CGH #043: Is It Really An Injury?

The podcast “Consumer’s Guide To Health” returned to the airwaves in January. This biweekly podcast and live stream airs on BlogTalkRadio every second Thursday at 11:00am central time. Join the discussion!

Episode 43 is entitled “Is It Really An Injury?”.

Most active people will resist the need to enter the health care system. Frankly, I wouldn't blame them at all! But this can take an acute problem and make it chronic, which then creates another set of issues. It would be very helpful to quickly assess "is this really an injury?" and then move on to the appropriate solution and pathway, be that self care strategies, further assessment, or both. How does a fitness participant know that this is something that they need to have assessed?

All previous episodes of CGH are currently available on my BlogTalkRadio channel. You can subscribe via RSS and the podcasts are also available on iTunes. The next episode will be on Thursday, May 10.

Episode 43 Notes: Is It Really An Injury?

Welcome to the Smart Life Project's "Consumer's Guide To Health" for May 10, 2012. I'm your host, Allan Besselink, coming to you live from Austin, Texas (as I do every other Thursday at 11:00 am central time). This show is brought to you by the Smart Life Project, a health initiative based in Austin, Texas committed to providing sports science solutions for training, rehab, and life. Life is a sport - play smart.

Becoming a consumer of your own health and health care is critical in this day and age. The health care and fitness worlds can be a challenge to negotiate. But we are also in an era of accessibility to information, and as I always say, knowledge is power - if only we'd use it. Let's face it though - the inability to challenge our belief systems in the face of good scientific evidence is the primary limiting factor in the advancement of both health care and coaching, as well as human performance and injury prevention. And as I always say - don't shoot the messenger.

The primary goal of this show is to increase awareness of these issues so that people can become better consumers of their own health - from the grass roots level.

With that in mind, our call in number is (347) 843-4753.

Today's episode 43 is entitled "Is It Really An Injury?".

There is a significant problem faced in our country these days, and its name is obesity. With that said, many turn to walking and running as a means of exercising. That all sounds like a great concept, right? We are trying to promote health over obesity. But what happens when the pursuit of health creates more problems?

The statistics would indicate that running, as but one example, is displaying an increasing number of participants. There are now believed to be 38 to 40 million runners in this country. But those same statistics also indicate that a large % of runners - thought to be upwards of 60% - will become injured. Worse yet, up to 70% will have a recurrence of their injury, and 5% will actually lose time at work because of this activity-related injury.

In our good intentions to create a world of fitness, we may in fact be creating some significant health problems. Though they may pale in comparison to the long-term health ramifications of obesity, we must still acknowledge the presence of the problem and find some solutions.

Fortunately, we have solutions. Competent self care strategies can guide us. If you are, in fact, injured, competent self care strategies will be the best option for the vast majority of running- or fitness-related injuries. Most will be able to utilize exercise-based strategies to resolve their injury with some specific guidance and mentorship at most.

Most active people also resist the need to enter the health care system. Frankly, I wouldn't blame them at all! But this can take an acute problem and make it chronic, which then creates another set of issues. It would be very helpful to quickly assess "is this really an injury?" and then move on to the appropriate solution and pathway, be that self care strategies, further assessment, or both. Once a person has become motivated to be active, they definitely don't want whatever this problem is to limit their training or fitness activity. How does a fitness participant know that this is something that they need to have assessed?

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Photo credits: joehardy