Inflammation and Injury
End of Shadowing (for now)... This post marks the end of my shadowing and my transition to teaching squash mentoring students with their injury education. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to shadow such exceptional doctors and am pleased with the hands-on experience I have gained as a result. I plan to observe a few of them in the operating room and shadow one more doctor before I go back to Bowdoin in the fall and spread this information to other organizations.
Pain and Inflammation
Before that happens though, I would like to delve into a major part of injury management. Pain is a useful tool—it defines our limits and keeps us from pushing our bodies dangerously. In injury, it accompanies overexertion, unsupported movements, and poor body mechanics. Pain also accompanies healing and inflammation—the main point of this post. When an injury occurs, your tissue grows inflamed. This inflammation is due to a variety of signals from your body that is trying to protect and begin healing the inflamed area. While there are components of the inflammatory complex that are still being understood, inflammation mainly comes in two forms: acute inflammation and chronic inflammation. Acute inflammation occurs about the first week after the injury and is beneficial to healing. Acute inflammation may be accompanied by pain, but it is important to maintain inflammation during this period. Many pain medications such as ibuprofen, high-dose aspirin, and naproxen also target inflammation, removing a productive biological process that contributes to healing. In this first week, it is important to monitor pain but not get rid of inflammation. To do this, I recommend using acetaminophen (which is in Tylenol). For long-term inflammation, however, it is important to maintain healthy inflammation levels while healing because, after around 6 weeks of inflammation, it is no longer productive for healing and is dubbed chronic pain.
Managing Inflammation
Managing the proper levels of inflammation can help contribute to the way that your connective tissues reform and will ultimately result in stronger and more durable muscles in the long run. Misuse of anti-inflammatories has been shown to lead to decreased strength of muscles and tendons.
