Cramp

By | |
Leave a comment

What is it? Excruciating. That’s what. Out running last week and my left calf decided to cramp. I knew I needed to stop…not much choice really…and stretch out the muscles. But why it was happening is another thing, which I’ll come to later. Back to the what. Well, it is an intensely painful sensation caused by a sudden onset of involuntary muscle contractions or severe muscle shortening. What essentially is happening is an acute muscle spasm. This forces the blood out of the muscle: this is bad, it means oxygen and nutrients aren’t getting to where they should be. Lack … Continue reading →

ITBs (Illotibial Band Syndrome)

By | |
Leave a comment

ITB syndrome is relatively common among the runners and triathletes that I have treated. It’s described variously as a sharp pain on the lateral (outside) edge of the kneecap, so painful that its like someone is poking a hot pin in there and twisting it around. It can also be felt further up the Band, toward the hip, but for this article, Im going to concentrate on the knee problem. The distal (bottom) part of the ITB, and potential painful spot. As you would expect, this tends to have an effect upon running style, generally a pronounced limp, followed swiftly … Continue reading →

Lantern Pike

By | |
Leave a comment

That was a short, sharp lovely little race. As we drove over to Hayfield from Glossop, Lynne remarked “you’re going up that”, as we looked at a hill ahead of us. Oh. It is not a long hill, but it is a bit of a shock to the system. We got there in good time and parked in the field- the weather was nice going on ugly- Sunny spells interspersed with sudden downpours. We wandered around, and recced the first 200 yards or so, just down to the stream – noting the small chicane around a fence- definitely a good … Continue reading →

Healing muscle strains – Treatment

By | |
Leave a comment

As mentioned in a post earlier this month (Processes involved in healing a muscle strain) what treatment aims to do initially in a muscle strain is to reduce pain, swelling, bleeding and secondary tissue damage by utilising PRICE (protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation). At the acute stage treatment is, as mentioned, to follow the PRICE protocol. You should immediately stop the activity which caused or aggravated the injury. Protect the area, limit movement either with bandages or splints and keep it away from danger. From the perspective of a massage therapist you may think that there is little that … Continue reading →

Pain

By | |
Leave a comment

We all experience pain, be it emotional or physical, at some point in our lives. Some people are lucky and only experience pain when they are injured, like when they twist an ankle running in the fells or cut themselves accidentally while chopping vegetables. Other people seem blighted with pain, going from illness to illness, often (and frustratingly) without a specific cause. But pain is pain, whatever the cause or reason for it. And the level of pain we feel is on a continuum, and it is difficult to be precise about this as ones own pain tolerance is unique. … Continue reading →

abdominal massage and spasming diaphragms

By | |
Leave a comment

If you’ve read the post about the Mount Famine race, you may remember I mentioned a spasming diaphragm. This is a bit of a wierd one which I first felt a good few years ago when I was running in Japan. (just for fun, I must hasten to add… trying to lose weight to get better at climbing) Sometimes, as I was running, I would get a really really bad pain in the abdomen, on the right side, just below the ribs. I knew it wasn’t stitch- I’ve had that before, and it went pretty much as soon as I … Continue reading →