Welcome to Ask Doc Dossman, a weekly column where you can ask Long Beach’s pre-eminent sports therapist…whatever you want! If you already forgot who Doc is, click here to read our introduction. To visit Doc’s website, click here, and buy his book, What I’ve Learned From Your Kids. Email questions to Doc ataskdoc@docdossman.com.
What’s up Strong Beach? I hope your week is off to a positive start. If not, there is always tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed the first installment of our video blog on stretching. This week we will close things out with the final video discussing DYNAMIC stretching. Stay tuned. Okay, I have a few questions to address so let’s go!
Hi Doc. I've been doing the Insanity workout, and the interesting thing to me is that I can do it physically. OF COURSE it's very challenging, but my muscles, bones, joints, whatever, are fine. At a certain point, I start feeling nauseous, enough to make me take some Tums and cut the workout short. What is that? Should I keep trying to do it? I really want to get in shape, I like exercise, and I'd like to push through and really give this program a chance. If a certain workout makes me want to vomit every time I do it, is this a huge problem or should I just soldier on?
-Evelyn M.
Hi Evelyn! Congrats on your ambitious endeavor for fitness. Insanity is a very intense program. I have had the pleasure of completing it earlier this year. It’s INSANE! Knowing exactly what you are going through physically, your complaint does not surprise me at all. That particular program is very hyperactive. You are jumping, dropping to the ground, popping back up to your feet, and then repeating! All of that jarring causes the digestive juices in your stomach wall to move around as in a blender. This type of activity starts what might feel like reflux or heartburn. This is fairly common.
It sounds like you may have a type of Gastro-esophageal Reflux Disease (G.E.R.D.). When this problem happens during exertion, some doctors call it Exertion-Associated Gastro-esophageal Reflux (E.A.G.E.R.). Here are some tips that will help you SOLDIER on:
1: Make sure your most recent meal is completely digested before starting your activity. In other words, wait about 3 hours after your meal before you exercise
2: Avoid foods that cause heartburn in general (fatty, greasy, caffeinated)
3: Take TUMS prior to the exercise rather than after the onset of your symptoms
4: If you were someone else, I’d say try an exercise program that’s less “bumpy,” but you would have to give up Insanity altogether if you took that advice! For anyone else, less jarring activities would be things like riding a bike, walking, swimming, yoga, etc.
Hope this helps!
Hey Doc. This summer before training camp I was working out and I injured my back. MRI says it’s a bulged disc between L4 and L5 pushing on a nerve root. I’m using my redshirt this year because it’s so messed up. Do you have any tips or suggestions?
- Quintin B
QB! Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I am happy to hear that you have that redshirt available. Playing through disc issues isn’t advisable. This will give you the season to get things right before getting back out on the field.
A bulged disc between L4 and L5 is one of the more common areas to have this problem. If it is pushing on the nerve root, it’s likely that you have leg pain, numbness, or weakness. You did not mention this. If you did have nerve-type pain, it’s likely that you would have mentioned it. If in fact you don’t even have nerve-related leg pain, this highlights an important point: MRI findings have to match up with your symptoms to be clinically relevant.
Just because the MRI picture shows a disc on the nerve, it doesn’t mean much if you don’t have the right symptoms (no clinical correlation). I say this to encourage you. Your MRI results are NOT a death sentence. It all comes down to how you feel. The expensive testing is really just there to CONFIRM or EXCLUDE what we think we found clinically.
One of the best things that you can do for yourself is to strengthen your core muscles. This will function to support your spine. Unfortunately, the hype about “the core” has really watered down proper education on spinal stability. Rather than tell you to strengthen your core and watch you go off to build your abdominal muscles, I will instead refer you to an article that I wrote--click the link just below the photo above to read it.
I am hoping that you are on some type of physical therapy program at the school. If so, stay vigilant about following through with the program. Stay active! It’s the guys that listen to the “bed rest” advice that usually get worse in time. Immobility leads to deconditioning of the spinal stabilizers and lowers your general fitness as well. This is a vicious cycle because when you decide to move, activity becomes painful. This encourages further inactivity which causes further deconditioning.
Ask your physical therapist about the McKenzie Protocol. It’s very effective for disc problems if you find someone who knows how to apply it! Keep in touch!
Hey Doc- What do you think of those negative ion necklaces/bracelets? Are they a gimmick, or do they really work?
- Ziah D.
Whoa!!! I knew this one was coming! There has been much hype around ionic jewelry over the past few years. You have ankle bracelets, wristbands, shoe inserts, necklaces, and even finger rings. They all claim to tap into our bodies’ natural energy and balance it according to our needs – all for the low, low price of $29.95. I work with professional athletes everyday and I would say that 8 out of every 10 of them are wearing some sort of ionic jewelry. When the pro athlete wears them, its not long before the amateur and the weekend warrior follow suit.
The jewelry works on a basic concept borrowed from this acupuncture theory:
“Optimal health and peak performance occur when your body maintains ionic balance (the exchange between negative and positive charges) and free flowing energy pathways (harmony) at the optimum frequency. […] “
I might recognize this as a legitimate eastern medicine theory, but I cannot validate that a bracelet is capable of balancing anything. On the flip side, I cannot say that it does not either. I have many patients that swear by the bands. I have many that just wear them because they don’t want to miss out on anything that the bands might offer. Some thinks it’s a placebo. I am totally fine with placebos.
Many things have been given the moniker of “placebo” as if it is a bad thing. I have heard that chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, and even certain herbs are all PLACEBOS. If something proves to be effective, it is effective. If you think that it is all in your mind, great! It is all in your mind! So even if it gives us a placebo effect, I’m cool with that too--I myself do not wear any form of ionic jewelry but maybe I will try one out and get back to you.
Now of course there are many that think this stuff is off the meter, scam material. It’s snake oil! They think it’s a big rip off. Unfortunately if there is a reputable product on the market, there are tons of terrible knock offs. One industry CEO said that if your band was made in China, then it has nothing more than ornamental value! I bet everyone is flipping their bracelets inside out to check for the “made in China” imprint. Who can tell the difference? I’d say try it out. If it works for you, go with it! If not, get your money back and keep it moving! I am not the one to blow the B.S. whistle here. Sorry.
By the way, if these bands in fact do work as claimed, you would theoretically only need to wear one. I have patients that put them in their shoes, wear them on both wrists and ankles, and wear the necklace as well. I think its funny, but if that’s what works for you, go with it!
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Remember to send me your questions. Ask me anything! Once again, that was pretty fun! I love this stuff! Of course, I always request more information. Remember, my perspective on your problem is limited by the information you provide, so please don’t take my recommendations over your own physician who examines you regularly. The more information you give me, the more I can help. I need to know things like age, sex, date of injury, past injuries, and things of that nature.
Well, that is all we have time for today folks! Until next week, stay STRONG BEACH!!
- Doc Dossman
To visit Doc’s website, click here, and buy his book, What I’ve Learned From Your Kids. Email questions to Doc ataskdoc@docdossman.com.
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