For many of us, the change of seasons means the opportunity to get back into a favorite sports activity. Or maybe you’ve decided that this is the year you’ll take up a new sport such as running, soccer or basketball.
But rushing into a new activity without proper preparation can result in pain or injury that leaves you on the sidelines.
Listen in as Dr. Jamie Peters, a sports medicine physician with Sports & Orthopaedic Specialists, discusses the best way to ramp up for an injury-free sports season.
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Get In Gear For Your Favorite Sport
Featured Speaker:
Jamie Peters, MD- Orthopedics/ Sports Medicine
Jamie Peters, MD, is a board-certified physician specializing in family medicine and sports medicine. His professional interests include non-surgical orthopedic care, fracture management, joint injections, chronic and acute injuries, management of musculoskeletal chronic conditions, preventive care for runners, runner issues and sport conditions. Transcription:
Get In Gear For Your Favorite Sport
Melanie Cole (Host): As the seasons start to change, you get ready to get back into your favorite sport, whether it's skiing, softball, soccer, basketball. This year, you want to make sure not to get an injury or a pulled muscle or even worse. My guest today is Dr. Jamie Peters. He's a sports medicine physician with Sports & Orthopaedics Specialists, part of Allina Health. Welcome to the show, Dr. Peters. So, what are some of the most common types of sports injuries you see when people haven't prepared and they've just jumped in?
Dr. Jamie Peters (Guest): Well, probably most common is typical strains of muscles. So, when muscles are too tight, they haven’t been used much and they tend to be more prone to tearing. So, the actual fibers of the muscle tear and then it manifests itself for the patient or for the athlete in soreness lasts for usually 2 to 5 days or so. Sometimes if it’s a larger tear, it can last a whole lot longer.
Melanie: We're coming to fall sports soon and kids are starting to train already now for some of the fall sports; and then, there's winter sports. Do you see an increase in either one of those seasons?
Dr. Peters: Yes. Well, you know, I guess I would take that question back to say, ideally. for any of our athletes or pretty much anybody, year round training would be ideal. So, year round, being active; year round using your muscles in any of the seasons. So, I guess, commonly, when we're looking at some of the school sports like cross country, running and football, soccer--all those fall season sports--if someone hasn’t been staying active then, as I've said before, then they do tend to have a more likelihood of these sprains. Staying active and, actually, even specifically working on the core muscles are really great strategies for prevention. The core would be the abdominal core and also, just as importantly, would be the hip core, the group muscles. There are specific exercises that help maintain those muscle strengths and they’re very protective against other types of injuries that occur in these sports.
Melanie: So, when you mention being active year round, sports specific has been an issue lately and we’re seeing more chronic injuries in kids that are staying with one sport all year round. What do you think about cross training? What advice do you have for coaches and parents of kids who play a sport all year round?
Dr. Peters: That's a great topic. If we can encourage our kids to do a couple of things: one is to, as you say, cross train, meaning that you don’t just do one sport year round because then you’re just using the same muscles and the muscles that aren’t involved in that sport are not being used. So, if someone is a runner, adding in some biking, adding in some of the other kinds of sports, like soccer, where you're using different muscles, can be very, very protective over time.
Melanie: So, cross training is a great idea. Now, what about somebody who gets a pulled muscle? Whether they’re in shape or not, sometimes the aches and pains happen, Dr. Peters. So, what do you recommend as the first line of defense if someone feels an ache in their knee or feels their ankle strained or quad strained. What do you tell them to do?
Dr. Peters: Well, first of all, I think it’s important to note some of the red flags or the warnings for which you would want to get help sooner. That would be if a joint is actually swelling. So, knee swelling, that would be something you'd want to see a sports medicine specialist or a very qualified provider to get that assessed. Persistent redness in areas also would be a red flag warning sign that you probably shouldn’t wait on that. But, if it’s a more typical sprain, that you’d feel a pull, you don’t want to continue full out and continue to play because what happens is, that particular muscle that’s been strained ends up being a little weaker and you can actually extend that injury and make what might be a more mild injury that could last 2 or 3 days into a much longer duration type injury. So, be somewhat aware of the typical ways that we recommend treating it, if you were treating this and not going to a provider initially if it looks like a milder injury would be some icing on that area. Ice tends to work really well. We’d usually recommend a 15-minute duration using a soft ice pack or a back of frozen peas. You can do that 2 to 3 times a day. It can be very effective. And then, starting up again, sort of testing that, get it moving, sometimes just walking is more effective as a healing technique than just sitting around. So, you want to get these muscles moving again so that the circulation is there and the muscle can help mend itself but not pushing it really hard when it’s not ready.
Melanie: What about NSAIDS and ibuprofen, Advil and things like that. Are you allowed to take that if you’re sore? Do you wait it through? What do you do?
Dr. Peters: Well, that’s a really good question. I think there’s a really changing way of thinking in the sports medicine community about using non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or Aleve initially with injury. They can affect the bleeding times, so we don’t want to have more blood in the tissue because that takes longer for the tissue to heal. So, probably trying to stay away initially with ibuprofen because basically they’re good for pain but sometimes the body needs a little inflammation to heal. So, that also could be a reason not to use ibuprofen initially. For certain types of injuries where we see more of a tendonitis or bursitis or things like that, ibuprofen or that kind of drug can be helpful but, in general, be a bit more conservative on the use of those medications. Tylenol works reasonably well for pain but, a lot of times, as I mentioned, icing can also be helpful for pain and doesn’t have the negative downsides of some of these other drugs.
Melanie: What if you have an imbalance or little limiting factor, some muscle that isn't as strong, do you recommend bracing for tennis or for girls in soccer with their knees. We know ACL in girls is a huge issue right now. Do you recommend bracing, Dr. Peters?
Dr. Peters: Well, it's sort of a yes and no answer. So, what I'll say is, since you brought up ACL and the higher likelihood of women athletes having ACL injury, which is major ligament in the knee type injury that we see with Adrian Peterson, for instance, with the Minnesota Vikings and others have sustained that. But, it's more frequently injured in female athletes and really bracing won’t prevent that injury. What can prevent that injury is proper training, again, going back to the core, women athletes who are able to maintain that core strength, especially hip core, have been shown by a number of studies to be less likely to injure the ACL. Now, if we're talking about a sleeve, there's been some tweaking of the knee and sometimes having a compression sleeve is helpful but a brace itself, unless it’s a very specialized brace and someone has a deficiency in ligament and it’s been prescribed by a sports medicine specialist, a brace in itself it’s not really protective, the kind that you would get at Walgreens or Target or other similar places.
Melanie: So then, what do you advise people about warming up and stretching and flexibility. People never know whether to stretch a cold muscle, wait until they’re warm and then stretch it. Give us your best advice for really preparing for a sport.
Dr. Peters: Another great topic. These are really changing ways of thinking in sports medicine and what we're advising. So, definitely warming up the body and warming up the muscles before you do full out exertion is always a good idea. We're less enthusiastic about cold stretching. It used to be when I played soccer, for years the first thing we do is get to the field and start stretching but stretching cold muscles could actually be detrimental and studies have shown that even performance can suffer if you stretch cold muscles and then go out and try to play full out. So, warming up the body first. Kicking the ball around in soccer or other type of warming up is the best way to go for those muscles and then doing some stretching of muscle groups pretty thoroughly is a good idea for a lot of these sports. And then, doing after event gentle stretching. You don’t want to stretch to pain. You don’t want to crank on your muscles as that’s not good for you but gentle stretching so you feel a slight discomfort is a great way to go. Holding stretches for 30 second duration each group. And then, also being very symmetric. So, even though you may have some soreness on one side and that’s the side you want to stretch, always stretch the other side, too. The body loves symmetry and doesn’t like asymmetry very much.
Melanie: So, in just the last few minutes, wrap it up for us Dr. Peters. It's such great information and so important. Wrap it up for your best advice about preventing sports injuries as the season starts ramping up.
Dr. Peters: My best advice is really going over some of the things that we've talked about. Cross training, actually taking a break from time to time. For some of these high level athletes constantly are pushing, taking a month or two off after a season is a great idea. The core strength is so important and there are things on the internet or even specialists in physical therapy and other specialists who can really assist in a great core strengthening home program for prevention. And then, listen to your body and also being observant of those red flag concerning signs that would really direct you more towards getting earlier advice from a qualified sports medicine specialist. Those would encapsulate the most important points of injury prevention as we get into the fall sports.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. You're listening to The WELLcast with Allina Health. For more information, you can go to allinahealth.org. That's allinahealth.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Get In Gear For Your Favorite Sport
Melanie Cole (Host): As the seasons start to change, you get ready to get back into your favorite sport, whether it's skiing, softball, soccer, basketball. This year, you want to make sure not to get an injury or a pulled muscle or even worse. My guest today is Dr. Jamie Peters. He's a sports medicine physician with Sports & Orthopaedics Specialists, part of Allina Health. Welcome to the show, Dr. Peters. So, what are some of the most common types of sports injuries you see when people haven't prepared and they've just jumped in?
Dr. Jamie Peters (Guest): Well, probably most common is typical strains of muscles. So, when muscles are too tight, they haven’t been used much and they tend to be more prone to tearing. So, the actual fibers of the muscle tear and then it manifests itself for the patient or for the athlete in soreness lasts for usually 2 to 5 days or so. Sometimes if it’s a larger tear, it can last a whole lot longer.
Melanie: We're coming to fall sports soon and kids are starting to train already now for some of the fall sports; and then, there's winter sports. Do you see an increase in either one of those seasons?
Dr. Peters: Yes. Well, you know, I guess I would take that question back to say, ideally. for any of our athletes or pretty much anybody, year round training would be ideal. So, year round, being active; year round using your muscles in any of the seasons. So, I guess, commonly, when we're looking at some of the school sports like cross country, running and football, soccer--all those fall season sports--if someone hasn’t been staying active then, as I've said before, then they do tend to have a more likelihood of these sprains. Staying active and, actually, even specifically working on the core muscles are really great strategies for prevention. The core would be the abdominal core and also, just as importantly, would be the hip core, the group muscles. There are specific exercises that help maintain those muscle strengths and they’re very protective against other types of injuries that occur in these sports.
Melanie: So, when you mention being active year round, sports specific has been an issue lately and we’re seeing more chronic injuries in kids that are staying with one sport all year round. What do you think about cross training? What advice do you have for coaches and parents of kids who play a sport all year round?
Dr. Peters: That's a great topic. If we can encourage our kids to do a couple of things: one is to, as you say, cross train, meaning that you don’t just do one sport year round because then you’re just using the same muscles and the muscles that aren’t involved in that sport are not being used. So, if someone is a runner, adding in some biking, adding in some of the other kinds of sports, like soccer, where you're using different muscles, can be very, very protective over time.
Melanie: So, cross training is a great idea. Now, what about somebody who gets a pulled muscle? Whether they’re in shape or not, sometimes the aches and pains happen, Dr. Peters. So, what do you recommend as the first line of defense if someone feels an ache in their knee or feels their ankle strained or quad strained. What do you tell them to do?
Dr. Peters: Well, first of all, I think it’s important to note some of the red flags or the warnings for which you would want to get help sooner. That would be if a joint is actually swelling. So, knee swelling, that would be something you'd want to see a sports medicine specialist or a very qualified provider to get that assessed. Persistent redness in areas also would be a red flag warning sign that you probably shouldn’t wait on that. But, if it’s a more typical sprain, that you’d feel a pull, you don’t want to continue full out and continue to play because what happens is, that particular muscle that’s been strained ends up being a little weaker and you can actually extend that injury and make what might be a more mild injury that could last 2 or 3 days into a much longer duration type injury. So, be somewhat aware of the typical ways that we recommend treating it, if you were treating this and not going to a provider initially if it looks like a milder injury would be some icing on that area. Ice tends to work really well. We’d usually recommend a 15-minute duration using a soft ice pack or a back of frozen peas. You can do that 2 to 3 times a day. It can be very effective. And then, starting up again, sort of testing that, get it moving, sometimes just walking is more effective as a healing technique than just sitting around. So, you want to get these muscles moving again so that the circulation is there and the muscle can help mend itself but not pushing it really hard when it’s not ready.
Melanie: What about NSAIDS and ibuprofen, Advil and things like that. Are you allowed to take that if you’re sore? Do you wait it through? What do you do?
Dr. Peters: Well, that’s a really good question. I think there’s a really changing way of thinking in the sports medicine community about using non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen or Aleve initially with injury. They can affect the bleeding times, so we don’t want to have more blood in the tissue because that takes longer for the tissue to heal. So, probably trying to stay away initially with ibuprofen because basically they’re good for pain but sometimes the body needs a little inflammation to heal. So, that also could be a reason not to use ibuprofen initially. For certain types of injuries where we see more of a tendonitis or bursitis or things like that, ibuprofen or that kind of drug can be helpful but, in general, be a bit more conservative on the use of those medications. Tylenol works reasonably well for pain but, a lot of times, as I mentioned, icing can also be helpful for pain and doesn’t have the negative downsides of some of these other drugs.
Melanie: What if you have an imbalance or little limiting factor, some muscle that isn't as strong, do you recommend bracing for tennis or for girls in soccer with their knees. We know ACL in girls is a huge issue right now. Do you recommend bracing, Dr. Peters?
Dr. Peters: Well, it's sort of a yes and no answer. So, what I'll say is, since you brought up ACL and the higher likelihood of women athletes having ACL injury, which is major ligament in the knee type injury that we see with Adrian Peterson, for instance, with the Minnesota Vikings and others have sustained that. But, it's more frequently injured in female athletes and really bracing won’t prevent that injury. What can prevent that injury is proper training, again, going back to the core, women athletes who are able to maintain that core strength, especially hip core, have been shown by a number of studies to be less likely to injure the ACL. Now, if we're talking about a sleeve, there's been some tweaking of the knee and sometimes having a compression sleeve is helpful but a brace itself, unless it’s a very specialized brace and someone has a deficiency in ligament and it’s been prescribed by a sports medicine specialist, a brace in itself it’s not really protective, the kind that you would get at Walgreens or Target or other similar places.
Melanie: So then, what do you advise people about warming up and stretching and flexibility. People never know whether to stretch a cold muscle, wait until they’re warm and then stretch it. Give us your best advice for really preparing for a sport.
Dr. Peters: Another great topic. These are really changing ways of thinking in sports medicine and what we're advising. So, definitely warming up the body and warming up the muscles before you do full out exertion is always a good idea. We're less enthusiastic about cold stretching. It used to be when I played soccer, for years the first thing we do is get to the field and start stretching but stretching cold muscles could actually be detrimental and studies have shown that even performance can suffer if you stretch cold muscles and then go out and try to play full out. So, warming up the body first. Kicking the ball around in soccer or other type of warming up is the best way to go for those muscles and then doing some stretching of muscle groups pretty thoroughly is a good idea for a lot of these sports. And then, doing after event gentle stretching. You don’t want to stretch to pain. You don’t want to crank on your muscles as that’s not good for you but gentle stretching so you feel a slight discomfort is a great way to go. Holding stretches for 30 second duration each group. And then, also being very symmetric. So, even though you may have some soreness on one side and that’s the side you want to stretch, always stretch the other side, too. The body loves symmetry and doesn’t like asymmetry very much.
Melanie: So, in just the last few minutes, wrap it up for us Dr. Peters. It's such great information and so important. Wrap it up for your best advice about preventing sports injuries as the season starts ramping up.
Dr. Peters: My best advice is really going over some of the things that we've talked about. Cross training, actually taking a break from time to time. For some of these high level athletes constantly are pushing, taking a month or two off after a season is a great idea. The core strength is so important and there are things on the internet or even specialists in physical therapy and other specialists who can really assist in a great core strengthening home program for prevention. And then, listen to your body and also being observant of those red flag concerning signs that would really direct you more towards getting earlier advice from a qualified sports medicine specialist. Those would encapsulate the most important points of injury prevention as we get into the fall sports.
Melanie: Thank you so much for being with us today. You're listening to The WELLcast with Allina Health. For more information, you can go to allinahealth.org. That's allinahealth.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.