Injury Prevention for HikersInjury prevention: avoid the pain, rather than be sidelined by it later. Good philosophy, don't you agree? But injury prevention requires two convergent streams of information: how the human body works during a hike, and how to make good choices to protect the body from the repetitive stresses and strains of hiking. So allow me to be your tour guide of the "moving parts" which bring you from trail head to summit (or lake, waterfall, vista, campsite, wherever you're headed on the trail). From there, we can turn our attention to a separate, but related matter: injury prevention. These are not trivial topics for me - I'm a naprapath as well as a massage therapist, trained in soft tissue manipulation, with years of experience in dealing with muscle, ligament, tendon and fascial injuries. FEET: Of course we start with the feet! They bear the load of your body, your pack, your camera, your water bottle - whatever means "hiking" to you. If you've never stopped to appreciate all the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments in your feet, now is the time! ANKLES: Just a nuisance when you bang that bumpy part on a blow down over the trail? Nope. An intricate anatomical connection between feet and legs to give you mobility without sacrificing strength. Time to get to know your ankles! LEGS/CALVES: If you've ever uttered the sentence "My legs are killing me", you know exactly which muscles are involved in moving you up the trail. Because these muscles are physically connected to your ankles and knees, they require a bit of preventive maintenance and are worthy of your consideration. KNEES: What an amazing joint the knee is for a hiker! A quick tour through the nicely designed cooperation between bone and muscle will convince you that protecting your knees is important if you want to keep hiking into your golden years. THIGHS: The stronger, the better, for hikers. A "pulled" muscle is a serious matter if you're miles from the trail head, so let's meet the muscles which provide power for each step along the trail. HIPS: Your hips are created by the pelvic basin, a bony bowl to hold some of your internal organs, and to allow passage of a baby into the world. The bones which create this bowl are also weight bearers, and that includes the weight of your backpack & camera gear. Injury prevention is a simple matter of not overdoing the amount of weight you are asking the body to carry - or is it?BACK/TORSO: Here's where many people have chronic issues, and not all related to hiking. The human spine is not really great at keeping us upright against gravity while bearing loads, unless the muscles anchored to the back bones are strong. Here's where injury prevention comes in: keep your core muscles strong, keep back pain away. SHOULDERS: When you think of your shoulders (and you might, if they ache after a hike), do you realize that there's a connection to your rib cage as well as your backbone hidden under the muscles? Paying attention to your shoulders will pay off in less aches and pains elsewhere. ARMS: C'mon! Preventing arm injuries for hikers? Yes, that might seem like a "stretch", until you keep track of how many times your arms lift your pack, swing back and forth on the trail, pull you up onto that perfect rock perch over the river, and work in harmony with your shoulders. WRISTS AND HANDS: These parts of the body take a lot of abuse: scrapes and scratches, cuts and burns, splinters and slivers, contact with the abrasive surfaces of rock and tree limbs.... injury prevention might be too much to ask for! But let's be optimistic! NECK: This is a part of my body that is always sore after a hike, regardless of how I fiddle with my pack and how many times I remind myself to use good posture while hiking. I tend to crane my neck forward, creating tension in the muscles, as I pick my way through a boulder field or look ahead to see what awaits me on the trail. That's why I'm particularly interested in keeping my neck injury-free! HEAD: Your "special senses" are housed here: eyes, ears, nose, mouth. There's a lot you can do to protect your head, from wearing protective gear to carrying a few things in your pack to keep the mucous membranes hydrated and healthy. So there we have it: a brief tour of a hiker's body. I hope it allows you to appreciate the moving parts, and to also appreciate the need for regular preventive maintenance. Why be one of those hikers limping down the trail, when you can be one who glides happily, even after a long day of hiking? If you'd like more technical explanations of areas of the body, or resources for injury prevention/rehabilitation, please feel free to contact me. I'll pass along whatever information I have. Trail buddies help each other out, right? |