Injury and Recovery Tips

[karate123]

Hi all!

A quick background on the story. I'm a 25 year old Sandan. Last year I got injured (fell on asphalt at full force) - and my head hit the ground a bit. I had to stop training ever since because of pain. I can't even jog without my neck hurting.

Ever since, I've been put onto pain killers that I have to take every day to stop my neck spasms. When I take the pain killers, my neck is back to normal for a while and then the pain starts increasing progressively until it becomes too much for me to handle. Physiotherapy, massage, osteopathy and a chiropractor didn't help. The doctor didn't know what to do either. Now that I don't have anyone else to turn to, I thought I might as well ask the karate forum members.

Has anyone had a similar injury/pain and got it resolved? What did you do? What type of exercices? How often did you do them? etc.

Thanks so much for the help!

[scohen.mma]

Hey man, I'm really sorry to hear about that. I had something similar happen to me, although it was out of pure stupidity. I used to be a gym junkie and was obsessed with getting big. To be specific, I wanted big traps. So on days I worked my back, I'd do the big compounds for each part and then I'd finish with 2-3 different trap exercises. Long story short, I had over developed traps that were too big for the rest of my body. It didn't look monstrous, but it felt awesome. Anyway, if I did any intense exercise something would happen and I couldn't move my whole upper body. Then I couldn't lift heavy anymore without that happening.

Anyway, I tried a chiropractor and it only helped for a few hours after. Then I tried physical therapy, and now I can workout again. I don't lift weights, just body weight stuff and lots of cardio. The bodyweight exercises I feel help to naturally strengthen your muscle groups. I don't feel dead the next day, but I do feel satisfied.

I'd recommend resting and doing NOTHING for a whole month. Then try out a few different physical therapy places. Some aren't as good as others. Then stay in shape with just bodyweight exercises. That all worked out perfectly for me, and my neck was in so much pain and I had such a limited range of motion at all times - if I was having a good day!

I hope this helped, sorry for typing so much. Good luck!

[karate123]

I don't lift weights, just body weight stuff and lots of cardio. The bodyweight exercises I feel help to naturally strengthen your muscle groups.

Thanks! Was thinking of trying out Tai Chi, it's good for the muscles and not too strenuous.

Then try out a few different physical therapy places. Some aren't as good as others.

Definitely; will give some other places a try and see what kind of exercises they tell me about.