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Guest Blog: The Importance of Early Rehabilitation for Injury Recovery

If you’ve ever been injured, you know how hard it can be to get back to your normal routine. You want to make sure that your injury heals properly, but you also need to stay active in order to rebuild strength and mobility. That’s why it’s so important to start early rehabilitation as soon as possible after an injury occurs—even if it means taking a few days off from work or training until the initial pain subsides.

Early Rehabilitation is the key to a successful recovery from injury

Early Rehabilitation is the key to a successful recovery from injury.

Early intervention is essential to ensure an optimal outcome following trauma or surgery, and can help you return to your previous level of function with minimal risk of developing chronic pain. Early rehabilitation helps reduce your risk of developing chronic pain and restores normal movement patterns, joint integrity and strength. Afterwards proteins must be consumed in your diet as it helps in many ways to cure injury.

Recovery from an injury doesn’t have to be stressful or frustrating.

Recovery from an injury doesn’t have to be stressful or frustrating. In fact, rehab can be a fun and rewarding experience if you’re willing to listen to your body and work with it as much as possible.

In the weeks following surgery or an acute injury, there are several things you can do to prepare yourself for the road ahead. It’s important that you don’t rush into activity–if anything hurts even slightly, take a break! Listen closely when doing any kind of physical activity; if there is any pain or discomfort at all (even slight), stop immediately and rest until the next day before trying again.

This may seem counterintuitive at first but allowing yourself plenty of time between sessions will allow tissues in need of healing time for proper recovery and repair without causing further damage by rushing through exercises too quickly or ignoring warning signs from your body telling you something isn’t quite right yet. For injuries with major marks scar treatment should be provided.

The longer you wait before starting your rehabilitation, the harder it will be to recover.

The longer you wait before starting your rehabilitation, the harder it will be to recover. The longer you wait, the more your body will change. Your muscles will atrophy and become weaker over time if they’re not being used regularly; if you have an injury that prevents physical activity (as many do), this can cause serious problems down the road.

The longer we delay getting back into our daily routines after an injury or surgery, the harder it gets for us to regain strength and range of motion in our joints as well as regain confidence in using them again–which means that even after rehabilitating ourselves properly once we start, we may still find ourselves struggling with mobility issues later on down the line!

Early intervention is key to a speedy recovery.

The earlier you begin rehabilitation, the better. In fact, research has shown that early intervention can help you return to your previous level of function and reduce your risk of developing chronic pain. Early intervention also helps restore normal movement patterns and joint integrity by focusing on gentle exercise that encourages movement without causing pain or further injury.

Early rehab is also a good way to prevent injuries in the first place: if you’re not working out after an injury or surgery, it’s easy for other parts of your body (like muscles) to weaken while they’re resting–and this can make them more susceptible to getting hurt again later on down the road.

Early rehabilitation can help you return to your previous level of function.

You may think that rehabilitation is a quick and easy fix. Unfortunately, it’s not.

Rehabilitation is a process that takes time and involves many steps. The goal is not to make you feel better or stronger in the short term; rather, it’s about helping you return to your previous level of function and independence as soon as possible so that you can resume normal activities without pain or limitations on your ability to do things like walk up stairs or pick up objects from the ground.

The best way for this process to work effectively? Start early!

Early rehab helps reduce your risk of developing chronic pain.

Early rehabilitation can help you recover from an injury faster and reduce the risk of developing chronic pain.

Early rehabilitation is important because it helps prevent chronic pain, which is often a result of inactivity and immobility after an injury. When you’re injured and can’t move, your muscles start to weaken over time. Without regular exercise or movement, these weakened muscles become even weaker–and more likely to cause injuries down the road as they try to carry out tasks that are too much for them! This process is known as muscle atrophy (loss of size) or weakness due to disuse atrophy (loss). In other words: if you don’t use it now…you might not be able to use it later on!

Another reason why early rehab matters so much? It may help keep surgery at bay! Studies have shown that people who participate in physical therapy following their injury have fewer surgeries than those who do not receive therapy services.* In addition, those who receive early intervention tend not only experience less pain but also return back into work sooner than those who do not receive any kind of treatment whatsoever.*

Early rehab helps you restore normal movement patterns and joint integrity.

The first step in the rehabilitation process is to restore normal movement patterns and joint integrity. When an injury occurs, there are often changes in the way you move, including muscle weakness and loss of mobility. Your physical therapist will help you regain these abilities by guiding you through a variety of exercises that focus on specific muscles and joints.

The goal of early rehab is to get you back to your previous level of activity as soon as possible while reducing the risk of further injury or pain caused by continued use without proper treatment (known as overuse).

It’s important to work with a doctor and physical therapist who understand the needs of athletes, and can help you stay on track with your recovery.

It’s important to work with a doctor and physical therapist who understand the needs of athletes, and can help you stay on track with your recovery. You also need to stay motivated and positive.

If your injury is severe enough to require surgery, there are some things that can be done in the early stages of rehabilitation before surgery:

  • Prehabilitation exercises – these are exercises that help prepare muscles for activity after surgery or an injury (e.g., stretching)
  • Postoperative care instructions from doctors or physical therapists

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of early rehabilitation, and how it can help you recover from injury. The longer you wait before starting your recovery plan, the harder it will be to get back to normal. It’s important to work with a doctor and physical therapist who understand the needs of athletes, so they can keep track of your progress throughout treatment.

By |2023-04-28T10:45:00-05:00April 27th, 2023|Dr. Mauk's Boomer Blog, News Posts|Comments Off on Guest Blog: The Importance of Early Rehabilitation for Injury Recovery

Bladder Cancer Risk Factors and Treatment

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Background

This type of cancer occurs mainly in older adults, with an average age at diagnosis of 73 years, with 9 out of 10 cases of bladder cancer diagnosed in persons over age 55. The American Cancer Society (ACS)(2012) reported that over 73,000 cases were diagnosed in 2012 and that this diagnosis rate has been relatively stable over the last 20 years. Men are three times as likely to get cancer of the bladder as women (American Foundation for Urologic Disease, 2008) and the incidence increases with age.

Risk Factors

Risk factors include chronic bladder irritation and cigarette smoking, the latter contributing to over half of cases. Male gender and age are also risk factors.

Warning signs

The classic symptom of bladder cancer is painless hematuria (blood in the urine). Older adults may attribute the bleeding to hemorrhoids or other causes and feel that because there is no pain, it must not be serious.

Diagnosis

Assessment begins with a thorough history and physical. Diagnosis may involve several tests including an intravenous pyelogram (IVP), urinalysis, and cystoscopy (in which the physician visualizes the bladder structures through a flexible fiber-optic scope). This is a highly treatable type of cancer when caught early. In fact, the ACS (2012a ) estimates that there were more than 500,000 survivors of this cancer in 2012.

Treatment

Once diagnosed, treatment depends on the invasiveness of the cancer. Treatments for bladder cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy (ACS, 2012). Specifically, a transurethral resection (TUR) may involve burning superficial lesions through a scope. Bladder cancer may be slow to spread, and less invasive treatments may continue for years before the cancer becomes invasive or metastatic, if ever. Certainly chemotherapy, radiation, and immune (biological) therapy are other treatment options, depending on the extent of the cancer.

Immune/biological therapy includes Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) wash, an immune stimulant that triggers the body to inhibit tumor growth. BCG treatment can also be done after TUR to inhibit cancer cells from re-growing. Treatments are administered by a physician directly into the bladder through a catheter for 2 hours once per week for 6 or more weeks (Mayo Clinic, 2012a). The patient may be asked to lay on his/her stomach, back, and or sides throughout the procedure. The patient should drink plenty of fluids after the procedure and be sure to empty the bladder frequently. In addition, because the BCG contains live bacteria, the patient should be taught that any urine passed in the first six 6 hours after treatment needs to be treated with bleach: One cup of undiluted bleach should be placed into the toilet with the urine and allowed to sit for 15 minutes before flushing (Mayo Clinic, 2012a).

If the cancer begins to invade the bladder muscle, then removal of the bladder (cystectomy) is indicated to prevent the cancer from spreading. Additional diagnostic tests will be performed if this is suspected, including CT scan or MRI. Chemotherapy and/or radiation may be used in combination with surgery. When the cancerous bladder is removed, the person will have a urostomy, a stoma from which urine drains into a collection bag on the outside of the body, much like a colostomy does. Bleeding and infection are two major complications after surgery, regardless of type, whether a TUR or cystectomy is performed. Significant education of the patient related to intake/output, ostomy care, appliances, and the like is also indicated.

For more information on Bladder Cancer, visit National Cancer Institute at:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/bladder/

Adapted from Mauk, K. L., Hanson, P., & Hain, D. (2014). Review of the management of common illnesses, diseases, or health conditions. In K. L.
Mauk’s (Ed.) Gerontological Nursing: Competencies for Care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Used with permission.

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By |2023-03-31T19:33:41-05:00April 26th, 2023|Dr. Mauk's Boomer Blog, News Posts|Comments Off on Bladder Cancer Risk Factors and Treatment

Interview with Chad Jukes – Mountaineer

IRC’s interview with Chad Jukes. Chad lost his limb while serving in Iraq and now is a prolific mountain climber. Follow his upcoming climb in Ecuador with the Range of Motion Project (ROMP) in July on our social media. Dan Easton, our Social Media Director for IRC, will also be climbing with Chad and the elite ROMP team.

By |2023-03-31T19:32:25-05:00April 22nd, 2023|Dr. Mauk's Boomer Blog, News Posts|Comments Off on Interview with Chad Jukes – Mountaineer
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