony of suffering a significant loss or sustaining an ankle injury. You know that training is hard work and that patience is key when recovering from an injury. Even if you’re not at the pickleball court on the weekends, you can still take a few steps to keep yourself healthy and away from the painkillers.
Flexibility
Our bodies become less flexible as we age, making them more susceptible to injury due to the loss of range of motion, which can affect your balance. To maintain flexibility, you must stretch daily, even if you don’t go to the gym. You can include it in your morning routine, bedtime routine, or both.
Proper Warm-up
As a kid, you may have skipped the warmup during gym class or before soccer practice because it was boring. But as you’ve remained active and gotten older, you have probably noticed how important it is. Your chances of injury drastically increase if you don’t properly lubricate or warm up your muscles and joints.
Your warm-up should stimulate and awaken your muscles to optimize their performance. Stretching, light cardio, mobility work, and muscle activation exercises are all beneficial components of a great warm-up routine. Just like your computer can’t run when you first turn it on, your body can’t perform well when it’s not ready. Gradually moving into a faster pace will help prevent injuries and keep you in the game longer.
Strength Training
As we’ve mentioned, your muscle mass begins to decrease around age 40, which affects the stability of your joints. Research has shown that strength training a few days a week provides an array of benefits, including protecting your joints from overuse and acute injuries.
Strength training does not have to include lugging around heavy weights. You can consult a physical trainer for the best training program according to your goals, current fitness level, and preferences. Tennis, golf, squash, and yoga are all part of an active lifestyle. If you don’t like a certain routine (or need it modified due to pain or injury), that’s okay! Fitness should be a fun addition to your life, and with a myriad of options, there are bound to be a few activities that you can enjoy.
Your Natural Solution to Chronic Pain
If you experience chronic pain from an old injury, you’ve likely taken Tylenol a few times. But after a while, the effects don’t last or come with side effects that disrupt your day. Did you know that you can treat your symptoms naturally and oftentimes heal them without risking joint replacement surgery? With natural medicine, it’s possible.
A Natural, Holistic Approach
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, promotes the wellness of your whole body to treat, prevent, and heal diseases. This branch of medicine combines the healing powers of nature with science by treating you as a whole and not just a body part.
Traditional Western medicine attempts to mask symptoms by prescribing dangerous medication without bothering to understand why you are experiencing symptoms in the first place. On the other hand, natural medicine aims to identify the underlying cause of internal healing, eliminating the need for medication side effects.
Natural medicine repairs your body rather than treating symptoms. We can prevent and even cure many injuries and diseases by emphasizing the importance of a healthy diet, an active lifestyle, and mental clarity. A thorough analysis can elevate and improve your active lifestyle, a key piece in the health puzzle.
At MedLink Health Solutions, we take the time to properly evaluate you to provide you with the best treatment plan, customized to you and your needs. We welcome you with open arms as part of the MedLink family, rather than treating you like a number. During your initial consultation, we thoroughly examine your health status, health history, diet, and exercise habits, among other factors, to accurately assess your current condition and guide you toward your desired goals.
In addition to treating your chronic injuries, you will also receive nutrition guidance. If you watch your diet, you may still have nutritional gaps. We recommend quality supplements to close these nutritional gaps based on your unique circumstances.
Natural medicine is a powerful tool on your road to recovery or back in the gym. Natural medicine can treat several conditions, including joint replacement surgery, without the need for surgery.
- Chronic joint pain
- Tendonitis
- Ligament tears
- Knee pain
- Rotator cuff tears
- Arthritis
- Sports injuries, and more
Our office specializes in regenerative joint therapy injections, including PRP (platelet-rich plasma), ozone therapy, and more, to treat and heal your symptoms. These therapies are great for joint, tendon, knee pain, and other chronic injuries due to their incredible capabilities. No nasty side effects like with traditional medicine because they’re natural. Our treatments are safe and effective and provide a multitude of benefits.
For more information on natural medicine and the therapies we use, click here to check out our previous blog.
The Role of Naturopathic Care in Preventing Chronic Injuries
Naturopathic medicine emphasizes a holistic approach to health, focusing on the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. By addressing the root causes of health issues and promoting overall wellness, naturopathic care can play a pivotal role in preventing chronic injuries.
Key Strategies for Prevention
- Personalized Exercise Programs: Tailoring exercise routines to individual needs helps in strengthening muscles and improving flexibility, thereby reducing the risk of injury.
- Nutritional Support: A balanced diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods can aid in tissue repair and decrease inflammation, which is crucial in preventing injuries.
- Lifestyle Modifications: Incorporating stress management techniques and ensuring adequate rest can enhance the body’s resilience against injuries.
Natural Pain Treatment Options in Arizona
For those dealing with chronic injuries, Arizona offers various naturopathic treatments aimed at alleviating pain and promoting healing:
- Regenerative Ortho-biologics: These treatments, like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, are minimally invasive and help tissues grow back. They also relieve joint pain for a long time.
- Ozone Therapy: This treatment enhances oxygen delivery to tissues, reducing inflammation and accelerating healing processes.
- Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Achieving hormonal balance through bio-identical HRT can improve overall health and aid in recovery from injuries.
At MedLink Health Solutions in Arizona, Dr. Samantha Ramanan and her team specialize in these naturopathic treatments, offering personalized care plans to address chronic pain and prevent future injuries.
Recent studies indicate a significant rise in the use of complementary health approaches for pain management among U.S. adults. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the percentage of adults using at least one complementary health approach increased from 19.2% in 2002 to 36.7% in 2022.
This trend reflects a growing acceptance and utilization of naturopathic treatments for managing chronic injuries.
Dr. Samantha Ramanan, Naturopathic Physician and Owner of MedLink Health Solutions, emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach:
“Understanding the body’s innate healing capabilities is crucial. By addressing the root causes and not just the symptoms, we can effectively prevent and treat chronic injuries.”
She further adds:
“Integrating natural therapies into patient care not only alleviates pain but also empowers individuals to take charge of their health.”
Heal Your Chronic Pain Naturally with Medlink Health Solutions
MedLink Health Solutions can help you overcome your primary discomfort. Our comprehensive assessments and customized treatment plans guarantee that we remain vigilant about your health and your objectives. Despite your great efforts to maintain your health as an athlete, busy schedules, holidays, children’s weekend activities, and injuries can often hinder your progress.
Don’t let chronic pain get in the way of you scoring the game-winning point. Heal naturally with the MedLink team and schedule your appointment today.