Some very good bicycle racers develop painful shin splints on the front inside of the lower legs when they tried to train for triathlons. The injury is also common in women who take up aerobic dancing.

Shin splints occur when you damage the posterior tibial muscles in the inside back of your lower leg, and/or the soleus that helps to raise you up on your toes after you land on your heels.

Bicycle riding develops very strong upper leg muscles because you pedal with your knees and hips. It does not stress your lower leg muscles much. Running stresses mostly your lower leg muscles. When you run, you land on your heels and raise yourself up on your toes with the calf muscles in the back and the posterior tibial muscles on the inside back part of your lower leg. So your upper leg muscles can handle the stress of running very easily, but your lower leg muscles are not strong enough and you tore them.

Once a runner develops shin splints, he has to stop running to let the muscle and tendon injury heal. A bicycle rider has to go back to the bike. When he can run without hurting, He should try to run on one day and cycle on the next and stop running immediately when he feels pain in his lower leg. When he can run for 30 minutes without feeling pain, he can start training again by adding fast runs. In the future, he should not run very fast more often than every other day or twice a week.

The treatment for athletic muscle injuries is to rest the injured muscle and then strengthen it so it can withstand greater forces on it. If you dance, run or walk and develop pain on the inside back part of the bone of your lower leg, stop participating in your sport until you can do so without feeling pain. The soleus muscle raises you up on your toes, so as soon as you can raise yourself up on your toes without feeling pain, try to strengthen that muscle. Hold a barbell in front of your upper legs just above your knees, stand back on your heels and raise yourself up on your toes slowly and lower yourself ten times in a row, rest and then do two more sets of ten. Do this every other day, being careful to stop immediately if you feel pain. Gradually increase the weight that you hold in your hands.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com

Free weekly newsletter on fitness, health, and nutrition.

For other common injuries see my articles on * Elbow Pain: “Tennis Elbow” * A Pain in the Butt: Piriformis Syndrome * Heel Pain: Plantar Fasciitis * Ankle Pain: Achilles Tendinitis * Shoulder Pain: Rotator Cuff Injuries * Stress Fractures

Are you fed up with taking all the treatments for your back pain which you feel do not work? Are you a constant patient of physical therapists, chiropractors? Is your back pain causing you distress and trouble because you can not do the activities you wish you could do? Have you been advised surgery to correct your back’s structural abnormalities?

Back pain may be classified into two types: acute or short term, and chronic. It the low back pain is short-term, it is most probably due to lower back trauma. Certain disorders such as arthritis may also cause acute back pain. Trauma such as sports injury, vehicular injury, and injuries incurred around the house may also result to back pain.

Back pain may range from simple muscle ache to stabbing pain which results to limit in a person’s flexibility and range of motion. The person suffering from back pain may also be unable to stand straight. If the back pain persists for over three months, the back pain is classified as chronic. It is usually progressive and the cause is normally difficult to pinpoint.

Surgery is not usually the mode of treatment for back pain. Over-the-counter pain relievers helps in the reduction of discomfort along with the intake of anti-inflammatory medications which helps reduce inflammation. Restoration of function is the main goal of treatment as well as restoration of the strength to the patient’s back. The treatment also aims to stop recurrence of the back pain.

Back pain may be caused by various low back injuries. These injuries include muscle strain, muscle spasm, ligament sprain, problems with joint or slipped disk, and using your back muscles in doing new activities such as lifting heavy furniture or working on your garden. Slipped disk is caused by the nerves bulging or pressing between the bones, which usually occurs when lifting. Back pain is fairly common when caused by such activities.

Some people opt for the application of cold and hot compresses to relieve patients of back injury. These compresses are done because they may help reduce inflammation and relieve the patient of pain. Mobility is also significantly increased by certain exercises, and strengthen the muscles of the back and abdomen. These exercises can be found online, or may be recommended by your doctors and chiropractors. In extreme cases, surgery is recommended to help stop back pain and prevent serious muscle injuries. But surgery is done usually as a last resort, and if the cause of the back pain is anatomical. Some physicians say that back pain can also be merely psychological with some patients. It means that the patient perceives the back pain only when there is no structural abnormality present in the patient’s body.

Individuals suffering from back pain should seek the help of a physician to evaluate the back pain if the pain persists for ore than 72 hours. The physician will also prescribe the appropriate medications to relieve the patient of the symptom, or may also advise the patient to undergo surgical procedures if need be. He may also recommend exercises that would be less straining to the back, and will help maintain proper posture while lifting objects. Heavy lifting, repetitive motion and improper posture may also cause back pain. A person’s work might also predispose an individual to developing back pain. Furniture and tools that are designed to provide protection to the body against injury and help maintain a healthy back are available for use at home or at work.

It would be necessary to consult the help of a qualified physician promptly when you feel the pain extends to your leg on your knee area. Numbness of the leg, groin, rectal area, and foot is also a cause of concern and should be told to a doctor as well as development of nausea, vomiting, fever, and stomach pain. Loss of bladder/bowel control occurring with back pain is also warning problem that necessitates expert evaluation. Back pain that occurs right after injury or trauma should also be evaluated through physical examination as well as imaging and other diagnostic procedures, more so when the patient suffers from such intense pain that movement is severely hampered.

There are other risks as you sit in front of that computer but it would be to much to write about in this article, so if you would like to learn more about other risks such as:

Eye strain
RSI (Repetitive Stress Syndrome)
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Constant Head Aches
Dizziness
Breathing Problems
Difficulty Concentrating

You can learn all about this in the book: “The Painless PC”

Hege Crowton is establishing herself as an expert copywriter.
She is known for doing in-depth research before writing her articles.
Many of her articles are posted on http://www.ezinecrow.com
and she also does a lot of writing for http://www.CrowSites.com

Copyright 2005 HealthCrow.com

With Bird Flu in the news, people are wondering where it may be safe to avoid this deadly virus. While the answer to this question may be very simple now, in a few weeks or months, it may be a different story.

The first outbreak of the deadly strain of bird flu in humans was in Hong Kong in 1997. A major outbreak then occurred in January of 2004 in Vietnam and Thailand that resulted in the virus popping up in most of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Recently, a low pathogenic form of H5N1, the dangerous form of bird flu, surfaced in Canada. From this, it may be assumed that southern parts of North America, South America, and other countries distanced from Asia are safe. However, with the track record of this virus, that may not be the case.

Without a doubt, the area of greatest risk for Bird Flu currently is Vietnam, where the largest number of infections and death has occurred. Any area in Asia with a large poultry population, from farming or agriculture, is at risk, as consuming infected meat has been a primary cause of becoming infected. On the same note, many countries in Asia, Europe, and recently the Middle East, should be concerned with the possibility of ingested infected poultry. As migratory birds may also carry the disease, it may be extend over widespread areas as well as from agricultural sources.

Likewise, considering the rapid spread of bird flu, the case in Canada should be of concern for residents of North America as well; in less than two years, Asia and Europe were consumed with the disease. Although the case in Canada was a low pathogenic form of H5N1, meaning it is less dangerous, the fact that it made its way to the continent should not be taken lightly and the possibility of the virus spreading south is a very serious threat.

As long as bird flu is being transmitted from poultry to humans, and not from human to human contact, the areas of concern will surround large poultry populations, from wild or agricultural birds. However, if the strain mutates and is passed from human to human, the risk area will grow rapidly and be concentrated in places with high or dense populations. Likewise, areas of particular concern will be those with limited medical care. Areas with advanced medicine that may be able to produce a vaccine may not be as devastated by the mutated strain of the virus.

Sarah is an acclaimed writer on medical matters, and has written extensively on the subjects of Attention Deficit Disorder, Bird Flu and Crohn’s Disease.
For more of her articles, go to http://www.imedicalvillage.com now.

Visit http://www.imedicalvillage.com and read more of her articles.