Sprains, getting older!

I always thought I was pretty fit, stretched every morning and before any strenuous activities, but at 6am this morning, I pulled a calf muscle super bad! I had just swung my legs outta bed and was just standing up and BAM, Ura-Ki down, I hit the floor screaming in pain, WTF? How could this happen? Being of the emergency medical community, I'm always trying to figure out the what and the how, but for the life of me, I have no solid idea what happend to cause such a sprain, especially this bad!
Lesson, getting old sukz, but what can a monkey do to prevent such a debilitating injury? I thought I had the answers with remaining fit and stretching all the time, but this was a wake up call, what If I needed to boogy during a SHTF event today, tomorrow? I am fairly certain I would be useless and unable to even hobble on foot much further then the door to my truck! Share your thoughts and ideas, experiences!

 

This is a good question. What stretches should people be doing. I always hear of people doing morning stretches after they have had an incident but what are good helpful stretches that people should incorporate into their morning routine?

 

On your back for starters,Legs,calves,tendons.

 

Good thing you are already stretching out and keeping fit, or it might be happening more often. Periodic deep massage perhaps? I know that muscles can get knotted up pretty bad without even realizing it. Nutrients can also play a role like calcium and potassium. I have a feeling that if things get real you won't feel much pain once the Adrenalin hits.

I think I may have listed some solutions in my Moto Challenge thread, but don't remember: ***** Click HERE To Learn the Secrets You Need to Win Moto's Monkey Challenge

 

My guess it's a lack of some mineral, perhaps some vitamin. I get extreme muscle cramp in my calf when I sleep, wake up screaming (talk about pain!), and I am pretty sure that it is a lack of something, probably potassium, maybe magnesium, and I do try to take the tablets but...forget sometimes. We use a lot more of this stuff when we get older. Plus, a lot of hard mileage on joints, bones, muscle and sinew...sometimes I will be walking and something will hurt for no damn reason whatsoever. It's age and the mileage catching up on you. Wouldn't it be great to trade in the old body for a 20 year-old's now we got all the experience and knowledge? Man-oh-man sign me up! Now, I will go take my vitamins and quit dreaming...bah!

 

This was a first for me, never pulled a calf muscle before, and man, that pain sure got my attention, I thought some one had hooked me up to a car ignition system one as flopping all over the bed! I have been pulling my peck muscles lately, I think it's my sixer turning to a keg, I can actually see the muscles bound up and I can usually work them out by hand, but this was way off the range for me! I'm going to look at supplements and get my fat ass back in the water where I belong! Lol I am curious to see how far outa shape I am these days, a five mile'er used to be a good warm up, gotta see if I can still do it!

 

I've not had any sprains lately , but I get cramps pretty bad sometimes. And the potential for those cramps seem to come after a hard days work. I pushed it pretty hard Saturday , that night , I woke up instantly around 03 , went to crawl out of the rack and then the cramp hit in my left leg , so I jumped up quick to try and walk it off , got to the head and my right leg started cramping up. Bad enough having 1 leg, but both kind of cripples ya . Happened 1 time while I sittin on the crapper ,,,,LOL,,,that was about to turn into a big mess , if ya know what I mean.

 

What? Are you saying on your back to loosen legs, calves & tendons? I know that some of my leg issues are a result of sitting in a bad office chair for years. It is all connected to my back.

 

I usually lay flat on my back and slowly work my arms and legs, and get any kinks out before I swing outta the rack and hit the shower, this happend after all that! I did have a pretty physical day doing yard work and up on the roof cleaning gutters, but I didn't strain any thing that I know of!
Will hope this was a one time deal, I don' wanna go through that again!

 

Let me say no one is wrong on this subject but again as you get older the body's way of processing food minerals and eventually no matter the exercise or stretching or running your going to be relegated to less and less I noticed all the reports of people who win events they are reported in or by age groups and weight class Why ? because it is relevant bantam weight boxers do not fight against heavy weight class how many 70, 60 or 90 year old winners of the New York marathon are by age then there are races for disabled Why ? because in each class there will never be a equal no 80 year old man will ever beat Hussein Bolt last Olympic winner.

These are contrived statistics 60 is the new 40 what a bunch of crap there are always exceptions to rules but they are exceptions rare not the norm and a lot of people die in the attempt to compete with younger people. there are mineral supplements people should not take because as you age they are not processed the same and instead of helping they can kill you. calcium is one. talking to a doctor before you start or change medications exercise routines that include heavier or longer periods of working out medications or supplements you take.

My father died at 57 less than a month before his doctor claimed he had the heart of a 20 year old. One morning he had a harder time than normal it was hot and humid to make a long story short he had a heart attack and died. Having worked with him I knew he had done more and harder work in the past with no sign of trouble. Genetics and God there are no pills or smoothies or special diets that will for very long alter the aging process or death your joints and heart are warrantied for X amount of time after hip or shoulder replacements ratings are never higher than original numbers. I do not say to grow old gracefully just know that at some time you will plateau or exceed beyond a previous threshold there are things that can help us sprays or even supplements but without blood work and a good doctor you may be doing more harm than good. Pace yourself use reason and know none of us will live forever but those that care about us they would rather we were able to be here and able to live well, because at some point your not going to improve or lengthen your life just shorten or make it more painful.

 

I have also heard sodium can cause problems in the extremities as we are, I have all but eliminated salt, but their may be other minerals lacking. I should prolly get a blood test and see where I'm lacking as I'm getting close to the big five-0

 

Night leg cramps is the reason for me keeping a small bottle of tonic water on my bedside table. One mouthful is all it takes to instantly stop my leg cramps.

 

About 1/3 of the way down this page, Takes the load off your back, Helps me a bunch!

http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrN...hes.html/RK=2/RS=VkRelPWwEL2GY6hs.GKm7hnmOVM-

 

Funny this topic should come up. Yesterday afternoon, we got like - two weeks rain, in five hours. During the rain, I was coming across a newly made path that leads up to our container. Upon entering, I lost my footing, with my left leg coming out from under me, and landing on it and my right hand, simultaneously. How that happened, I have no idea. But, it did. I don't think I have ever experienced a sprain from such a fall.

So, here I sit, typing with a pretty painful right hand / wrist, and can barely walk on my left foot, due to it being sprained.

If we were in a SHTF scenario right now, I would be screwed. Ura-Ki, buddy. I guess you and I are just fallin' apart.

 

My stretching is mostly tai chi. Very gentle.

One of my students showed me a yoga stretch for calves. Supposed to help the knees too, she said. Basically, you sit back on a yoga block or somethng like that between your feet. But with a stick pulled up against the back of your knees. In this case a 1 inch wooden dowel. Sit back and let the sucker press in to the upper calf, then slowly pull it down and repreat the process until you finish rubbing up your whole calf.

 

Too little salt can cause issues. Some sodium intake is necessary for a good balance and for proper muscle action. The studies vary but somewhere around 2300 mg per day seems to be close to the "ideal" quantity.

 

Sounds like dehydration to me. No amount of dietary supplements or stretching will help if the toxins can't go anywhere.

I'm serious here. I would have died without it. At least 1/2 your body weight in ounces per day.

100 pounds? 50 oz
200 pounds? 100 oz
You get the idea. Be glad you don't start at nearly 200 oz like I did.

A word of warning: your body hides toxins you can't expel in fat. Hydration releases these toxins after a few day and you can feel terrible from them. Until you aren't fat...

I'm down 55# so far and feel 20 years younger.

Y'all with sprains, mix 15ml oil of oregano, 15 ml oil of peppermint, 10 ml oil of orange, and 50 ml rum or vodka. That'll take the pain away quick.

 

That's a topical recipe by the way.....

 

If you had a long day doing physical work in the sun, you might have gone to bed that night still in a slightly dehydrated state. Then upon arising the next morning after more hours on no water due to a good night's sleep, your calf muscles could be more sensitive to that kind of muscle pull. I've had similar calf pulls just upon rising (even after the proper stretches while still lying down), and have traced it back to not enough hydration before going to bed the night before because of a long day of yard work, washing the car, truck etc. the day before. The trick is to drink enough water before going to bed to be satisfactorily hydrated, but not so much that it causes multiple midnight trips to "drain the radiator." Good Luck!