Now this is something i know about
I tore the tendon in my thigh that connects to the hip while playing soccer. hopefully yours isn't as bad as that. What the doctors advised me to do is when you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed rub deep heat gel or something similar into your leg. I'm not sure if it sped up my recovery but it made the pain go away and allowed me to walk without the pain and actually lift my leg.
Give it a go!!!

sue you know what this sport is all about, sometimes you need to take your balls out of your handbag

keef said...

sue you know what this sport is all about, sometimes you need to take your balls out of your handbag

That's the problem I did and I think I might have done myself some damage as a result.I should have rested it but I've been walking around , we cut a large tree down and I loaded it all in to the trailer & unloaded etc , been kayaking and bending it up to get in & out despite the pain.Maybe if I'd done the boring thing , seen someone & rested it I would have been a lot better off.
Someone suggested I Google it and although I vowed not too I did.. Eek! Better not take 3 months or I'm going to be unbearable to live with..grr[}:)][}:)]

I was wondering whether to use heat or ice as i know heat encourages the blood flow which isn't good with inflammation.Pity I didn't use ice earlier. I'll stay positive and get some crutches so once its screaming I can give it a rest but still get around and be a bit more sedentary..Grr I was just getting really sailing fit and lost weight..now I'll get unfit & fat again..[}:)]
Argh!! Its supposed to blow 20 -30kts today grr grr grr..[}:)]

I've emailed my regular chiro and I'm waiting for a reply. Got some crutches ,painkillers + anti inflammatories and I'm supposed to stay off it for 2 days..Can't see me doing that but the crutches should help ease the load off it.
I was told NOT to use heat packs but to ice it often when it hurts and not to go sailing until I could stand for a couple of hours without pain and do gentle stretches without pain..umm wait & see .They said I could do some nasty damage if I went back too soon and rehurt it.Time to pop some pills.

Here's some professional advice.

1. No one can diagnose your complaint based on your original post. Did you suffer an impact on the thigh?? If so then it is possible that you have suffered a contusion type injury which can be quite painful. If you did not have a direct impact then something else is likely to be going on that will be even harder and frankly silly to get advice on a forum for.

2. Assuming you have a contusion - the best immediate care which it sounds like you neglected is Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. You should do this for the first 5-6 days. The thigh can bleed a fair bit as there is a really good blood supply, and generally the inflammatory phase lasts about 6-7 days. Control the inflammation and bleeding and you will heal faster, do not and it will take more time. Do not get gung ho on massage and heat - in a small but enough cases this can result in a chronic inflammatory problem referred to as myositis ossificans - completely avoidable and is the result of poor management.

3. Now that you know what you should no next time - lets move forward. Again i am assuming that you have a contusion, that you have aggravated by your recent activities. Considering that you are down the track a little, it is still valuable to use ice and compression, it is possible that you kick started the inflammatory phase all over again with the yard work, so get ice (frozen water - gel packs are not cold enough!!!!!) and compression going. About 20 mins every 2 hours, and ensure that you have a damp cloth between the ice and your skin - otherwise ice burn!!

While your thigh is feeling numb from the ice you can do some GENTLE ranging activities with your hip and knee. DO NOT stretch your thigh - you can further damage healing soft tissues and go back to the start. I find that pain is a wonderful guide of what you can and cannot do at this stage.

After about a week of this you should feel like you have reasonable range and much less pain. It is usually at this time that you might like some very gentle massage - think efflourage, this will start to encourage some increased blood flow and help the body heal. This will take you up to about 2 weeks from now. From an exercise point of view, you should do what you can tolerate - google exercises like straight leg raise, and wall squats, as well as gentle walking and cycling as tolerated - again use pain as your guide, and progress as able.

The above information is a guide only and is on the assumption that you suffered a corkie (contusion) to your thigh (quads). If you are finding pain not resolving or other symptoms presenting then go and see a physio or sports med doctor - they are trained better than any others to diagnose and treat conditions of this ilk.

Oh and the comment about the regular chiro being the reason you did not suffer a bad neck injury from your horse fall is complete BS. It was luck and a helmet, but i bet it kept you going back to your chiro. that comment is nearly as good as the ones i hear where the chiros state they can make you live longer with regular treatment.....

Now there are great practitioners of allied health all over the place - but i hate this crap that some of them spout like above. It gives the rest a bad name....sorry rant over. Good luck with the leg - i think it will take up to a month to feel 100%.

Just try ice cubes, the gel packs don't get cold enough and as a result warm up very quickly, and don't lower the tissue temp at depth where it is needed.

While everyone's giving free advice, I have this very serious problem. I've worn the skin of my feet and toes after three solid days of blastin in 30 knots, gybeing, tackin and jumping....I don't know how I'm going to get through it.....I've seriously worn my tan off

......Seriously Sue, I hope your better soon. I swear by voltaren gel, used it the last time I had a similar problem....I found it hard to walk for about 3 days but the gel helped(my 2 cents and by no means an expert opinion.....well not even a novice opinion.

god u old people break easie..:)

nick0 said...

god u old people break easie..:)

Rat bag..

Came across the RICE method when I started getting running injuries.

Ice and Elevation (raise the injured part above the level of your heart) in the first 12-24 hours is the best way to minimise swelling/bruising/inflammation.

With regards physios, I had an unusually reduced healing time experience with one random physio.

In 2006 I was booked for 3 weeks in Maui. Six days before leaving I badly sprained /twisted my ankle which "blew up like a balloon" even with the ice/elevation treatment. The next day I stayed at home and continued the ice/elevation. The following day I hobbled into work and randomly selected a physio (1 from a list of 49 in St.Leonards). Had a half hour treatment that day and the following day, which involved some severe leg manipulation.

On the 4th day after the injury, I was almost sprinting at around 70% top speed which was an instruction from the physio.

During my life so far, I have sprained both ankles many times, and this recovery was easily the fastest by the proverbial "golden mile". I was windsurfing the very first day in Maui.

So it is possible that since the physio knew I had a short time frame for recovery, he accelerated the treatment process.

It made me better understand why injured NRL players get back on the paddock so soon.

Cheers

qldnacra said...

sboardcrazy said...

Davage said...

Sounds like you might havea minor tear in the muscle.

Ice is needed untill the inflamation settles.

You really need to get in and see a sports osteopath. They arent expensive and they will get you back up to strenth quicker than sitting around with your leg in the air. Warning though they will hurt you on the first visit cause they should be getting into your leg with massage to break down and reduce some scar tissue thats forming around the tear.

Depending how bad it is they should put you on a program of specific stretches straight away as well as some strength excercisesto build it all up better than it was before.

Good advice.I'll see how it goes the next few days and follow that if it doesn't settle. I think I would have had worse injuries if I wasn't pretty flexible due to the regular stretching and core strength exercises the chiro gave me for my neck problems .
A few years ago I got bucked off the horse head first and got out of it with a helicopter ride to hospital with a cracked helmet but only a few popped ribs and shoulder bruising. The chiro said my neck survived because my spine is in good shape from treatment + stretches.

I think what she is getting at is that because she stretches and is more flexible and most probably has better muscle tone that her injuries were most likely reduced in relation to if she was a couch potato and had the same accident. If she was going to a "good" chiro or ostheopath etc i believe it may have helped her in this fall not because of the visit to the chiro itself but because of what she did afterwards in her own time to stay in better shape due to their advice. A lot of them do take the piss and say you need to come back on a weekly basis for long lengths of time but i believe a good one will give you the right advice, correct treatment and give you an exercise routine to aid recovery and this is where you will have a better chance of reduced injury in a fall or something due to being in better shape to start with. Visiting a chiro cannot stop you getting injured in a fall no matter how many times you go but being in better shape by doing the "correct" things based on professional advice surely has to help.

Yep..

nick0 said...

god u old people break easie..:)

I want a refund! The board you sold me doesn't behave and threw me off!