Tag: tendons armwrestling

Don`t take ibuprofen to stop inflammation for Arm Wrestling. This is killing your gains.

Many physicians consider NSAIDs to be the medication of choice for managing musculoskeletal pain and injury. However, studies have questioned their value in the healing process of bone, muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries and their use carries the risk of potentially serious adverse effects. Animal and human studies have linked NSAID use to poor fracture healing. There appears to be little role for NSAIDs in tendinopathy outside of initial symptomatic pain relief. Animal studies provide conflicting evidence of efficacy in ligament injury, but human trials suggest that short courses may be of benefit in acute injury. Experimental animal models mostly demonstrate no effect on muscle healing or a reduction in muscle strength. Alternatives for analgesia in musculoskeletal injuries include acetaminophen, opiate-containing medication, and topical preparations. (J Musculoskel Med. 2011;28:207-212)

Tendon injury
The treatment goal for tendinopathy, as for fractures, is decreased pain and return to normal function. The term “tendinopathy” has been associated with both chronic tendon degeneration (tendinosis) and acute injury (tendinitis). The majority of tendon disorders are deemed to be chronic, degenerative changes (tendinosis rather than tendinitis) and acute tendon injury resulting from overloading of tissue that already has undergone degenerative changes.

Studies have demonstrated that prostaglandins and leukotrienes are produced during the acute phase of a tendon injury and may be involved in the subsequent degenerative changes over the long term. In the first few days after acute tendon injury, there is an initial inflammatory phase with angiogenesis, increased vascular permeability, and entry of inflammatory cells into the injury site. Prostaglandins are thought to be involved in these processes.

How Not to Treat Acute Inflammation

  1. If you’re experiencing acute inflammation – the type that occurs after an injury, after surgery, or after a muscle-fiber damaging workout – avoid taking any NSAIDS. While they’ll help quell the pain, they impede the healing process and in the case of muscles, they may well impede further growth. Granted, the occasional use of NSAIDS won’t likely pose much of a problem, but if you take them regularly, the odds are high that you’re impeding muscle growth.
  2. Reconsider icing sore muscles. The initial thinking was that it was safe to ice a muscle because there was no need for immune cells to get all angried up when the injury was internal and there was no possibility of infection. The trouble is, that’s short sighted. Granted, icing will help with pain, but since we now know that inflammation is necessary for muscles to grow bigger and stronger, icing is likely counterproductive.

Instead, Treat Acute Inflammation Like This…

  1. If you’re hurting from acute inflammation caused by an injury or you’re debilitated from a brutal workout and you simply can’t handle it, consider using acetaminophen. While it does exhibit some anti-inflammatory effects, it’s more of an analgesic.
  2. If pain persists after a couple of days, take any NSAID you feel is necessary, or, preferably, take appropriate doses of Curcumin. Curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory and it blocks a host of inflammatory compounds by a certain reasonable percentage, as opposed to blocking one particular inflammatory compound by 100 percent. As an example of the latter, the prescription painkiller Vioxx shuts down COX-2 production completely and got lots of bad press for causing all those pesky heart attacks.

VIDEO: Simple guide to Tendons for Armwrestlers & Everyone else

Tendons

Tendons are situated between bone and muscles and are bright white in colour, their fibro-elastic composition gives them the strength require to transmit large mechanical forces. Each muscle has two tendons, one proximally and one distally.

Tendons are connective tissue, group of tissues in the body that maintain the form of the body and its organs and provide cohesion and internal support. The connective tissues include several types of fibrous tissue that vary only in their density and cellularity, as well as the more specialized and recognizable variants—bone, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and adipose(fat) tissue.

The dry weight of each wall of tendons is made up of more than 95% of collagen. The ends of tendons, which are the most solid parts, are composed almost exclusively of collagen, up to 99%. Our tendons’ properties and functions are directly related to the architecture and quality of the collagen fibres. The collagen portion is made up of 97–98% type I collagen, with small amounts of other types of collagen

The structures surrounding the tendon can be split into 5 subcategories. The main aim of these structures is to reduce friction and enable the tendon to glide smoothly. This is an important factor for ensuring the transitions of the force is at its most efficient.

Tendon functions

The tendons’ main role is to transmit forces from the muscle to the bone and absorbs external forces to prevent injury to the muscle. As the tendon runs from a very compliant tissue (the muscle) to a ridged stiff one (the bone), this role can become very difficult, this can result in strain concentrated at the site of merging tissues. This can be a common site of injury.

The make up of the tendon is now not thought to be the same throughout, research has discovered that the tendon itself may be more ridged in some parts and more compliant and elastic in others to overcome this concentration of strain and risk of injury. Each tendon will differ throughout the body depending on the rate in which they are strained. The behaviour of the collagen within the tendon depends on the intramolecular types, quantity and bond.

Tendon injuries

Collagen contributes to keep the structure and strength of tendons. When collagen breaks down, small tears appear in the tendon, weakening it and causing pain. Tendinitis notably affects those who perform repetitive tasks in their jobs, sports or daily activities. Another example of a disease related to tendons is bursitis. Bursitis is the swelling of the bursa, a small fluid-filled sac that allows muscles to glide easily over other muscles as well as bones. When you hurt a joint or tendon or use it excessively, the bursa may swell, causing pain, redness and a burning sensation.

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