Sports Injuries

My wife and I are both badminton players and we both love this smart and exciting sport. My wife in particular, is a huge badminton fan, who brings her racket wherever she goes. She was also the one who brought me into this fascinating sport, where I started to realize that along with all the fun that badminton players get on the court, they also suffer from various kinds of injuries, either due to sudden movements in a competitive game or long term injuries that were never completely healed from non-stop playing. As her husband, and an orthopedics acupuncturist who had over 15 years of experience treating sports injuries in both China and the US, I naturally became not only her "family" doctor, but also her badminton friends's trusted specialist.

During the process of helping her and her badminton friends, I realize that many of the suffered injuries could have been avoided if our players know more about the nature of the injuries and how they could do to help preventing them. Even when injuries do happen, which is probably inevitable in such a competitive sport like badminton, there are ways to keep the damage to the minimum, and help players to get back on the court as soon as possible. Therefore, I would love to share my experience with badminton players at the California Badminton Academy, to hopefully help them better enjoy the sport while minimizing injuries.

Generally speaking, there are three types of common injuries to badminton players: 1) fatigue-related injuries; 2) acute injuries; and 3) chronic injuries. I will briefly describe each type of injuries and the corresponding prevention and treatments, to hopefully help badminton players prevent injuries, improve strength, and continue enjoying the sport.

The first type: Fatigue-related injuries.

Most people hold the wrong impression that fatigue can be gotten rid of through rests, such as sleeping. However, it's often difficult to completely recover from fatigue through sleeping, especially after extensive hours of playing. For example, if 90% of the fatigue is recovered after sleeping, there are still 10% that remains in the body. In the long run, such small amount of fatigues will accumulate, until one day, you will find that sleeping cannot give you full recovery any more, and you will start having discomfort such as stiffness, soreness, and lack of agility. If you ignore such symptoms and continue playing, you are much more likely to get injured. This is what we call fatigue-related injuries.

Then the question is how to prevent this type of injuries? The answer is simple - making sure that you have enough warm-up as well as cool-down both before and after you play. Most people know the importance of warm-up, which effectively prevents acute injuries (which I will discuss below). However, the significance of cool-down exercises is often ignored by many players, who tend to leave the gym right after they play. The cool-down stretches and exercises are the key to the recovery of your body from fatigue after extensively play. They are also very effective in terms of preventing fatigue to accumulate, allowing your body to continue performing at the desired level.

The second type: Acute injuries.

Acute injuries often happen during the play, and are attributable to three reasons: 1) insufficient stretching and warm-up before the play; 2) fatigue of your body's condition; and 3) poor or inaccurate positions during the play. Acute injuries often causes muscle sprains and strains, tears of the ligaments that hold joints together, and/or tears of the tendons that support joints and allow them to move. The common symptoms of acute injuries include swelling and bruising, sudden and severe pain, and inability to move a joint through full range of motion.

When acute injuries happen, there are a few things that a player can do. Most people know that one shall apply an ice pack after acute injuries, which is correct. Aside from its immediate effects against pain, ice packs help to stop or reduce blood flow by constricting nearly blood vessels, and therefore reduce bleeding and swelling. Here I recommend a simply technique that you can do at home immediately after injury. Put cold water in a container, and put your injured limb in the cold water for about 30 minutes to one hour, depending on the severity of your injury. The water shall be cold enough to mimic the effect of an ice pack, but at the same time, still bearable. You may also add ice into the water to keep the temperature low from time to time. Most importantly, one shall try to have small motion in the injured area while it's submerged in the cold water. This will help to stop the bleeding, and the small motion will help to dissipate the congested blood in the injured area, which is critical to fast recovery. Note that this technique is appropriate for injuries on the limbs only.

As far as I see, most people only apply simple treatments after acute injuries, such as using an ice-pack, applying oil or cream, or taking pain medications. As a result, the recovery process is typically very slow (three-months or longer) and incomplete. The injured area is likely to be injured again in the future, which could turn into chronic injuries (which I will discuss below). The reason is that the simple treatments and resting are unlikely to provide 100% recovery, leaving residues of damaged tissues in the injured area, causing soreness and pain in the long run. In addition, as acute injuries often involve various degrees of tears of ligaments and tendons, the injured ligaments and tendons are very weak, and cannot provide enough support for the joints. Therefore, it is imperative to wait until they heal before the player gets back onto the court again. That's why it's important to see a medical professional, especially when the acute injury is severe, to provide faster and full recovery, as well as ensure long term healthiness in the injured area.

The third type: Chronic injuries.

Chronic injuries are often caused by lack of proper treatments or incomplete recovery after acute injuries. The muscle fibers in the injured area will stick together to compress the muscle, resulting in reduced blood circulation and weakened strength and agility of ligaments and tendons. That's why when the player is engaged in extensive playing again, the injured area is likely to have fatigue, soreness, stiffness, and swelling again, preventing the player to play at the desired level. The good news is that one does not have to stop playing in order to heal from chronic injuries. It is treatable as long as the player plays at an appropriate level and the injury gets appropriate treatments from qualified professionals.

With the establishment of the California Badminton Academy, more people will be able to enjoy this fascinating sport. I will hold regular seminars to introduce to our players more information on sports injuries, protections, and treatments. If condition allows, I will also provide live treatment demos on the seminars, to help ensure the health of all players and prevent them from injuries.

Cervical Spondylosis (in Chinese)

多数颈椎病的患者，有共同的感受，如颈部僵硬、酸痛、非常不舒服，还会引起失眠和头痛以及手臂手指麻木。 这一类型的颈椎病患者，一般属于神经根型颈椎病，象一些长期从事电脑工作，伏案工作的人多属于这一类，治疗起来较为容易，多以松解颈部肌肉为主，加以适当颈椎正骨即可，一般3，4次治疗，其症状就可以改善很大，但唯一值得非常主意的是，颈椎病所引起的肩胛疼痛，往往会造成肩膀不能抬起，这种情况，极大多数的医师多认为是肩周炎，而忽略了颈椎问题，我有一位病人就深受其害。4年前由于她肩部疼痛，就诊西医，诊断为肩周炎，后接受手术，手术后手臂仍无法抬起，疼痛不减，她问她的手术医生为什么会这样，医生只告诉她有炎症，让她去做美国式的物理治疗，这一做就是3年，情况没有任何改变，2006年3月，她前来看我，她叙述了疼痛和治疗过程，我经过详细的检查，发现她的肩胛部有敏感的疼痛区以及肩胛提肌和斜方肌都很僵硬，确定诊断后，一次治疗，她的手臂抬起几乎正常，这位病人当时就哭起来了，因为她已经几乎绝望，在场的其他病人，都以为神奇，其实就是诊断的问题，是普通疾病。我要在这里说的是，诊断不准确，将会病人带来巨大的精神、肉体和金钱的伤害和损失。

车祸也非常容易造成颈椎问题，多以急性挥鞭性损伤为主，也就是颈椎第1和2锥体半脱位，症状通常为头不能左右转动，但可以上下动，这种伤害不同于一般的锥体的伤害，也不同一般的颈椎治疗。多数人会去脊骨神经就诊。 其实， 中医的正骨已经完全涵盖脊骨神经的治疗内容，脊骨神经只是中医骨科治疗的一个辅助手段而已。在车祸中颈椎的挥鞭性损伤，由中医正骨进行颈椎牵引搬动，一次即可复位，活动功能恢复。而多数医师（包括美国的脊骨神经科）都是以整个颈椎做治疗，而忽略了诊断的准确性。

如果颈椎病患者伴有眩晕、恶心症状，最好先看西医（而不是一般的脊椎神经医生），因为，临床症状表现不能完全确诊，必须有MRI等相关的检查手段才可以帮助确诊。中医治疗只能帮助缓解症状，以输筋活血为主，不能治愈，更绝对不可以采用任何中医的正骨或脊骨神经的脊椎校正。如果误诊而强行采取颈椎校正，会造成患者症状加重，甚至高位截瘫，终生残疾。此类病人必须就诊专科西医，严重者，手术治疗在所难免。

Knee Injuries (in Chinese)

膝盖疼痛是极为常见的病，可由韧带，骨骼，关节囊等发生异常而引发疼痛，治疗起来应根据不同症状采取完全不同的治疗方式。可是在现实生活中， 此类疼痛常被一知半解的通称为“风湿病”，甚至“骨质退化”，打发患者。尤其对待老人的看诊，这类名词的使用率更是频繁。所以，为了让大家了解一些常识，以便在看诊时心里多少有点谱，在此我重要的介绍几种最常见，也最不易被诊断出的膝关节疾病。

经常有人说，最近上下楼梯膝盖痛，但走路还可以，或者说坐久了，站起来膝盖突然疼痛，活动一下就好很多，这类情况发生在很多人身上，年轻人以为是风湿，老年人就自认人老了骨质退化了。这些也都是一般中医和西医给你的建议性诊断。其实，绝大多数的此类膝盖疼痛患者，只是一个简单的韧带损伤，治疗起来极其快速。2003年，有一位指甲店老板，膝盖疼痛5年，经我一次治疗后基本解除疼痛。这样的膝盖痛患者，实在太多，为什么三番五次疼痛，皆是诊断问题，用风湿或骨质退化的方法治疗，当然起不到好的效果。

膝盖的半月板损伤，大家也经常听说，半月板就像缓冲垫，保护骨骼之间的正常运转，一旦破裂，就会产生膝盖疼痛。这时，最好借助X光片诊断，结合临床疼痛的症状，确定半月板是否有小碎块脱离半月板。如果有小碎块脱离，一定要去看西医骨科，做小手术取出。 保守治疗可能延误病情，造成长期疼痛。如果没有小碎块，只是半月板破裂，则应采取保守治疗，针灸结合推拿为首选。一般三、五次即可治愈。所以，半月板造成的膝盖疼痛，最重要的是诊断，如果诊断错误，在没有小碎块的情况下被西医动了手术，无缘无故的挨了一刀，还要花大价钱！

老年人的骨质退化，也会引起膝盖疼痛， 在活动关节时往往会听到沙沙的响声，象是缺少了润滑剂。这种才是骨质退化。骨质退化的膝关节痛，多数医生会建议你进食一些补钙品，严重退化的就给你手术换一个。总之，对西医而言，没有什么好方法。 而从中医的角度就完全不同，骨质退化的膝盖痛可以得到控制并做到临床治愈，单不说行气活血，只要对膝盖局部采取适当的针灸推拿，缓解疼痛即刻做到。如果您有上述类似的疼痛症状， 欢迎来电咨询。