Coming Back From an Injury

It was bound to happen. Inevitable really. There we were, Turbokicking away in a veritable sauna (why oh why must the YMCA keep the temp at a balmy 90 degrees? I know there are a lot of old people, but are they trying to make senior citizen jerky?), when Gym Buddy Allison went down. It happened so fast that she says she didn’t even know it had happened. Several of us stopped to make sure she was all right and she popped back up like a rabbit. She finished out the class.

The swelling started before we even left the gym. A rolled ankle. Raise your hand if you’ve done something similar. See everyone out there waving their hands at their computer screens, Allison?? (My, don’t you guys look silly!) Injuries happen to everyone. A pulled muscle, a twisted knee, an overstretched hamstring… and always the ankles. If you work out much you probably even have a “pet injury” – one that follows you everywhere and never quite seems to go away.

For me it’s my wrists. Years of gymnastics started the damage and typing endlessly on a computer pretty much finished them off. I also recently had a stress fracture in my shin from too much running (owwwwww) which led to my now-infamous cardio diet.

You Know You’re A Compulsive Exerciser If…
For a lot of people, an injury is a great (and often valid) reason to skip the gym. But for some of us – and I definitely include myself here – nothing, especially not a stupid injury is going to keep us from our beloved workouts.

Some injuries are easier to work through than others – I can baby my wrists and still do mad cardio, but watching Allison try and adapt the monkey bar routine to a bum ankle was hard. On one hand, I can’t stand the thought of her being injured. She’s what keeps me going! We motivate, push and encourage each other. But on the other hand, watching her do one-legged jumping jacks (for reals – girlfriend’s a trouper!) kinda made me wonder if we weren’t taking it a bit too far.

Either way it doesn’t matter. Nothing I say could keep Allison away from the gym (and I’m exactly the same way, so I totally understand). But I think we need to do a better job of modifying the workouts… Today she did one-legged Hindu squats, one-legged mountain climbers, no-legged handstands (get it?! hee.)

Help Us Out!
I am obviously a bad person to come to for advice about recovering from an injury. In gymnastics I broke the same foot in the same spot 3 times in six weeks because I wouldn’t stay off of it. The last time, my mother the nurse, was so sick of taking me to the doctor that she set my break right there on the kitchen table. Yeah, I grew up on the frontier;)

So, dear darling readers, please tell us your stories about stupid *&$%# injuries and how you recovered from them. And please, no couch sitting stories, let’s be realistic here. She’s not going to stay out of the gym, so how should she work around it?

Thanks in advance – I love you people!!

Note: File this one under “duh” but don’t ever search for “injury” in google images. I think I have to go throw up now…

14 Comments

  1. Sorry to hear about the injury. Hopefully she will be better soon!

    I sprained my wrist doing gymnastics as a kid. On the linoleum floor. In the kitchen. Then, a few weeks later, I sprained it again when I got pushed over at the roller rink (I’m sure you kids have heard of those). The kid who pushed me came over and apologized, and he really didn’t do it on purpose.
    Then, during my last pregnancy (5 years ago) I went to the beach and fell asleep and got a really bad sunburn. Then, as I stood up after ,um, urinating (hey, I was pregnant, there was a lot of that going on!) I threw my back out. So I had to sleep on the couch in the living room (a firm surface) and walk with my husband’s baseball bat as a cane. We had night lights on in the hallway for our son, and I caught my shadow as I hobbled down the hall to (where else?) the bathroom. I looked like a pregnant version of Jacob Marley’s ghost!

  2. Hang in there, Allison! I like to go by the theory that it’ll either get better or fall off. In either case, problem solved and you can go on with your life.

    For me, my knees are the main problem spot. My shinbones are too short, so the tendon between my knee and my shin is stretched out a lot and can get agitated and inflamed easily. Squats, Deadlifts, and such are perfectly fine unless I do something stupid, but box jumps or lots of running can make me walk around like an old man for a few days.

  3. bob (the traveller)

    Oh gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I rolled my ankles a few times – some slightly, some heavily – but luckily enough, no swelling so far. I must have ultra stretchy ligaments… LOL.. My friend, a sporty guy, rolled his the same way and he got swelling and when the swelling went down, a persistent pain for a good number of weeks – I think he might have injured the same spot more than once. They say u can tell the healthy by their injuries 😀

    At least you guys make good use of YMCA’s facilities. The last few times (a few yrs ago) I was at the YMCA building, I was gorging on burgers in its McDonald’s. In effect, I was injuring myself even more!

  4. Just remember that if you do not allow proper time for an injury – even a seemingly minor one – to heal, you might rob yourself of an active life later. Or you might rob yourself of activities you love. I ignored injuries when I was younger (largely because of an exercise addiction – and I do think working through an injury is a sign of exercise addiction), and I paid a hefty price for that. The body needs time to recover, and if you do not allow that time, the end result is far worse than the original injury. Trust me! Maybe she can try a different workout that does not stress that particular joint? Maybe intervals on the bicycle? Even some arm work might strain that joint, depending. But really, time off is strength gained later on.

    And if the diet is in check (i.e., healthy – I do not mean that in the sense of “dieting”), there will not be weight gain. Heck a good few weeks off even allows for more muscle growth (muscles grow on days off, not when working) and tendon strengthening as well (which does not happen as quickly as muscle strengthening …)

    Just some words of wisdom from someone who has learned from past mistakes! =)

    I still have pain sometimes (knees especially), but I am far better off now than I once was. I do miss running and certain high-impact sports, though. Those days are long gone for me, thanks to “working through” injuries when I should have rested. Over-training is never good.

  5. Oh, Gosh! I hope my comment did not sound, I dunno, like a mother hen! =0 I meant it in the kindest spirit, of course. Just wanted to pass along some wisdom I have gleaned. =)

    I hope Allison feels better very soon! Tell us what modifications you decide to try. I am sorry that I do not have any neat ideas to offer, but I think an MD or Physical Therapist (or a certified trainer) is really the best person to do that.

    Anyway, your blog rocks, and I totally agree that nothing feels worse than taking time off against your will. =( But sometimes, we just have to suck it up and rest.

  6. I sprained my lower back 5 weeks before my first Chicago Marathon. I was just squatting down to pick up something – thought I even had good form. That was the worst pain ever! Needless to say, there is no working through an accute lumbar sprain! I was so disapointed! I was in physical therapy for 6 weeks and didn’t get to run the marathon. My back still bothers me every now and then. I especially have to baby it and really stretch if I’ve been out running in the cold or I won’t be walking the next day!

    I have all sorts of little flair from running. I have a bag of frozen peas in my freezer that has been in there for years but it’s my favorite ice pack and gets a lot of use on the feet and knees.

    Sorry to hear about the ankle. I think Allison might just need to give it a few days of rest!

  7. Sorry! The above should read ‘flare ups’! I don’t know that I have much flair for running but I still like it!

  8. You guys are the best!! I am unbelievably touched at all the sweet comments & get well wishes for Allison (she reads this blog so she’ll get them today, I think).

    Azusmom – “Jacob Marley’s pregnant ghost” ROFL!! Double ouch on the sunburn!

    Lucas – “it’ll either get better or fall off”! Sounds pretty much like my motto. Perhaps we can sit in the nursing home together with our degenerate joints and talk about the glory days;)

    Bob – I had no idea they even have McD’s in the YMCA! That certainly seems counterproductive. Yay for stretchy ligaments!!

    Karrie – you do NOT sound like a mother hen! You sound very caring and I appreciate it. I have a predilection for overtraining (as does Allison – what? You know it’s true!) and we do need to be reminded of the bigger picture sometimes. Exercise addicition… yeah, that is probably me.

    Gretchen – your poor back! And you had to miss Chicago!! That just stinks. I’m sorry it still bothers you sometimes – you don’t show it!

  9. oh no, injuries really stink!

    I tore my meniscus and ACL last November which goes down as one of the worst days of my life. I could barely walk, let alone workout. I cried for days!! I could still do upper body, but it wasn’t the same. I ended up having surgery (not on the ACL though) and was back to walking and light exercise about a month later.

    So my advice to your friend is to listen to her body and give it time to heal. Do not risk further injury b/c she could end up worse!

    Have her focus on just upper body training. If she has access to a pool she could do some deep water running for cardio.

    Hopefully she will bounce back soon!

  10. Though I don’t think running or working out through a serious injury is the best idea, I can understand why. I currently run competitively (college cross country and track) and have had an inflamed sesimoid bone (right on the ball of the foot) for over a year. But the team doctor and trainers say either take weeks off or run through it, it won’t turn to a break so I run through it.
    I guess it depends on how serious the sprain is, if it’s mild to moderate, I would just wrap it and make sure to ice it after. If it’s a more serious sprain I’d stay off it for a day or two.
    My friends and coaches will be the first to say that it is hard as heck to get me to take a day off and that I’ll push through almost anything to train and compete. But one thing I’ve learned is that pushing through an injury is not always best, taking a day off now can save taking weeks or months off later.
    That said a minor sprain is no reason to not do what you love. My motto: heat it (with a moist heat pack before), wrap it (during), ice it (after).

  11. I just got new running shoes and have been taping my blisters for two weeks now. I will not give up my treadmill, even if my heels have no skin left! Okay, not really, but you know what I mean.

    I messed up my knee pretty badly by pushing myself too hard a few months ago. Running was out, so I switched to the bicycle and occasionally the elliptical (though that hurt some, too). I would suggest that Allison focus on upper body strength and try rowing or the bike for cardio. Really, just easier movements will help the ankle heal without having to sit around on the couch all day!

    Hope she’s better and back at it soon!

  12. This came in the PERFECT time fomr me cause recently, my hip has been killing me and i have no clue what it is. I thought it was my whole right leg but i can bikje and climb stairs for some reason without it hurting. But i miss my running so much. I have a feeling i’ve simply been ODing on the running and i simply can’t run now, but i am so jealous when i se those joggers outside or sprinters on the tredmill 🙁 I hate the stiarmaster and the bike though, so i am trying to find other forms. any ideas, i am sick of the elliptical and it also kinda hurts (although not as badly) when i do it as well.

  13. I too have gymnastics-related wrist injuries (probably a cyst, says the doc), and I can’t really do push ups or handstands (!!bummer!!), but I do what I can. I try to push through it all, but sometimes the pain is such I have to leave things out. I also have had ACL replacement on both knees and have tendonitis in my shoulder … so bascially I avoid what I can’t do, which equals incline presses with a machine instead of bench press (shoulder/wrist), sprints but no long distance running (knee), modified push ups (using bosu, etc. – wrist) and stuff like that.

    HOWEVER, an actual sprain or strain (or break or tear!) needs some real rest. For a sprained ankle I’d guess AT LEAST a week (I’ve had plenty of those :), if not 2. And I’d see the doc (of course he’s like my best friend after my knees!) just to make sure nothing is torn.

  14. Of course, saying never to search “injury” in Google images makes me do the opposite.

    Which is my fault, but I’m totally blaming you in my head. 😉