Due to a serious hamstring injury sustained in 2013, I have since been trying to avoid any prolonged sitting or driving. Yesterday, however, I felt obligated to take my son to a boy scout camping experience. He was very excited and looked forward to joining his cousins at the campsite. My right leg already started to cramp up after driving for about an hour and a half. As the sun set, the camp site became very cold and damp. I grew up in Northern China so I do not mind cold weather at all, but damp worsens my old injuries. In this cold and DAMP weather, I had to use a blanket to wrap up my legs. I managed to fall asleep in my sleeping bag and woke up around 5:30 in the morning. My misery started as soon as I stepped outside our tent. All of a sudden, my right leg and foot began to cramp and ache. I almost collapsed onto the cold and wet leafy ground. I would have screamed if I had not minded waking others up. I told my family that I had serious pain and had to limp around. Immediately we packed everything up and left the camp for home. I thought I must have torn my already injured hamstring and irritated my sciatic nerve. I have never felt his much pain even when I tore both hamstrings five years ago in track... I was worried about my life and future because I did not want to have to limp in the office from one room to another to see patients. And I still want to play volleyball and coach my son... I was so desperate that I took two tablets of ibuprofen and rested with a couple of needles and a heat lamp over my leg for an hour. As we sat down at Boudin for lunch, I gradually felt my right leg began to warm and loosen up. I felt good enough to skate to the park and play volleyball as I usually do. This was the real test to find out whether I was crippled or not. Thankfully, my legs are back in working order; it was the damp, cold, and windy environment that put me through this ordeal. Those with old injuries take note: the camp is damp! Frank He, LAc. Edited by Sarah Tang, DTCM
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Beach volleyball. Too many people on the court. Player 1 bumps into the person behind and steps on the edge of the foot of player 2. An audible three pops are heard. “POP, POP, POP!” and player 1 goes down into a crumpled pile. Player 1 has felt this before, and though it had been 18 years since having such a bad injury, Player 1 goes into immediate shock. The leg begins to shake and the ankle starts swelling. Player 1 is emotionally devastated. The only difference from all the previous ankle ligament tears is that this time she was with a group of acupuncturists, one of whom happened to have some needles with her and was able to give Player 1 immediate treatment--once she was carried off of the volleyball court. The swelling, which had started so quickly, halted almost as soon as the needles were inserted. After a few minutes with points placed both distally and locally to the injury, the shaking also stopped. The physical trauma was severe but the acupuncture had already started controlling the damage so it did not continue to escalate. Within two hours of the injury, Player 1 was given internal herbs for acute trauma and had the ankle wrapped in a plaster of San Huang San (Three Yellows Powder), an herbal alternative to an ice pack. Addressing the inflammation and pain internally and externally at the same time are part of a “Die Da” protocol (injury treatment from a long lineage of Martial Arts practices). The plaster was kept on over night and re-applied for the next few days to reduce swelling, prevent blood clotting, help clear out stagnant blood, and promote fresh blood coming to the area instead of ice, which temporarily helps reduce swelling but ultimately prolongs recovery time because of restricting blood flow to the injured tissues. The visible bruising that generally takes about a week to appear with this kind of injury had expressed by day 2 and was already starting to clear by day 4! The deviation from previous ankle injury experiences, seeing the visible signs of more rapid recovery and feeling less pain and restriction than any prior torn ligaments, also helped Player 1 with the emotional component of chronic injury. She was much more positive and hopeful about her recovery. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are useful in addressing minor to severe injuries. This is a case of a severe acute ankle sprain on a person with a long history of chronic ankle injuries. When there is repeat trauma to an area, our body “remembers” this injury pattern and damage can be much more severe and slower to repair than expected. A sort of “PTSD” of the body, if you will. When left untreated, or using the classic RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) protocol, the injured area does not repair as quickly as desired or as completely as necessary for full recovery. Fortunately, using the ancient wisdom of Chinese Medicine, there are alternatives and ways to overcome the vicious cycle of chronic injury.
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