The 12 Step Program to Healing Sport Injuries

Addicts are not the only ones who can benefit from a 12-Step Program. If you are suffering from a sports injury that is sabotaging your fitness efforts it could be time to adopt a 12-Step Program. I developed the following program in my efforts to overcome a spinal injury along with other joint and soft tissue injuries from a car accident and while researching my book, Healing Injuries the Natural Way.

1. Proceed Slowly. The body uses pain as a signal to let you know something is wrong. If you experience pain, it is probably time to stop. The best approach is to start slowly and gradually increase activity or weight.

2. Increase Raw Food Consumption to Increase Healing. Raw fruits and vegetables are not only powerhouses of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, they also contain plenty of enzymes. Enzymes are proven healers of damaged tissue. Protease, for example, travels to the site of inflammation and dissolves it. Other enzymes have similar effects. I recommend a diet that is fifty percent raw to help heal injuries. That is actually easier than it sounds. Add a large salad to lunch and dinner meals, some fruit snacks and a couple of fresh juices or fruit smoothies to your regular eating habits.

3. Target Your Strengthening Exercises. Assist the body to heal sports injuries by focusing on critical muscles. For example, strengthening the core, especially the abdominals, typically helps back pain or injuries. Strengthening the muscles in the upper leg area helps realign knee joints.

4. Visualization, Visualization, Visualization. Mind over matter is effective to overcome injuries. Visualize inflammation or damaged tissue being repaired and healed at the cellular level to help overcome the injury.

5. Avoid Food that Aggravates Injuries. Yes, food can prevent the healing of injuries. Trans fats found in fried foods and margarine, for example, actually CAUSE inflammation that tends to settle into weak areas of the body--the sites of old injuries.

6. Try a Different Type of Exercise. There are so many fitness options available to make it easier to stay fit even when an injury limits you. Water exercise is the perfect exercise for people with joint injuries affected by bearing weight. Swimming, on the other hand, may cause further damage to torn rotator cuff muscles. Explore your options.

7. Grab a Natural Remedy. There are many herbs and nutrients that are safe and proven effective to help heal damaged joints, muscles, tendons or ligaments. Here are a few options to help you get started. Omega-3 fatty acids found in foods such as flax oil and salmon help alleviate inflammation. Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapple, is effective for healing soft tissue and muscle injuries. In clinical trials, glucosamine sulphate has proven more effective than any non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).

Here are some of the common drugs used for injuries and the nutrients needed for healing that they deplete.

Drugs Used for Soft Tissue Injuries and the Nutrients They Deplete

Type of  Drug	Name	Nutrients They May Deplete
pain killers	Acetylsalicylic Acid Ibuprofen Indomethacin	Vitamin C folic acid (Vitamin B-9) iron
	Naproxen Nabumetone	zinc
steroids (corticosteroids) Often used for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, skin disorders, and immune disorders	Prednisone Hydrocortisone Desamethasone Beclomethasone Triamcinolone	pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6) Vitamin C Vitamin D Vitamin K zinc potassium
antidepressants	Amitriptyline Desipramine Doxepin Imipramine	coenzyme Q-10

8. Create a Plan. Most people tackle their work far more effectively than their health or fitness. Create a plan that incorporates exercise, nutritional improvements, critical nutrients or dietary supplements, mental exercises and even a means to vent emotional frustration. Then, stick to it. Countless people say, "I tried glucosamine but it didn't work for me." When I question them about the frequency and duration of their supplementation efforts, I find that it was sporadic and short-lived. In one study of the effectiveness of glucosamine on joint damage, ALL participants of the study experienced significant improvements in joint function. They all took the prescribed dose of glucosamine daily for three years. Regularity is the key with natural remedies.

9. Never say never. Positive attitude makes all the difference to heal injuries. I am always amazed at how frequently people tell me they have tried everything to overcome their injuries, yet nothing worked. Not only is that impossible, there are usually so many options that people have never heard of.

10. Patience truly is a virtue. Sometimes injuries require patience to overcome.

11. Add Chinese to the menu. Not Chinese food, but some Eastern approaches to your otherwise Western fitness plan. Breathing, postures, strengthening and stretching exercises. Don't be fooled by the seeming simplicity of tai chi or qigong (pronounced "chee kung.") Consider a study of collegiate level distance runners who failed miserably in their attempts to hold qigong postures even for ten minutes. These exercises help move energy, blood, lymph, and oxygen through your body to aid healing.

12. Explore energy medicine. Most people have never considered themselves energy beings and scoff at this "new-age"-sounding concept. But that attitude is antiquated. Energy is the invisible, but proven, substance that is common to all living things. It is critical to life. Leading researchers and physicists proved the existence of energy flow in the body many years ago. Blocked energies in the body result in pain, inflammation, slow or nonexistent healing, disease, and many other negative symptoms. Over ten years ago, French scientists tried to disprove the theories of energy meridians discussed in acupuncture texts. They injected radioactive dye into people's bodies at bogus sites and in other people's bodies at actual acupuncture points (the areas where the energy lines surface on the skin). They found that the dye at the site of bogus points dispersed in all directions while the dye that was injected at the site of acupuncture points followed the exact patterns of the meridians. There are, literally, thousands of studies that demonstrate improved energy flow translates into improved healing and health. By incorporating energy medicines such as acupuncture, homeopathy, Reiki, breathing exercises, and a lesser-known form of exercises also called "energy medicine," people are able to get the energy flowing in their bodies far more efficiently. Improved energy flow means improved healing and fitness performance.

Natural Remedies to Heal Injuries
Here are some of my preferred supplements for healing injuries. Depending on the injury, others may be required.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are critical to balancing inflammation and pain in the body. Many are required; however, Omega-3 fatty acids are especially important to tackle inflammation and pain. An excess of Omega-6 fatty acids can actually contribute to excess inflammation. Good sources of Omega-3s include fatty, cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, and herring as well as nuts and seeds like flax, hemp, and walnut. Add these foods to your diet and include cold-pressed flax, walnut or hemp oil as well. Do not cook flax oil.

Enzymes, particularly protease, are critical for healing. While enzymes are typically taken with meals, they are better taken on an empty stomach to help with injury healing.

Glucosamine Sulphate has been proven in tests to alleviate the pain of joint inflammation when taken consistently for a minimum of two weeks. In clinical trials, it has proven more effective than any NSAID. No drug can match its ability to halt the deterioration of joints.

Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids helps the body speed healing by attacking free radicals involved with injuries.

Other Critical Nutrients to Heal Bone Injuries:
Boron, Calcium, Manganese, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Silica, Zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3, Vitamin K, Betaine Hydrochloric acid, and ipiflavone.

Some of the Best Anti-Inflammatory Herbs
Willow Bark, Meadowsweet, Feverfew, Ginger, Bupleurum, Cat's Claw, Chinese Skullcap, Yucca, Turmeric, Cayenne, Ginkgo Biloba, Boswellia Gum, Kava, and Devil's Claw. Many of these herbs are more effective than aspirin at relieving pain and inflammation. Have patience with them, they work at the source of the problem to help healing, not like a Band-aid to cover up symptoms.

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