Alternative Training During Injury

[huirebel]

Greetz all,

Ok, so last year I was told to work in the storeroom for an entire day.
As a result of that I developed a severe case of tendernitis in the knees.

The doc gave me some injections and ointment to rub on. The doc told me to not bend my knees for the next 6 months.
I cried like a baby in front of the doc. I cried like a baby again when I told my Shifu.

The 6 months have past, and a visit to the doc yesterday made me really sad.
I still have fluid under the knee cap in my left leg and something called calcification has set in the tendons in my left leg.
Under no conditions, am I to work while resting on the knees.
When I'm 50-60 years old, I'm gonna have to have an operation because of this. :eek:

I believe this will affect my training big time and also prevent me from practising certain styles even stances!
This has undoubtedly been the saddest part of my life. Not being able to do any vigorous training at all really does impact your emotional state in a very negative way.:(

My Shifu has started me on nunchakku for the meantime. Dont know what other system I can do.

1) To the Shifus on the forum, when your students receive an injury how do you handle this and what training is prescribed.
2) If any of the members here have a special dit da jow for this kind of injury, let us know.


Thanks in advance,

[Iron_Eagle_76]

First off, sorry to hear about your injury, I have been there and it is a very helpless feeling to not be able to train because of something like this. That being said, it sounds like you have been having knee problems for a while, usually this kind of injury does not happen all at once and it sounds like a lot of damage was done.

One of the main problems with a knee or leg injury is that this is the root of your Kung Fu and will certainly limit what you can do. As you said, stances, transisitons, kicks, all will be limited. I would find an upper body exercise that you can do that does not require a lot of leg movement. Bridging, as well as palm strikes on a bag, tiger claws, mantis wrists, serpent strikes and spearhand conditioning, iron palm, makiwara training, bang arms with a partner or use a wooden dummy for forearm conditioning, all should be ablet to be done without too much risk of re-injury. Boxing could be dangerous because you are still moving and bending the knees while in motion, but you could do some slow shadow boxing and see how they feel.

But before you do any of this, talk to a doctor and explain what you will be doing and take thier advice. Hope that helps. Also, if your looking for Jow, hit up Dale Dugas. He sells all kinds and knows what you will need.

[David Jamieson]

How do you develop tendonitis from one day of work in a storeroom?
There has to be extenuating circumstances here. Generally speaking Tendonitis is a repetitive stress injury and you would require a good amount of stress on the joint to cause it in one days work.

There would have to be a precursor.
Jow will have an analgesic effect for sure, but for Tendinitis

Here is the recommended strategy for treatment of Tendonitis.



* Stop the activity that caused the pain
The first step to proper tendonitis treatment is to stop all activities associated with the affected area.
* Rest the affected area for at least 3 weeks
Rest is the most important part of tendonitis treatment. In most cases the tendon will be able to completely heal itself with enough rest.
* If possible, brace the area
If possible we recommend you brace the affected area. This could mean a wrist brace (wrist), arm sling (shoulder), knee brace (knee), etc. Bracing the area protects it against further inflammation and strain.
* Apply anti-inflammatory medication to the area
Anti-inflammatory medication can help to relieve tendonitis pain and dilate the blood vessels. This allows for relief of the pain, without causing any stiffening of the tissue.
* After 3 weeks, re-evaluate the situation
How is the pain feeling after 3 weeks? If the pain has not subsided, rest for another 3 weeks. If the area is feeling better you can begin further rehabilitation.
* Apply light resistance, movement and stretching
Apply slow and controlled movement to the affected area. If no pain is felt, you may use very light weights. After movement some gentle stretching can be applied. Repeat these light movement exercises for a minimum of 3 weeks.
* Start light exercise
By now your tendon should be ready for some light exercises. You can find some exercises for various body parts on this page.
* Ease back into activity
Your tendon should now be ready to start regular activity again. Make sure your properly warm up and stretch your tendon before you begin exercising.

[taai gihk yahn]

I dunno man - the history, etiology, diagnosis and course of "treatment" just don't seem to add up...as DJ correctly Points out, tendinitis is due to repetitive strain; what you describe sounds like an acute inflammation; not being told to bend your knees for 6 months is also weird...

What my suggestion would be is to find a GOOD physical therapist to work with; if you go to this website:
www.instituteofphysicalart.com/
they list PT's by geographical region who are certified in their system that takes a thorough, rigorous and integrated approach; of course, you may find success w someone else, but the PTs certified by them are necessarily higher quality than the norm

[No_Know]

No_Know is Not a Sifu
-No_Know
huirebel,

You don't seem to be asking for how to get better, though you have consulted with a healthcare professional. I like Human puzzle-works, and there not being a conventional or standard of improving or me thinking I have one with preferred efficiency I might give a mention as I will have here.

After seeing this set of posts I looked-up tendonitis for definitions and to understand it enough to hopefully see the gaps in technique so-to-speak (shake-a-can). I might have had what people might call what people are saying that you have, huirebel.

It seems it is other than over how long so much as exceeding capacity.

While insufficent rest, or more-at, recovery, repeated can get this occurance called tendonitis, so perhaps can concentrated use or misuse within a confined span.

In helping someone with their ceiling tile I had to carry the tiles up the stairs I usually would grab with one hand and sometimes take more than one tile at a time . I began to feel a thing in my right hand right forearm and recognized that thinning pulling feeling as being too much stress and about to snap. I let go and discontinued the grab at one point. Doing that I would like to think might have saved my arm to some extent though it would still be useless because if I activated it the strain in failure or low tolerance capacity I had concern would go bad and disconnect .

I can use it much as I had before the ripping. But even then I would not snap-pull. I would blend into the grab. Perhaps rethink your technique for moving as an additional aid in your healing and maintained good health.

Ask your doctor-person if massage along the perimeter would do harm. If not harm I recommend this sort of thing as conceptually I think washing the muscle--polishing/ scouring the bone might be beneficial. And being near the area but not at the area, I thought, allows for a healthy take-over of the area[-eroding the perimeterof badness-ish.

No_Know

[huirebel]

@Iron_Eagle_76
will definitely run your suggestions by my Shifu.

Thanks for the replies and support. Much appreciated :)