13 Nov 12 Pain Relieving Creams That Work

Pain Relieving Creams That Work

I get asked a lot about over the counter muscle rubs that will help alleviate aches, pain, soreness, etc. As kickers and punters, you know your body takes a beating, especially in the hip and leg area. Also, if you workout a lot and train heavy in the gym with weights, you may have noticed other areas hurting such as your shoulders and back.

I have tried virtually every product out there from over the counter rubs and balms to doctor prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs. I’ve learned quite a bit over the years from trial and error and I I’d like to share with you what’s worked for me, and maybe it will help you.

Tandem Approach

• Aleve
• Penetrex
• Ice
• Rest

This 4 part approach above has provided me significant relief from various aches and pains and even tendinitis symptoms. Penetrex is the best rub I have found and I’ve tried over 10 different kinds. I feel it really gets deep into my joints and muscles and provides a longer term solution versus just masking the pain. It’s even helped me feel better after some major neck and shoulder injuries and even seems to help my knuckles and finger joint which I believe are pre-carpal tunnel from over use (typing) on my computer and mobile phone!

In addition to the creme (which by the way does not stink bad like the rest and is not greasy), I would take 2 Aleve in the morning (it would last me all through school, class or a work day) and into practice or weight training. I would ice the affected area 2 times a night for 20 minutes to help bring down inflammation. I would rub Penetrex (can be bought at Amazon.com) on the injured area once in the morning, once before activity and once at night before sleep for at least 3 consecutive weeks. I would also implement a scaled down version of whatever I was doing that caused injury in the first place.

If your injury is from over-kicking, you should simply kick less or take a few days off. If it’s from working out in the gym, maybe give yourself a couple weeks off from doing ‘shoulders’ or ‘back’ or whatever body part is hurting you. Many people think they can continue their normal routine and just ‘suck it up’ but unfortunately many times that will create a nagging issue that never seems to heal up. There’s no shame in taking a week or two off to properly rest and let you body heal!

Now if you have a one-time flare up, say from over-kicking one day or throwing too many balls as a QB or baseball player, you may need some ‘quick relief’ and more of a ‘masking’ type of solution. I’ve found that Icy Hot is one of the best rubs for that. Man, the stuff wreaks and is so strong but it helps you by masking the pain temporarily to help you get through a practice or game. But I have not found it effective at curing or reducing the issue long term, it just masks it temporarily.

*Special Note
Please do not construe my writing here as an official doctor prescription, because it’s not. I’m simply discussing processes that have worked with me and maybe it will help you too. I believe attacking muscle aches, pains, soreness, etc. from 4 different angles is the best way to neutralize an over-use injury before it gets worse.

If you enjoyed reading this article, please comment below and like and share with your friends!

Tags: Kicking Injuries, Kicking Training

17 May 12 The 5 Most Common Kicking Injuries: #1 Hip Flexor

The 5 Most Common Kicking Injuries and How to Prevent, Recognize & Heal!

#1 Hip Flexor

Let me preface this series of articles by saying I am NOT a Doctor and the following information does not in any way constitute a recommendation or advice by me for your individual and specific situation. This article is for informational purposes only and is based solely on my experience as a former All-American collegiate kicker turned professional kicking coach with over 9 years of coaching experience. If you have an injury that persists and is not improving, you should speak with your trainer, visit a physical therapist and quite possibly even a doctor for further consultation, proper diagnosis and recommended solution.

I hope the following information on the 5 most common kicking injuries helps you. As always feel free to drop me an e-mail or check out our website www.kickingworld.com and all our other sites like YouTube, Facebook and this Blog for everything football kicking and punting.

#1 Hip Flexor (Strain/Pull/Tear)

The Hip Flexors are a group of muscles that help flex the femur (thigh bone) onto the lumbo-pelvic complex, i.e. pull the knee upward. (Wikipedia). The Hip Flexors are triggered every time you kick or punt a ball whether football, soccer, rugby, etc.

Collectively known as the iliopsoas or inner hip muscles:

• Psoas major
• Psoas minor
• Iliacus muscle

In my opinion, the Hip Flexor is the easiest muscle area to injure as a place kicker and also the most common injury for kickers that I hear about and see throughout the year either from my students or from reports on ESPN, NFL Network, etc. Ironically enough, it’s not only kickers who injure their hip flexors. Some recent ‘famous’ professional athletes who suffered serious hip flexor injuries are as follows:

• Adam Vinatieri, NFL Kicker (New England Patriots/Indianapolis Colts)
• Derek Jeter, MLB Short Stop (New York Yankees)
• Kobe Bryant, NBA Guard (Los Angeles Lakers)
• Greg Norman, PGA Golfer

As you can see, various sports are represented here. This goes to show just how common of an injury it is! So how do you injure your hip flexor and what are some signs of having an issue?

CAUSES
In my calculations, these are the 3 most likely ways other than a direct blow to a specific spot on your hip that you can trigger a hip flexor injury.

• Over-Kicking
• Not enough Rest
• Years of abuse/mis-care

SIGNS/SYMPTOMS

• Sore
• Pain when pressing into/around the hip flexors
• Pain when kicking or even at rest
• The feeling where you constantly need to stretch it or can’t sit with legs bent for too long without discomfort.
• Weak
• Clicking
• Popping
• Grinding
• Always sore after kicking
• Constantly needing to ice
• Never feeling full strength

If you experience any of these symptoms for a prolonged time and following the R.I.C.E. principle (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) does not resolve your pain and discomfort seek a professional’s opinion ASAP:

• First level- Athletic Trainer
• Second level- Physical Therapist
• Third level- Specialist Doctor (such as an orthopedic surgeon)

What Can I do if I think or know I have a Hip Flexor Injury?

• Follow your trainer, therapist or doctor’s recommendation.
• Implement a stretching and cautious strength building routine targeted around the surrounding areas of the injury to help strengthen the overall area.
• REST and ICE the injured area daily. (Game-plan here is to alleviate inflammation).
• You can also consider taking NAISDs

Q. What is an NAISD, is that a steroid?!
A. No No! An NAISD is a fancy for Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug, which simply put, works to combat the inflammation along with your rest and ice methods.

I was taking 2 Aleve, 2 times a day for example and it certainly helped to alleviate my mild pain and help get me through the day while I was trying to recover from my hip injury.

BEST CASE SCENARIO
After some rest and proper rehab of your injury, you recover to regain most or all of your strength and you’re back on the field normal! (This is usually more likely with injuries that are recognized and address quickly).

WORST CASE SCENARIO
You may have to have surgery to correct the issue and possibly have 4-6 months or more of down time during recovery after surgery. I had to have surgery because my issue was not caught right away and all the while I just thought I was sore from kicking and it was normal to have that pain every day in my hip; but it is NOT normal.
If I would’ve caught mine earlier on I probably could have saved myself from surgery and you can too if you are diligent about your practice routine and pay attention to any change in your physical health! As soon as you recognize a persistent pain that doesn’t seem to get better after a couple days, please go tell your trainer right away and work through the levels (1. Trainer, 2. Therapist, 3. Doctor/Specialist) that we discussed earlier!

My Hip Surgery Story
I tore several areas within my hip flexor. The injury was caused due to overuse and kicking too many balls too often. I am now a firm believer in a specific practice routine with careful monitoring of how many balls are kicked in each session. I ensure that at all camps and private lessons we do everything we can to prevent this from happening to any of our students. The technical name of the injury I had was “acetabular labral tear” in which my only 2 solutions were to 1. Just deal with the pain the rest of my life or 2. Consent to arthroscopic surgery in my hip.

It sounds pretty gross but what they had to do was literally ‘pull out’ my leg from the hip joint and then go in and ‘clean’ up the labrum and smooth it out so that there was more room for the leg to swing around the ball. Think of it as everything was too ‘tight’ in there and every time I kicked, the bone would rub on the hip joint and put undue pressure on that injured area and it HURT like crazy!

I knew something ‘was up’ because I would be sore/tired after kicking only 20 balls. My leg would feel ‘swollen’ and inflamed after every kicking session. I seemed to constantly need to ice and take anti-inflammatory medicines to manage the pain/inflammation, but it never got better!

Finally, I called around and found Kevin Rausch, a renown Sports-Minded Physical Therapist based in Laguna Niguel, CA. I worked with him 3x a week and he helped me get a lot stronger, but after it was all said and done, I still needed surgery because the damage was irreversible.

I had the surgery and I was on crutches for about 2 weeks! It was awful because I couldn’t do anything on my own and I was rather immobile for a few days and totally ‘out of it’ after surgery! Fortunately, I got hooked back up with Kevin right after surgery and we followed a strict rehabilitation plan for a few weeks which later turned into more intense sports training and eventually he nursed me back to ‘almost’ full strength. I say almost, because after injuries I feel your body most of the time can never get quite back to how strong you originally were (although sometimes, people heal up stronger than before!).

The long story short I used to be able to kick upwards of 65 yard field goals on a good day but now after the injury and being out of kicking and exclusively into coaching I have a tough time going back outside of 50 yards (haha). What’s the moral of the story? Let’s make sure you don’t over kick and use this experience as a lesson to help you!

This concludes our 5 part series on The 5 Most Common Kicking Injuries. I hope you enjoyed it! To see all 5 parts of this series search by Tag “Kicking Injuries”.

RESOURCES
Hip Flexor Injuries
Kick Farther Program

Kevin Rausch of Rausch Physical Therapy & Sports Performance provides rehabilitation to athletes and active patients to treat overuse injuries, rehab from surgery and help to prevent future injuries by treating and managing their overall health. His practice is based in Laguna  Niguel, CA.
www.rauschpt.net

Warren G. Kramer III, MD. of Kramer Orthopedics is an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in Arthroscopy, Shoulder, Hip and Knee Specialist. (He performed surgery on my hip) and is based in Newport Beach, CA.
www.kramermedical.com/Prov_DrWKramer.asp

About the Author

Coach Brent Grablachoff is a Professional Kicking Coach and Owner of Kicking World who trains youth, high school, college and professional football kickers and punters. He travels the country providing performance kicking camps in several states and offers year-round private instruction in San Diego and Orange County, CA.
www.kickingworld.com

Tags: Kicking Injuries, Kicking Training