Weekend warriors take note: How to prevent muscle and joint injuries
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Sometimes weekend warriors go a little too hard. Baylor Scott & White Health Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Adam O’Brien said he sees more muscle and joint injuries from adults who push themselves beyond their limits than from any other cause.
While some may wish they could still spend afternoons training to play sports, most don't, and our bodies aren't as limber and flexible as they once were.
Roughly one in four adults live with chronic pain, a condition that worsens with age, according to a recent survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
KXAN's Tom Miller talked with O'Brien about how to prevent these types of injuries, and when it's time to see a doctor.
Tom: It seems that as we get older, we start having more joint and muscle pain. Where is that coming from?
Dr. O'Brien: A lot of joint and muscle pain can be wear and tear as we age. Tissues don’t last as long, and they aren’t as resilient. Also as we become less active every day and we become that weekend warrior, we aren’t in as good of shape, and we think we’re still 18, and some of those injuries can happen then.
Tom: Are there specific injuries that you see over and over again in your patients?
Dr. O'Brien: A lot of my injuries are overuse. So tendentious. I do see occasional ruptures or tears of tendons and ligaments, but a lot of what I see is overuse or just overdoing it.
Tom: When an injury occurs, how do you know it’s time to go to a doctor, or whether this is something that might go away in a couple of days or weeks?
Dr. O'Brien: Just being honest with yourself and saying, 'Is this something that’s just a little sore from overdoing it, or is this something that really hurts and it’s not getting better?' Timing plays a big role. If it’s been more than a few days, you probably should have someone take a look at it. The fear is that it turns into a chronic injury, and at that point, it gets a lot harder to treat from our perspective.
Tom: What are the treatment options?
Dr. O'Brien: Much of what I see is preventable, and can be treated with easy non non-surgical measures. Things like physical therapy, stretching, warming up, and listening to your body a little more. That’s what we’re trying to get on early. Find those types of injuries so that we can prevent surgery, but a lot of it depends on what type of injury it is.
Tom: Some people don’t always like to go to the doctor; they try to put it off as long as possible. In a case like this, where you have a muscle injury, what’s the risk of putting off treatment?
Dr. O'Brien: No one likes to go to the doctor. That’s the truth. The biggest risk is that some of these injuries turn into that chronic phase where it’s going to take a lot to get this better without surgery.