On the Road, Again
By Patty Kruszewski, Henrico Citizen Managing Editor

Like most people who work full-time, Lois Creamer looks forward to the weekends.

But that’s where Creamer’s similarity to most people ends.

At 82, the legal secretary for Williams Mullen rises at seven every weekday to commute from her western Henrico home to the
law firm’s downtown offices. If a coworker happens to mention the word retirement, she just smiles.
“Retire?” she gently chides them. “Oh, that is a bad word!”

And while the typical worker looks forward to Saturdays as a chance to sleep in, Creamer would not dream of it.

“I wake up at 5 a.m. on weekends and I can’t wait to get out of bed and prepare. I’m so motivated!”

Her reason to “prepare” at that hour? Two years ago, Creamer joined the Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K training team at the
Tuckahoe YMCA and bonded with a group of runners and walkers who continue to train together to this day. Not only do the
friends get together for Saturday training at The Collegiate School, but they also travel as a group to out-of-town races.

So after Creamer walked several 10Ks (a bad knee rules out running) and was looking for a new challenge, they encouraged her to
join them for a half marathon.

“It was just magical!” she says of September’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. Participating in her first half
marathon was exciting in itself; but an experience four miles from the finish line, as her energy started to fade, convinced her the
weekend was charmed.

“I got on Atlantic Avenue,” she recalls, “and I had just gotten the words in my mind, ‘I’m not going to make it’ – when Joe Vassar
came running back!” Her friend had finished his race and returned to accompany and encourage her for the final leg.

“He distracted me,” she says gratefully. “And he told me not to look at the street signs, because they’re all numbered!”

What’s more, Creamer crossed the finish line with the top time in her age group, and came home laden with medals and plaques to
add to her collection on the wall at Williams Mullen.

War Bride to First Mate
Perhaps it was inevitable that Creamer would grow up fitness-minded and excel in things physical. A native of Australia, she
began “calisthenics” as a three-year-old, then swam and played tennis while studying shorthand, business skills and even millinery
at a girls technical school.

In 1942, she met a young American soldier who was training at a camp outside Melbourne. They were introduced by friends he
had encountered at a local hangout serving milkshakes – otherwise known as a “milk bar.”

Creamer pauses to laugh as she tells the story, exclaiming, “My children like to say, ‘Mom! You met Dad at a bar!’”

Their wartime courtship lasted four years, of which they spent all but three months apart. “I wrote him every day,” she says, “and
sent him boiled fruitcakes, so they wouldn’t spoil.”

When she arrived in the States at age 21, she got off the ship (which held 800 other war brides) on the West Coast and boarded a
train for her husband’s hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. As the train passed through bleak northern landscapes in Idaho and
Montana, she recalls occasional pangs of doubt and thoughts of, “What have I done?”

Two children followed, but Creamer continued her active lifestyle; voice lessons and an opera workshop led eventually to song
and dance performances at a local dinner theater. A charter member of the Norfolk Savoyards (Gilbert and Sullivan), she also
worked for the law firm of Willcox and Savage, and cites as a favorite memory the time she played the the jilted bride in “Trial by
Jury” for a room full of lawyers and judges at a Virginia Bar meeting.

Her musical and thespian activities helped Creamer deal with the devastation when her marriage dissolved after more than 20
years.

“Having confidence in oneself and knowing you can accomplish what you want by keeping a positive attitude. . . is so important,”
she says.

After the divorce, she “sold everything” and saved her dinner theater earnings to visit family in Australia, knowing it was her last
chance to see her mother. Although she found work in Melbourne and stayed three months, Creamer could not bear living so far
from her children.

“I came back the cheapest way I could find,” she says, “by ship and Greyhound bus to Norfolk, where friends from the church met
me – very bedraggled! All I had left was $200 in my pocket to get started all over again.”

At a retreat for divorced women, Creamer befriended some Richmonders, and began visiting the area.

Ready for a change, she moved from Tidewater in 1973 and took on a job with the first of three Richmond law firms. She also
sang in church choirs at Second Presbyterian and River Road Baptist Church; took Mini-Med School classes and riding lessons
(becoming a board member for the Richmond Mounted Squad); mastered a Coast Guard sailing course and served her second
husband, Bob Creamer, as first mate on his sailboat. Married in 1980, the couple had only a short time together before Bob died
four years later.

Rocking On
Dancing remained her passion and physical outlet, and she eventually went on to compete with the Regency Dance Academy.

“I had such joy when I danced,” she says longingly, wincing as she relates the story of the torn hamstring that ended her dance
career. “It almost killed me,” she says of the injury — though it failed to keep her off her feet for long. From water wRocking On
Dancing remained her passion and physical outlet, and she eventually went on to compete with the Regency Dance Academy.

“I had such joy when I danced,” she says longingly, wincing as she relates the story of the torn hamstring that ended her dance
career. “It almost killed me,” she says of the injury — though it failed to keep her off her feet for long. From water walking in the
Y pool she moved to water aerobics, and finally, to the walking and pilates she practices today. “I would be running if I could!”

Five years ago, she encountered another setback: a job lay-off. In her late 70s, she was out of work for 10 months. “I was so
bored!” she recalls. Buying a computer, she sent out resumes to her many contacts in the legal profession, and landed the position
at Williams Mullen – adding, in the process, to her growing fan club.

“At work,” she says, “they tell me they don’t know how I do it. But I just don’t like to sit still. You have to keep moving and not
dry up.”

Another fan is her Tuckahoe Y Training Team coach, Dan Blankenship.

“At 82,” Blankenship says of Creamer, “she sets the bar for anyone saying they cannot participate in the program. Lois is a great
lady and good motivator for our team.”
In addition to the 10K in April, Creamer looks forward to Virginia Beach’s Shamrock half marathon in March – and of course a
repeat of the Rock ‘n’ Roll.

“I plan to do this as long as I’m living,” Creamer emphasizes. “There are not enough hours in the day for me to do everything I
want to do.

“Stay tuned for the next!”

Personal Best

But First, Doctor, What Was Your Marathon Time?

HIPPOCRATES THE OLYMPIAN Athletic patients may want to find physically fit physicians.

YOU are an athlete, or, at least, very active. Should you seek doctors who are athletes, too? After all, some obese people pass around lists of “fat friendly” doctors who treat them with respect. Women often want female doctors.

Are athletes also a special group? And, if so, do they fare any differently if they see doctors who are athletes?“Nobody knows,” said Dr. James Fries, a 20-mile-a-week runner and a professor of medicine at Stanford. “There’s no data.”

There are some hints, though, said Dr. Ronald Davis, who is the president of the American Medical Association and a specialist in preventive medicine at the Henry Ford Health System, which includes hospitals, clinics, a managed-care plan and a large physician group practice.

Dr. Davis cited a study by Dr. Erica Frank, who is now at the University of British Columbia. Her study, published a few years ago, involved a survey of about 4,000 female doctors and found that those who were at least moderately active were much more comfortable advising patients about exercise and encouraging them to exercise.

A doctor who is physically active, Dr. Davis said, “is more likely to provide advice on exercise that will be meaningful to patients.”

That stands to reason, Dr. Fries and other physicians said. Doctors who are athletes, he added, are less likely to say “untoward things like that running destroys the knees or that you need an electrocardiogram before you can exercise.”

But it is not always obvious whether a doctor is an athlete. Some tell their athletic patients about their exploits. Some have photos in their offices showing them crossing finish lines. With others, though, unless you ask, you may never know.

Of course, good doctors can be sedentary and terrible doctors can be athletic. What matters most is the doctor’s skill and training and whether you feel comfortable with the doctor. Some active people, in fact, say they had an awful experience when they sought out an athletic doctor.

But in general, doctors who are athletes tend to be more aware that active people want to stay active more than anything else, said Dr. William Kraus, 53, a cardiologist who is a professor of medicine at Duke and runs 35 miles a week and finishes 5-kilometer races in about 20 minutes. He said athletic doctors are less likely to take the easy way out and tell an active person who is injured or ill to stop exercising.

“For many of us, that’s just unacceptable,” Dr. Kraus said.

That was the reaction of Richard Hulnick, 40, a manager for business development at the New York Road Runners, when an orthopedist told him to stop running. He saw the doctor because his knee was bothering him. But the doctor, who, Mr. Hulnick said, “did not look like an athlete,” told him to take up another sport.

“I wanted to get better,” Mr. Hulnick said. “I wanted someone to work with me, but he didn’t tell me what to do.” So Mr. Hulnick walked out of the doctor’s office and resumed running. His knee recovered on its own and he never saw that doctor again, he said. Since then, he has completed six marathons and an Ironman distance triathlon.

Dr. Paul Thompson, a 60-year-old marathon runner (he finished second in his age group in the Chicago Marathon last year) and the director of cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, said he often finds himself giving different advice to athletes than he would to more sedentary patients.

For example, he said, a woman with a malfunctioning heart valve came to him for a second opinion. Another cardiologist had told her there was no need to replace the valve because the woman had no symptoms. But she had been a competitive triathlete. So when she told Dr. Thompson that she had recently run a five-mile race in 50 minutes, he was suspicious. He asked her if that was her usual pace, and she told him that her time was actually much slower than in the past.

“To me, it was quite clear she was limited in her exercise tolerance,” Dr. Thompson said. He recommended she have the valve replaced, and she did.

Dr. William Roberts, a runner, skier and sailboat racer who is a professor of family medicine at the University of Minnesota, said active people sought him out to such an extent that his practice gradually turned into one made up mostly of athletes.

“They know I like physical activity and I am willing to try to find ways to keep them active,” said Dr. Roberts, a former president of the American College of Sports Medicine. He recently saw a patient with atrial fibrillation, a heart disorder. The man said other doctors had told him to stop exercising, so he had come to Dr. Roberts hoping to hear a different message.

He did. Dr. Roberts said he told the man that he could exercise as long as he kept his heart rate from going too high, and as long as he had no chest pain or shortness of breath.

Some athletes, like Jon Luff, a 40-year-old aerospace engineer who ran the New York City marathon in 2:39:59 said that if experience is any guide, stay away from doctors who know nothing about training. Mr. Luff’s wife is a doctor, as are three close friends, so he said he shouldn’t speak too freely. But then, just thinking about doctor problems, the floodgates opened.

“I have a story concerning heart rates,” Mr. Luff said. “I have one concerning tendinitis. I had a doctor tell me once that I had mono and had to stop everything.” Mr. Luff was 18 at the time and withdrew from two national competitions. It turned out he had only a cold.

Mr. Luff also has a good friend, Bill Burke, who was initially turned down by the Air Force because he has a resting heart rate of 33. Mr. Burke, who was the national champion in 1,500 meters in 1993, said he had to go to a cardiologist for a medical waiver, which allowed the Air Force to accept him. The cardiologist, Mr. Burke said, told him, “You’re either about to check out, or you’re going to be around for a very long time.”

Then there is the story of a Harvard professor, a surgeon. “He once told me that nobody should run marathons because it destroys knee cartilage,” said Mr. Luff, who knows, however, that most research, including a major study by Dr. Fries, has found that runners actually have a lower risk of knee arthritis.

Yet not every mistaken doctor is a nonathlete. Those who are athletes can be wrong, too.

That is what Patricia Sener, 43, an open-water swimmer who lives in Brooklyn, discovered when she had a problem and went to a doctor who specialized in treating athletes. The doctor pointed to a gray spot in an M.R.I. of her knee and told her she might need a major operation to replace her anterior cruciate ligament. But he said he would not know for sure until she was on the operating table.

“I’m training for the English Channel,” Ms. Sener said. “I’m on a time line. I can’t afford six months off.”

She went to a different doctor, a swimmer, for a second opinion.

“He pointed to the exact same spot on the M.R.I. and said: ‘See this. It’s normal.’” All she needed, she said, was physical therapy to strengthen the connecting muscle and ligaments around her knee and stabilize it. She recovered.

Athletes, though, are not the easiest patients, doctors said.

“They drive you nuts,” Dr. Thompson said. “They are very demanding. They are innately a select group, and a lot of athletes have a superior attitude. They are a little bit defensive.”

They tend, in fact, to be like one of my running partners, who told me that when it comes to a diagnosis, she regards doctors mainly as a source for a second opinion. The first opinion is her own, she said.

Perhaps the best indication of whether athletes should seek fit doctors is to ask doctors who are athletes whether they choose athletic doctors for themselves.

Dr. Roberts said there was no question: he chose a doctor who is an athlete, and so did his wife, a skier. His doctor, David Thorson, is a skier who was his partner when he was in private practice.

“I recruited him in the early 1990s after we raced against each other in sailboats,” Dr. Roberts said. He has been Dr. Thorson’s patient ever since.

A patient passed this on to me recently. New York Times January 3, 2008

A copy of the original article can be found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/health/nutrition/03Best.html?ex=1357102800&en=ab0c7b339e565219&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Take a look at one Lois Cramer and her recent publication showing all she has achieved.  We passed the article around the office and everyone at CSM is so proud of you.

A google search of PFS yielded 150 thousand hits. In fact PFS is so common that it affects 10% of male runners and a woping 50% of female runners at some point in their lives.

PFS pain is felt behind the kneecap or patella. It may feel like a sharp pain or like a dull ache. You may feel popping in your knee when you bend your leg.

The problem is worse with hill work and may be worse with a sudden increase in mileage. Loading a bent knee as in going up or down stairs also hurts. Riding in your big chain ring may make PFS worse. It is particularly painful with prolonged sitting with bent knees, or when getting up after sitting for a long time.

What causes PFS?
Like we said, PFS is poorly understood. But here is the best we have to date:
Normally the kneecap (patella) lives in front of the thigh bone (femur) in a groove that is lined with cartilage, a sensitive material (Figure I).

As the knee bends and straightens, the patella glides up and down in the groove. The muscles that hold the patella in the groove come from the thigh. If those muscles are too weak to hold the patella right in the middle of the groove, the kneecap knocks on the sidewalls of groove. The patella tracks toward the outer (lateral) edge of the femur. This off-kilter path damages the cartilage between the patella and the femur and causes pain.

PFS is more likely to happen in people who have feet that pronate; a wide pelvis; or weak quadriceps (thigh muscles). The problem also occurs in bicyclists with excessive side-to-side knee motion on the downstroke.

What can be done about PFS?
The good news is that surgery is not the cure to this condition. But the bad news is that fixing PFS usually requires lots of rehab and hard work.

Start with the standard cure-alls: cross training and ice. That will be enough for some cases of PFS. The remainder will need a specific quadriceps strengthening, hamstring stretching and general conditioning program to fix any muscle imbalances. The program will be designed to “straighten” the improper tracking pattern of the patella on the femur. A Sports Medicine provider can devise such a program for you.

Motion control shoes, a shoe insert, or even orthotics may be necessary to help the pronator with PFS. A knee brace with a cut out hole for the patella may assist the misalignment problem. Similarly, taping the kneecap into a specific position during workouts may help reduce PFS pain.

In more sever cases, injecting the knee with a viscous lubricant helps reduce the pain from cartilage damage behind the patella. A good Sports Medicine physician can determine whether you are a candidate for this type of treatment.

That ice pick stab into the bottom of your heal when you step out of bed in the morning is probably caused by plantar fasciitis (fashee-EYE-tiss).

The plantar fascia is a band of tissue that goes from the bottom of the heel (calcaneus) to the ball of the foot (metatarsal heads), as seen here.

Its primary job is to support the arch on the bottom to the inner foot.

A normal plantar fascia can get over- stretched by factors acting to flatten this arch. When the arch is over stretched, the plantar fascia pulls on the heal bone. Over time, this causes pain and degeneration of the fascia where it originates on the heel. The condition is called plantar fasciitis

Many factors can inappropriately stretch the plantar fascia, but being overweight is the most modifiable factor. Many people with plantar fasciitis are overweight. Doing sports that involve repetitive pounding, like distance running, is also a risk factor. In fact, plantar fasciitis affects al least 10 % of runners at some point in their life. Overpronation (foot rolling in) flattens out the normal foot arch, thereby stretching the plantar fascia. Pronation is a potentially correctable risk factor. Shoes with broken down arch support can also contribute to plantar fasciitis.

Before treating yourself for this condition, you deserve a trip to your Sports Medicine provider to make sure that you do not have a less common condition like a stress fracture, a compressed nerve, or an inflamed growth plate.

There are many ways to treat plantar fasciitis because none of the treatments are perfect. Since this is not an inflammatory problem, anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen and naprosen) do not help much.

Plantar fasciitis is actually a mechanical problem. So treatment should focus on changing mechanical factors. Lengthening the fascia while avoiding overstretching is a good idea. Even more important is strengthening the arch so that it does not pull on the heal bone. Specific treatment recommendations are:
• If you are overweight, work on some cross training for a while to shed the pounds. Water running, swimming, and bicycling will not stress the plantar fascia. Even a 10-pound weight loss makes a big difference. Since running transmits 5X your body weight through your foot, a 10-pound loss translates into 50 pounds less at the sole of the foot.
• Back down on running mileage by about 50 percent. Consider it a blessing to be forced to work on cross training with biking, swimming, or other sports.
• Strengthen the arch by making a “fist” with you foot; relax; then do it again. Do enough reps of this exercise to exhaust the muscles on the bottom of your foot.
• Stretch after workouts as well several times during the day. It is important to stretch out both the plantar fascia and the Achilles tendon, since both structures attach to the heal bone. Two good stretches are shown here. Never stretch cold tissue (this causes the tissue to tear). Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds. Keep the stretch comfortable- it should not cause excessive pain.
Lean forward against a wall with the affected side knee straight and heel on the ground. Your other knee is bent. Your heel cord and foot arch stretch as you lean forward. Repeat the same stretch with the back knee slightly bent, keeping the heal on the ground.
My Aching Heal

That ice pick stab into the bottom of your heal when you step out of bed in the morning is probably caused by plantar fasciitis (fashee-EYE-tiss).

The plantar fascia is a band of tissue that goes from the bottom of the heel (calcaneus) to the ball of the foot (metatarsal heads), as seen here.

Its primary job is to support the arch on the bottom to the inner foot.

A normal plantar fascia can get over- stretched by factors acting to flatten this arch. When the arch is over stretched, the plantar fascia pulls on the heal bone. Over time, this causes pain and degeneration of the fascia where it originates on the heel. The condition is called plantar fasciitis

Many factors can inappropriately stretch the plantar fascia, but being overweight is the most modifiable factor. Many people with plantar fasciitis are overweight. Doing sports that involve repetitive pounding, like distance running, is also a risk factor. In fact, plantar fasciitis affects al least 10 % of runners at some point in their life. Overpronation (foot rolling in) flattens out the normal foot arch, thereby stretching the plantar fascia. Pronation is a potentially correctable risk factor. Shoes with broken down arch support can also contribute to plantar fasciitis.

Before treating yourself for this condition, you deserve a trip to your Sports Medicine provider to make sure that you do not have a less common condition like a stress fracture, a compressed nerve, or an inflamed growth plate.

There are many ways to treat plantar fasciitis because none of the treatments are perfect. Since this is not an inflammatory problem, anti-inflammatories (like ibuprofen and naprosen) do not help much.

Plantar fasciitis is actually a mechanical problem. So treatment should focus on changing mechanical factors. Lengthening the fascia while avoiding overstretching is a good idea. Even more important is strengthening the arch so that it does not pull on the heal bone. Specific treatment recommendations are:
• If you are overweight, work on some cross training for a while to shed the pounds. Water running, swimming, and bicycling will not stress the plantar fascia. Even a 10-pound weight loss makes a big difference. Since running transmits 5X your body weight through your foot, a 10-pound loss translates into 50 pounds less at the sole of the foot.
• Back down on running mileage by about 50 percent. Consider it a blessing to be forced to work on cross training with biking, swimming, or other sports.
• Strengthen the arch by making a “fist” with you foot; relax; then do it again. Do enough reps of this exercise to exhaust the muscles on the bottom of your foot.
• Stretch after workouts as well several times during the day. It is important to stretch out both the plantar fascia and the Achilles tendon, since both structures attach to the heal bone. Two good stretches are shown here. Never stretch cold tissue (this causes the tissue to tear). Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds. Keep the stretch comfortable- it should not cause excessive pain.

Lean forward against a wall with the affected side knee straight and heel on the ground. Your other knee is bent. Your heel cord and foot arch stretch as you lean forward. Repeat the same stretch with the back knee slightly bent, keeping the heal on the ground.

Put the ball of the foot on a wall, leaving the heal on the floor. Gradually lean your body toward the wall. Do this with the knee straight, and then repeat with the knee slightly bent.
• Ice after stretching and strengthening for 15-20 min. Massage with a frozen paper cup is very beneficial. Heat-strength-stretch-ice should go in that order.
• Proper footwear is necessary. Shoe inserts may help correct misalignments. An arch support insole can help by providing a continuous mild stretch. There are many such insoles available. Check with your Sports Med provider to determine what your footwear needs are.
• Similarly, your Sports Med provider may use athletic tape to hold the arch up, thereby providing a constant gentle stretch.
• There are many types of night splints available. These splints lengthen out the plantar fascia while you sleep. These may help a great deal if your symptoms are worse when you first step out of bed in the morning. The best splints stretch the arch of the foot; not just the Achilles tendon.
• Cortisone injection may be attempted. This is generally a temporary fix, and may weaken the fascia in the long term.
• Shock wave therapy is a fairly new treatment (although it has been used in other countries for many years). Applying strong shock waves to the plantar fascia helps stimulate healing of the degenerated tissue.
• Surgery should be kept as a last resort and is falling out of use as shock wave therapy becomes more available.

Put the ball of the foot on a wall, leaving the heal on the floor. Gradually lean your body toward the wall. Do this with the knee straight, and then repeat with the knee slightly bent.
• Ice after stretching and strengthening for 15-20 min. Massage with a frozen paper cup is very beneficial. Heat-strength-stretch-ice should go in that order.
• Proper footwear is necessary. Shoe inserts may help correct misalignments. An arch support insole can help by providing a continuous mild stretch. There are many such insoles available. Check with your Sports Med provider to determine what your footwear needs are.
• Similarly, your Sports Med provider may use athletic tape to hold the arch up, thereby providing a constant gentle stretch.
• There are many types of night splints available. These splints lengthen out the plantar fascia while you sleep. These may help a great deal if your symptoms are worse when you first step out of bed in the morning. The best splints stretch the arch of the foot; not just the Achilles tendon.
• Cortisone injection may be attempted. This is generally a temporary fix, and may weaken the fascia in the long term.
• Shock wave therapy is a fairly new treatment (although it has been used in other countries for many years). Applying strong shock waves to the plantar fascia helps stimulate healing of the degenerated tissue.
• Surgery should be kept as a last resort and is falling out of use as shock wave therapy becomes more available.

ANATOMY

The hamstring muscle group consists of three muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus) that originate on the ischial tuberosity (sit bone) and inset on the 2 bones of the lower leg. Hamstring contraction causes the knee to bend and the thigh to swing backward- 2 important motions in running and bicycling.

Muscle strain is typically divided into 3 degrees of severity:
1) A grade I strain is mild. Only a few muscle fibers are disrupted. There is a bit of pain and swelling, but the muscle remains strong.
2) Grade II strains involve larger partial muscle tears. The tear results in some strength loss.
3) With a grade III strain there is a complete tear of one or more of the 3 hamstring muscles. This severe injury and is quite disabling.

PREVENTION
Avoiding “TOO MUCH TOO SOON” is key to the prevention of hamstring strain. Typical culprits of this injury are 1) increasing mileage by more than 10% per week (remember to obey the 10% rule), 2) too much speed work or down hill running, and 3) tight muscles. When we run sprints or down hill, our hamstrings work overtime, trying to slow us down while in a stretched position. This simultaneous contraction while stretching is called an “eccentric contraction.” Eccentric contraction exercises should always increase GRADUALLY; if not, injury will ensue.

In the medical literature, the jury is still out about weather or not stretching can actually prevent hamstring strain. Some studies conclude that stretching helps while most say it makes no difference. Most of these studies do not have their subjects perform adequate stretching. In other words, for hamstring stretching to possibly be effective, it must be done correctly, held for at least 20 seconds and repeated frequently though out the day.

TREATMENT
What if it’s too late… you’re already suffering the deep ache on the back of your thigh… wishing this article had been out a month ago. Hamstring strain frequently recurs and becomes chronic. So proper treatment early on is essential. Take a visit to your health care provider in order to get a correct diagnosis and to coordinate treatment.

Treatment of muscle strain is divided into several stages, which coincide with stages of muscle healing. Initial rehabilitation is designed to decrease pain and inflammation. Next, a couple of weeks are dedicated to stimulate collagen healing. Maintaining fitness during this stage is easy for the mutli-sport athlete who can replace running with other sports. Of coarse the rate of progression through rehabilitation depends on the severity of the strain. The rehab process continues for several months, keeping muscles strong to avoid reinjury.

Stage I, Week 1:     decrease pain and swelling     P.R.I.C.E.: Protection (walk with crutches if limping to avoid other injuries);     Relative Rest (if it hurts, don’t do it); Ice (a bag of frozen peas and an ace wrap works great);     Compression (the ace wrap); Elevation (higher than your heart).
Stage II, Weeks 2 to > 3: control pain, align and strengthen new collagen, maintain conditioning with submaximal strength exercises; bicycling without clips or straps (to avoid vigorous “pulling up” on pedals); swimming with pull buoy.
Stage III: Weeks 4- 6: maintain strength and flexibility, increase eccentric strength Stretching; strengthening; jump rope; light jog; run

Return to more normal workouts may ensue when:
1) Pain is gone.
2) The strength on the injured side is 90% that of the normal side.
3) Flexibility and coordination are normal
With return to full activity, any hamstring tightness should be a warning sign that perhaps workouts were begun too soon. Talk to your health care provider again to re- evaluate and perhaps rewind the rehabilitation.

Happy Trails!

-Dr. Stadler

We have conventionally treated soft tissue injuries with anti-inflammatory medication (ibuprofen and naproxen).  However, we now know that inflammation is necessary to promote healing; to make the tissue stronger and faster; and stronger faster.

A method designed to promote inflammation and healing, called Prolothrapy, is gaining main stream recognition (even by the Richmond Times Dispatch , August 16, 2007).  The treatment involves a series of injections of dextrose and saline (sugar water, ie- all natural and safe).  The shot is an “irritant;” so it causes a local increase in the bodies own natural inflammation and healing factors.  This directly stimulates the growth of healthy, strong tissues. As the tendons and ligaments grow stronger and more capable of doing their tasks, the pain is alleviated. Prolotherapy starts the growth of ligaments and tendons, but an individual’s own immune system grows the tissue.

Prolotherapy is extremely safe. It is less risky than taking ibuprofen to temporarily alleviate chronic pain. Your Sports Medicine provider will review possible risks and benefits with you.

Most athletes require four or five sessions. For someone with an injury for just a few months (or less) and is in excellent shape, the number of sessions may be even less

Most Medical insurance companies cover this simple, safe procedure.

Greetings Knee’ding,

You have lots of company and do not need surgery. Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) is the most common cause of knee pain in runners. Surgery is not necessary.

The Iliotibial Band (ITB) is a muscle and tendon that goes from your outer hip (or ilium), down your entire thigh, into a spot on the shinbone (tibia), just below your knee. It is very important in stabilizing the pelvis when you run. A strong ITB prevents side-to-side hip motion during the stance phase of running.

This important tissue passes back and forth over the thigh bone with every step you take. As it does this, it rubs on a bump or condyle on the bottom of the thigh bone. At the spot where the ITB rubs over the condlye, friction builds up, resulting in inflammation and swelling.

The pain of ITBS may come on worse after a rapid milage increase; a tough hill workout; overstriding; a long run on a cambered road; inadequate stretching.

If you have bowlegs, ITB tightness, or unequal leg lengths, you may be more likely to get ITBS. A good Sports Medicine physician can make recommendations for treating these predisposing conditions.

We already said that surgery is not the answer to this condition. There are a few things you can do decrease the pain of ITBS and prevent it from returning:
• Decrease your mileage by 25-50% until your nearly all better. Cross train to maintain fitness. Water running and elliptical training are great.
• Put hill work on hold for a while.
• Alter your pace. If you usually run 8 minute miles, try running a few 9s, then a few 7:30s. This changes the angle of the knee during footstrike and may decrease the irritation of the ITB over the thigh bone.
• Strengthen the ITB so it can easily do its job of stabilizing the pelvis. Stretch the ITB during and after your sworkouts. Stretching should initially be done several times a day. A good Sports Medicine provider can teach you appropriate exercises.
• Ice the affected area after your workouts.
• Alternate running direction on cambered surfaces and avoid very pitched roads all together.
• A lateral heak wedge may decrease the predominance of the thigh condyle, thereby decreasing ITB friction and irretation.
• A cho-pat band or strap worn just above the sore area helps by decreasing the rub of the ITB over the bone and by changing the mechanical end of the tendon.
• Anti-inflamatory medications may help.
• Physical Therapy modalities like phonophoresis may help.
• Corticosteroid injections work very well for ITBS, but should be reserved for those with more than 6 months of problems or those that need to get better quickly for an important race.

10 Running all the time
Cross train and get strong. Throw in a “non-run” workout at least once a week. Lifting weights is best to help prevent injuries.

9 Overhydrating
Drinking too much water will dilute the salts in your blood, resulting in “hyponatremia” or low blood sodium. The official advice from the American Marathon Medical Directors Association is to “Drink what you’re thirsty for.”

8 Getting in the car
Many T in T workouts end with the gang hanging out in the parking lot. THIS IS YOUR TIME TO STRETCH. If you only stretch once a day, do it at the end of your workout. Don’t get in the car until you have done your stretching.

7 Throwing in “junk miles”
When you feel good, do not do more miles than your coach tells you to do. Instead use the energy to raise your funds or spend time with your family.

6 Using the same ol’ shoes
Get fresh running shoes about every 300 miles… it’s cheaper than a trip to the orthopaedist.

5 Blaming the shoe
Getting new shoes won’t fix all your running aches. If something hurts for more than 3 days, talk with a Sports Medicine provider.

4 >10%
Do not increase your long runs by more than 10-20% per week. If you get blisters, you are doing too much too soon. Blisters are an external sign of overtraining.

3 Beating the competition
The goal of your first marathon is to beat the distance; not the clock, and definitely not the competition.

2 Being unprepared for race day
Get plenty of sleep and carbohydrates the 3 days before the main event. Also, don’t try and new foods or techniques during this time. Show up early on race morning with extra pins (for your race number); old clothes that you can shed as the temperature warms; toilet paper; Vaseline for chafed skin; sunglasses, hat, gloves, sunblock….

1 Not having fun
If you heart is not in it, take a few days off from training. Then, have fun or go home!

Aches and pains may seem like a regular part of life now that we are getting ready for fall marathons. However sharp, worsening shin pain should not be ignored. Increase in training distance or intensity, foot overpronation (rolling in), and change in running surface or shoe may be partially to blame for the pain. “Shin splints” is actually a catch all term for several different conditions. The three most common causes of shin pain in a runner are:

1. Periostitis (per-ee-os-tie-tis)
2. Stress Fracture
3. Compartment Syndrome

Anatomy

The lower leg has two long bones: the tibia and the fibula. Additionally the muscles of the lower leg are divided into 3 long “sausage like” compartments. These compartments are named by their positions on the leg. The anterior compartment is on the front, while the lateral and posterior compartments sit on the outer side and backside respectfully.

I. Periostitis

Most bones are lined by a thin layer of tissue called periostium (literally, around the bone). On the front of the leg, the periostium is continuous with the muscles that lift the foot off the ground (an important part of running). Overuse of these muscles pulls on the periostium causing irritation and inflammation. An inflamed periostium is called “periostitis.”

Early treatment of periostitis is focused on controlling pain and inflammation. RR (relative rest), ice, stretching, physical therapy, and anti-inflammatory medication may be helpful. Once pain and swelling are under control, a program to strengthen the muscles of the front of the leg is necessary. Your Sports Medicine practitioner can prescribe an effective program.

II. Stress Fracture

Of coarse not all boney leg pain has the same cause. Tibial or fibular stress fracture is a fairly disabling injury. Distinguishing stress fracture from periostitis means a visit to your Sports Med physician for x-rays or other radiology tests.

Training errors, worn out foot wear, and poor biomechanics put a runner at risk for this injury. Women are at risk for stress fractures if they are amenorrheic or oligomenorrheic (have no periods or irregular periods). These menstrual abnormalities are potentially dangerous and should be treated.

Stress fractures take several weeks to heal. Although a big bulky cast in not necessary, certain types of splints have been shown to speed recovery, and a good period of RR is mandatory. During this time, non-impact activities (like riding, and deep water running) are OK. Your health care provider can decide when you are ready to start hitting the trails.

III. Compartment Syndrome

Shin pain is sometimes located over the muscles, rather than over the bones of the leg. If this is the case, and things do not get better with a bit of RR, stretching, and ice, then compartment syndrome is a possibility.

We already said the muscles of the lower leg are divided into 3 sausage shape compartments. Because these compartments are rigid, when an overused muscle wants to get angry and swollen, there is nowhere for the swelling to go. This swelling causes the pressure in the sealed off compartment to rise. If the pressure gets too high in a compartment, circulation and nerve function may get “squeezed off.”

Proper diagnosis of compartment syndrome requires measuring the pressure in the compartment with a needle and pressure gauge (like inner tube pressure). If a runner does have high pressure after a workout, she might be offered a surgical procedure to open up the tissue that keeps the compartment rigid. Most athletes do very well with this procedure; however, it is surgery and should not be taken lightly.

Happy trails! Tune in next month…