Tuesday 23 August 2011

Boned Up


Thought rest and easy workouts would heal me up. Turns out I was wrong.
Recent x-ray results reveal I’m not done yet. Typically bones heal in four to six weeks. So I was told. Given my pelvic fractures are in the lower moving part of the body - one physiotherapist said eight.
So I’m creeping up to 13 weeks now and I’m still working on it.
But here’s an interesting tidbit. A recent visit to my Osteopath taught me more about the process then anything else.
Aside from the obvious nutrition factor, there’s something called the Wolff's Law. It illustrates the need for stress on the bones to heal.
In my case, this would be walking or running and weight training.
For years I’ve run. I can recall the fierce feeling of strength in my nails after a workout. I didn’t realize at the time, the impact pounding has on calcium in bones.
Since my Achilles flare up last year I turned to cycling as the primary sweat factor. Lately it’s been swimming, yoga and some cycling.
Today I tackled the treadmill for the first time. I jogged for 15 minutes. Amazingly my day fluttered along with NO back pain. I also incorporated weights and stretches into the visit.
Thinking this kind of regime is what everyone needs to age healthily in their bones.
Maybe now I’ll get boned up!

2 comments:

Raymond Parker said...

There's a balance to be had. Of course you can't stress a compromised bone until there is sufficient healing, but indeed it needs to be tested for it to gain strength.

Unfortunately, we heal more slowly as we age.

But we gain perspective.

A Fresh Thinker said...

Yes we do! Old age is the *****!
"But we gain perspective..."
Love it!
Thanks, Raymond!!!