UK researchers say they have uncovered why women who often wear high heels can find it painful to wear flat shoes.

In the final part of the study, they found that the high-heel wearers’ tendons were much thicker and stiffer than in those who stuck to flat shoes.

This causes discomfort when walking on flat feet because the tendon cannot stretch sufficiently, Professor Narici said.

Yet he does not think women need to give up their high heels.

The advice we would give is not to wear heels or flat shoes all the time but to wear a variety of heel heights”

“Fashion is intended to be uncomfortable and none of the women in the study planned to give up their high heels,” he said.

“We want to give practical advice and I would recommend just doing a few stretching exercises to counteract some of these changes.”

Sammy Margo, physiotherapist and spokesperson for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said the study backed what they suspected.

“The advice we would give is not to wear heels or flat shoes all the time but to wear a variety of heel heights to get the calf muscles working through the greatest range of movement. . . .”

Continue reading the main story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10651020

(HealthDay News) — You and your athletic child should keep some safety rules in mind before the game starts.

The Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions to help keep kids safe:

• Make sure kids always wear protective gear that’s appropriate for the game. Examples may include goggles, a helmet, mouth guard or knee pads.
• Make sure the gear is properly maintained.
• Try to ensure that the playing surface is in good shape.
• Kids’ sports should always be carefully supervised by an adult.
• Make sure your child understands the rules and basics of the sport, and that the sport isn’t too challenging for the child.

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/fitness/articles/2010/06/03/health-tip–protect-your-child-from-a-sports-injury.html

http://www.the-leader.com/lifestyle/health/x1042554929/How-to-avoid-injuries-while-lifting-weights

When we think about sports injuries, it’s usually the smash-ups that come to mind: football, rugby, soccer and other activities where bodies collide.

But avoiding contact sports won’t necessarily eliminate the risk of injury when you’re trying to get fit.

Each day, about 150 injuries related to weight training are treated in emergency rooms across the country. In a study by the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, more than 970,000 weight training-related injuries were reported between 1990 and 2007

Many of the following do’s and don’ts come from www.mayoclinic.com, www.ballyfitness.com, and www.beinghealthy.tv.

What you need

• Wear shoes. Fitness shoes with good traction can help you avoid injuries by keeping you from slipping.
• Use weightlifting gloves to improve your grip and prevent calluses.
• Make sure your equipment is in good condition.
• For the average person, weightlifting belts aren’t necessary unless you plan to do power lifts or dead lifts. Wear the belt as a reminder to keep your spine in correct form.

Before you begin

• Find a workout buddy. Don’t lift heavy weights without a spotter.
• Warm up. Ten minutes of aerobic activity before lifting will help you avoid muscle injury.

As you lift

• Maintain good form. Keep your spine in a stable, neutral position.
• Learn how to pick up weights safely, lifting with your legs instead of your back. Do not lock joints (knees, elbows, etc.).
• Perform each movement slowly to promote safety and to isolate target muscle groups for a better workout.
•  Focus on the specific muscles for each exercise. Avoid using the rest of your body to lift the weight.
• If you are using machine weights, make sure each machine is adjusted to fit your body dimensions to allow a full range of joint motion.
• Don’t hold your breath – it can lead to dangerous blood pressure levels. Breathe out as you lift weight and breathe in as you lower the weight.
• Don’t overdo it. You want your muscles to be fatigued, not injured. Stop if you feel any pain and try again in a few days, using lighter weights.

As you progress

• Start small. Don’t grab the heaviest weights on the rack to impress someone at the gym. Begin with a weight that’s comfortable for 12 to 15 repetitions. If you can’t complete that many repetitions with a full range of motion, reduce the amount of weight you’re lifting.
• As you get stronger, a good rule of thumb for increasing weight is to go heavier by no more than 10 percent of what your body is used to lifting. For example, when you can easily lift 40 pounds, add no more than 4 pounds to the barbell when you work to increase your strength.

After you’re done

• Return weights to the proper rack or to a safe spot to avoid accidents.
• Get plenty of rest and avoid doing the same exercises two days in a row. Planning can help: work specific muscle groups on specific days. For example, Mondays – arms and shoulders. Tuesdays – legs, etc.
• Eat a balanced diet and drink plenty of water.

“There’s a higher incidence of ACL injuries in athletes who play sports that require jumping or a quick change of direction like soccer, basketball and volleyball,” says Polly de Mille, R.N., RCEP, CSCS, an exercise physiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery’s Women’s Sports Medicine Center.

Chiaia and de Mille offer the following tips for coaches and trainers to help prevent ACL injuries in young athletes:

• Understand the anatomy of the knee, what the ACL is, and how the body works. This will help in heightening awareness of what causes ACL injuries and who is at risk for them.

• Teach your athletes how to move with good alignment so that the knees are protected. This can be achieved by developing body awareness (brain-body connection), strength and balance to support both knees and ankles.

• Make sure athletes are jumping, landing, stopping and moving with their knees directly over their feet. Do not let the knees collapse inward.

• Work with athletes to develop strength in the hips, thighs and core. These are important in helping to keep knees in the proper position when practicing or in competition.

• Ensure a proper warm-up to get blood circulating to your muscles before games and practice. A proper cool down is also important to assist in recovery.

• Have athletes perform a variety of drills until movement patterns and proper body positioning are second nature.

• Give your athletes a chance to rest. Training at a high intensity in a single sport 52 weeks a year is not ideal for any athlete, especially young athletes. Alternate sports and vary intensity from season to season. When possible, take a break between seasons.

Proper movement patterns are so important in ACL injury prevention. “Customized strength and movement pattern exercise programs are key to helping athletes stay healthy,” says Lisa Callahan, M.D., medical director, Women’s Sports Medicine Program, at Hospital for Special Surgery. “Each athlete will have a different base of strength to build from, so it’s important that coaches and trainers develop the best program for that individual to help ensure proper body mechanics.”

Theresa Chiaia, P.T., DPT, section manager, Sports Rehabilitation and Performance Center, Rehabilitation Department, at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York

http://www.newswise.com/articles/sports-medicine-specialists-offer-tips-to-help-prevent-acl-injury-in-young-athletes

Footnote

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL Reconstruction Surgery) is an important ligament among the 4 ligaments that form a modified hinge joint between the shin bone (tibia) and the thigh bone (femur) in each knee. The key role of the ACL is to prevent the shin bone from sliding out in front of the thigh bone. This ligament also enables rotational stability in the knee.

Who is likely to have it?

In an article published in The Spine Journal, 2005. A prevalence survey of 72,699 schoolchildren in four age groups was performed in Singapore.

The study showed that the prevalence rates were 0.05% for girls and 0.02% for boys at 6 to 7 years of age, 0.24% for girls and 0.15% for boys at 9 to 10 years of age, 1.37% for girls and 0.21% for boys at 11 to 12 years of age, and 2.22% and 0.66%, respectively, for girls and boys at 13 to 14 years of age.

The prevalence increased rapidly for girls by the age of 11 to 14.

Kinesis offers Free Screening Call 6352 0800

TORONTO – A Wii bit of therapy using virtual reality game technology provided measurable benefits to stroke patients taking part in a small pilot study, researchers reported.

The Canadian study focused on upper body motions, and made use of the games Wii tennis and Wii “Cooking Mama,” which involves players moving as if they’re cutting up vegetables, slicing meat or shredding cheese.

For comparison purposes, a second group of stroke patients was assigned to non-video game recreational pursuits, including the block-stacking and balancing game Jenga and playing cards.

“The study showed that patients randomized to the virtual reality using the Wii gaming technology achieve greater performance in terms of their motor function, four weeks after the intervention,” said Dr. Gustavo Saposnik, a neurologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Changes in fine and gross motor function were shown in their speed and grip strength, he said.

The findings of the study, conducted at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, were presented in San Antonio, Texas, at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.

The study involved 20 patients aged 41 to 83 who had suffered mild to moderate strokes. Rehabilitation began within two months of the stroke, and they all received an intensive program of eight sessions, 60 minutes each, over a two-week period.

Patients in both groups were seated during therapy, and they were instructed to primarily use their affected arm.

Saposnik said those randomized to the Wii therapy had a seven-second difference in greater performance compared to the others, which he described as “meaningful.”

“In other words, imagine that you have for every task you are doing, instead of doing that in 20 seconds, it will take you 27 seconds for each activity that you do on a daily basis. That would be an impressive prolonged time.”

However, he’s also quick to caution that these findings are preliminary.

“The results are hopeful initial steps. But at this point we are not recommending stroke patients to play with the Wii. We are looking forward to having the results of a larger study, which is already underway.”

By: Anne-Marie Tobin, THE CANADIAN PRESS

After a Stroke, High Risk for a Recurrence

Aggressive care and follow-up are key to preventing further problems, experts say

Feb(HealthDay News) — Among people who suffer a stroke, one in 12 are likely to have another stroke soon after the initial attack and one in four will die within a year, according to a new study by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina.

The state-wide statistics highlight the importance of recognizing that anyone who has had a stroke is at a high risk for having another one and also has an increased likelihood of having other problems, such as a heart attack, experts say

“Our findings suggest that South Carolina and possibly other parts of the United States may have a long way to go in terms of preventing and reducing the risk factors for recurrent strokes,” said Dr. Wuwei Feng, a neurology resident at the university and the study’s lead researcher.

For the study, published in the Feb. 16 issue of Neurology, Feng’s team collected data on almost 10,400 people in South Carolina who’d had a stroke.

They found that 25 percent of those who had a stroke died within a year, and eight percent had another stroke within a year of their first stroke.

After one year, the risk for another stroke or death continued to rise, the researchers found, with about 18 percent having had another stroke within four years. In that time, about six percent had a heart attack and 41 percent had died from any cause, including 27 percent whose deaths were attributed to a stroke or heart attack.

The risks were higher among blacks than among whites, the study noted. The risks also increased with age and the number of other medical problems that people had.

“Stroke is a devastating disease,” Feng said. “Once you have it, you are at a high risk to have another one, as well as heart attack or death.”

Dr. Majaz Moonis, director of stroke services at the University of Massachusetts, said that “this is one more study that essentially points to what many others have already.”

Moonis believes the key to preventing second strokes is aggressive care and follow-up. “It is important to continue to point out the health-care disparities and the need for more aggressive care,” he said.

“In our stroke prevention clinic — where we regularly follow patients with ischemic stroke on a six-month basis with imaging, labs and vascular studies and treat them with very aggressive measures for stroke prevention — the annual rate of recurrent stroke is 1.5 percent, far lower than the community,” Moonis said.

Another stroke expert, Dr. Larry B. Goldstein, director of the Duke University Stroke Center, noted that his own study of stroke patients throughout the United States showed that the highest rate for recurrent stroke was in the Southeast, which has been called the “stroke belt.”

Of course, having a first stroke puts you at a 10-fold increased risk of having another, he said, and “in the country overall, about 20 percent of strokes are recurrent strokes.”

Goldstein also said that, in many cases, not enough effort is directed at preventing a second stroke. Using blood thinners, for example, can reduce the risk for a second stroke by about 48 percent, he said.

“Adequate treatment of high blood pressure reduces the risk by about 40 percent,” Goldstein said. “The use of antiplatelet drugs reduces the risk by about 16 to 20 percent. The use of a statin reduces the risk by about 16 percent.”

In addition, lifestyle changes such as a following a healthier diet, exercising more and quitting smoking will also reduce the risk of a second stroke, he said.

“There are a ton of things we try to do to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke,” Goldstein said.

SOURCES: Wuwei Feng, M.D., resident in neurology, department of neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.; Larry B. Goldstein, M.D., professor and director, Duke Stroke Center, Duke University, Durham, N.C.; Majaz Moonis, M.D., director, stroke services, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Mass.; Feb. 16, 2010, NeurologyHealthDay

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Mathematical Model Predicts Slight Sports Injuries

ScienceDaily (Feb, 2010) — Spanish researchers have developed a new mathematical model that predicts sport injuries. Their work shows that sport injuries that affect the lower limbs in high-impact sport, such as football, athletics or basketball, can be predicted through the use of equations of logistic regression.

A “metal foam” that has a similar elasticity to bone could mean a new generation of biomedical implants that would avoid bone rejection that often results from more rigid implant materials, such as titanium. Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed the metal foam, which is even lighter than solid aluminum and can be made of 100 percent steel or a combination of steel and aluminum.

In a new paper, researchers have reported recent findings that, in addition to the extraordinary high-energy absorption capability and light weight of their novel composite foams, the “modulus of elasticity” of the foam is very similar to that of bone. Modulus of elasticity measures a material’s ability to deform when pressure is applied and then return to its original shape when pressure is removed. The rough surface of the foam would also foster bone growth into the implant, improving the strength of implant.

Modulus of elasticity, which is measured in gigapascals (GPa), is extremely important for biomedical implants, explains Dr. Afsaneh Rabiei, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and an associate faculty member of biomedical engineering at NC State and co-author of the paper.

“When an orthopedic or dental implant is placed in the body to replace a bone or a part of a bone, it needs to handle the loads in the same way as its surrounding bone,” Rabiei says. “If the modulus of elasticity of the implant is too much bigger than the bone, the implant will take over the load bearing and the surrounding bone will start to die. This will cause the loosening of the implant and eventually ends in failure. This is known as “‘stress shielding.’” When this happens, the patient will need a revision surgery to replace the implant. Our composite foam can be a perfect match as an implant to prevent stress shielding,” Rabiei explains.

To give an idea of the difference between the modulus of elasticity of bone and that of traditional implants, bone has a modulus of between 10 and 30 GPa – while titanium has a modulus of approximately 100 GPa. The new composite foam has a modulus that is consistent with bone, and is also relatively light because it is porous.

The rough surface of the metal foam, Rabiei says, “will bond well with the new bone formed around it and let the body build inside its surface porosities. This will increase the mechanical stability and strength of the implant inside the body.”

The research, “Evaluation of modulus of elasticity of composite metal foams by experimental and numerical techniques,” was funded by the National Science Foundation and will be published in the March issue of Materials Science and Engineering A. The research was co-authored by Rabiei and former NC State Ph.D. student L. Vendra.

Source:
Matt Shipman
North Carolina State University