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Wednesday, August 10, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Fit For
Sisters
Andrew Luscutoff
Columnist
Don’t let joint pain
slow you down
Knee, hip, shoulder and
back-pain all are part of the
human experience. Most
everyone gets to enjoy the
experience of nagging pain.
Friedrich Nietzche philoso-
phized: “The aim of the wise
is not to secure pleasure, but
to avoid pain.” Once pain
sets in the wisdom says to
stop the activity and avoid
pain.
Many forms of exercise
— running, jumping, hiking,
downhill skiing — involve
a lot of joint stress and pos-
ses the potential for back
pain. Small impacts over
time can lead to arthritis and
degeneration of joint tis-
sue. Eventually, people find
themselves on the sidelines.
Anytime someone for-
goes exercise, it can lead to
a decline in health and a cas-
cade of loss of well-being.
There are solutions
beyond giving up activity.
Pain affects many run-
ners. The common trope is
that it’s not if a runner will
suffer pain, but when. It is
estimated that 75 percent of
running injury is caused by
overuse. Overuse injury hap-
pens when a person runs too
much, too soon, or too fast
for their ability. Adjusting
shoe type, corrective insoles,
improving running tech-
nique, and other methods
to prevent injury, were not
effective in reducing injury
rates. There was also no sig-
nificance in gender, body
mass, running surface, and
running speed.
The takeaway message is
clear: running injury is ubiq-
uitous, and the best interven-
tion for running longevity is
moderation. This approach
can consider another activ-
ity to balance the scales. A
great alternative is cycling.
It works the quads (front of
thigh) a little more inten-
sively, and doesn’t repeti-
tively stress the lower leg.
It also still allows you to be
outside and in the open air.
People reading this may
lament the pain of sitting
on a saddle, but a properly
fitted bike will make all the
difference. See a local expert
to get the bike fit. Green
Ridge Physical Therapy,
Eurosports, and Step & Spine
all have specialists in this
area.
Back pain also hampers
a variety of activities and
leads people to believe their
days of fitness are over. The
incidence of back pain is
more common than not: 80
percent of people have expe-
rienced significant back pain
at some point in their lives.
There are several reasons for
low-back pain but the major-
ity (70 percent) of instances
are caused by lumbar strains.
This is when the muscles and
surrounding structure of the
lower back are overworked,
stressed, and cause a pain
signal to radiate throughout
the body.
An alternative exercise
for working with back-pain
is swimming. Central Oregon
triathlete/coach Jaime
Dispenza says: “Swimming
totally rocks for people of
any age. There is no impact
on the body as long as the
technique is solid.”
He recommends swim-
ming to his athletes who are
recovering from long runs or
bouts of injury.
Swimming is a great car-
diovascular exercise, where
the athlete is unweighted,
providing a gentle stretch.
Sisters Athletic Club is a
place for basic lessons; a
competitive swimmer might
contact Jaime Dispeza for
more information.
These are just two exam-
ples of how to manage pain-
ful ailments affecting nearly
everyone. It is also a good
excuse to try a new exer-
cise. Either way, you don’t
need to forgo fitness or go
under the knife to avoid pain.
Therapeutic exercise for
both meniscus and low-back
strains has been shown to be
as, if not more effective than,
surgery. In fact with back
pain, exercise can be as effec-
tive as painkillers. If exercise
is something you might con-
sider trying, see a local expert
and get set up on the right
path.
Additional resources are
linked with the online ver-
sion of this column at www.
nuggetnews.com.
Learn how
to fix your
bike at
free class
If you ride a bike, at some
point, you’re going to have to
fix it.
Blazin Saddles will host a
free basic bike maintenance
class on Thursday, August
18, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
at their downtown Sisters
shop.
Learn how to fix a flat,
as well as the basics of bike
maintenance and mechanics.
Beverages and snacks pro-
vided. All ages are welcome.
Limited to 15 people; sign
up at the shop located at 413
W. Hood Ave. or call 541-
719-1213 to reserve a spot.
H O L I S T I C H E A LT H C A R E
Acupuncture • Chinese Herbal Medicine
• Women’s health
• Mental/emotional
• Muscular/skeletal
• Lyme disease
Si
20 nce
01
Kevin R. Pett, PhD
541-640-9788 • 392 E. Main Ave.
www.acuherbology.org
Fit Your Bike With Your Body
Brace yourself
for summer!
$300
$30 Discount
– We can straighten ‘em out –
Bike Fits help
both casual & active riders
Sisters Clinic
625 N. Arrowleaf Trail
In the Ray’s Shopping Center
541-588-6848
When to schedule a bike fi tting?
• A New Bike
• Feeling Pain or Discomfort
• Your Seat Hurts
• Painful Knees
A bike fi t may be covered by health insurance. For information, give us a call.
Gift
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Avaigabge!
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541-549-DENT
— 541-549-3368 —
332 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters
Smile by Hailee and
The Brace P Place!
541-382-0410
54
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www.CentralOregonBracePlace.com
Hope for a child. Change for a nation.
Send her back to school
with confi dence…
And treat yoursegf, too!
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to make an appointment.
There are a million perfectly understandable reasons not to help.
Thankfully, love trumps them all.
Massage cgasses begin September 26th
Esthetics cgasses begin January 3rd
$37 a month. All the difference in the world. Sponsor a child with a local organization at
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This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper.