Why don’t good doctors tell injured athletes how to quickly recover?
Just as Triathlon Trial Lawyer Doug Landau has little patience for so-called personal injury lawyers who do not go to court, do not try cases, do not adequately prepare (or do so on the cheap), do not have real offices or staff, he also keeps his enthusiasm for so-called sports medicine specialists who needlessly sideline their patients. For example, when an injured triathlete was placed in a hard plastic walking cast, not having him exercise his upper body with weights, machines and an ergometer was a mistake. Likewise, not having the athlete exercise the non-injured side with one-legged seated or sitting stationary cycling would simply mean that the injured athlete would have significant atrophy and wasting of the musculature as well as a significant loss of aerobic capacity. Once it is safe to do so, supervised stretching, strength training and aerobic exercise of the unaffected areas can speed the healing process and reduce the loss of hard-earned training gains. Furthermore, training intelligently while an arm or lead is healing, can reduce weight gain and the likelihood of rein jury due to increased body mass with reduced muscle and tendon strength. Consider this if you are injured and discuss these issues with your health care providers, as every patient, and every athlete have different needs and concerns. But sitting around, doing nothing, may produce just that – nothing!