How My Disability was preventable

This blog reflects my own experience, understanding and research i have done. I'm sorry for any mistakes and shortcomings. I made this for my kids so they can avoid the injury I had, but ill be happy if it can help others. There is so much research and studies out there and many different views and mixed studies. I did the best i can in making this, but my logic is limited, in a such a complex subject which is human movement.

Theres so many different stances and systems and they totally contridict eachother. There is this one system called www.functionalpatterns.com , they have incredible results in there rehab and training of their clients (best i have een). To my kids if your reading this they have a small course you should do or get trained by these lot. Also try and do a good sports thearpy massage course.

My Contact is: malkeetkang82@gmail.com

I used be do a lot of sprinting but never did any sort of stretching or muscle release techniques. Eventually I suffered from short hypertonic (Excessive tension) hip adductor muscles (they had too much muscle tone, and lacked adequate flexibility also known as mechanical shortening (locked short) and overactive) which inhibited my glute Medius (underactive) via altered reciprocal inhibition. But due to misdiagnosis it took 2 years for me to get the right treatment for my movement dysfunction. Which was to massage and stretch out the adductors and strengthen the Glute meduis after. But by this time the adductors were in a fibrotic contracture (which didn't stretch out due to structural changes in my muscle). If caught early it was a simple fix and if I had foam rolled after I sprinted, my adductors would not have got hypertonic (commonly known as tight (excessive tension) in other words the muscle remains overly contracted altering its flexibility and pliabiity). I have ended being disabled. Foam rolling or massage after your workout is very important to prevent joint imbalances from altered reciprocal  inhibition and altered resting lengths. The body works as a system and needs muscle pilabilty in its tissues for healthy ranges of motion. 

A muscle imbalance between an agonist and antagonist muscle can occur due to a neurological disorder, spinal cord injury, and our lifestyle/postural habits. A decrease in muscle tone leads to continuous disuse and eventually muscular atrophy. The constant contraction of the agonist muscle with minimal resistance can result in a contracture. Farmer, S.E; M. James (2001). "Contractures in orthopaedic and neurological conditions: a review of causes and treatment". Disability and Rehabilitation. 23 (13): 549–558

In other words a extreme long term imbalance between opposing muscles can cause contractures, this is what happened to me. 

Eventually my adductors got so tight they interfered with my sleep and urine passing, so I had to detach them from my pelvis. The physios that I saw before my diagnosis all spotted the weak glute and gave me strength exercises which made my condition worse as they failed to relise my adductors were the cause of this. I was correctly diagnosed by John Gibbons (Body master Clinic) from oxford UK. 

 Picture is post op of adductor removal in July 2020.

Joints are balances when muscles from both sides are at their normal resting lengths. When this is altered it causes issues in the kinetic chain and the muscles get damaged and harden up. In most clinics they use stretching and strength excercises to fix this.

Some clinics use massage and foam rolling to release the short muscle.

In the long term prolonged passive stretching is not recommended as it is known for causing hypermobility, joint instabilty, loss of muscles contractile potential (force production), joint laxity and lack of elastic recoil due to creep. But in a rehab setting for short term it can be a tool to get you were you need to be. There is many other types of stretching out there, like active stretching which is different to passive stretches. 

When the length and tension of muscles around the joint are balanced, the joint is aligned properly, resulting in better posture and performance. A properly functioning can lengthen (relax) and shorten (contract) but return to its normal resting length. In a muscular dysfunction this does not happen.

Massage or foam rolling in the cool down can  help prevent 

Hypertonic muscles

Altered reciprocal inhibition

Adaptive Muscle shortening (altered resting length)

Inflexibility 

postural distortion

Some contractures

Joint dysfunction (muscle imbalances)

Movement impairments.

*Note some contractures are caused by diseases and cannot be prevented or treated by stretching or massage. I am talking about adaptive muscle shortening via sedentary life style or bad exercise program; these types can be prevented and even treated in most cases.

massage gun is good at preventing muscle hypertonicity.