2015

Do you have a soft tissue injury? Active Recovery Is The Answer

Do you have a soft tissue injury? Active Recovery Is The Answer
[caption id="attachment_19728" align="alignright" width="400"]negligent homicide yes or no...if a person’s lack of action causes their otherwise perfectly healthy cells to needlessly die, said person is indefensibly guilty of negligent homicide of their own cells.[/caption]

You roll your ankle. Some cells die instantly. Many others are doomed to the same fate. 1

This process of selective elimination is known as primary cellular death and there is nothing that you or anyone else can do to prevent or reverse the carnage.*

Next, assuming that you remain fundamentally still ( which is clearly out of sync with the basic principles of tissue preservation and regeneration and functional circulation ), the area around your ankle will begin to unnecessarily swell, the pressure will build, and the sensation of pain will increase. Within hours normal weight-bearing activities like standing and walking will become impractical and simply wiggling your toes will likely elevate your perception of discomfort.

Secondary Cellular Death ” Is Actually Negligent Homicide


Soon, otherwise perfectly healthy local cells that were totally unaffected by the initial trauma will die from suffocation and disuse because the congestion in the area will prevent the necessary flow of oxygen, nourishment and waste, 1 and disuse will literally cause the musculoskeletal system to self-destruct (atrophy).

Yes, I said “die.”

When something that was previously alive suffocates or irretrievably “atrophies” it is no longer alive… which means that it is dead. Collectively this is known (albeit incorrectly) as secondary cellular death and unlike primary cellular death, it is mostly preventable .

Yes, I said “preventable.”

lack of action is negligent homicide

If you want to stop the unnecessary killing of these otherwise perfectly healthy cells, simply follow the ARITA(Active Recovery Is The Answer) protocol


In this case, as a place to start, think ankle pumps. Done correctly and for a long enough period of time (see example 3 ), the muscle activation will not only decongest the area via your lymphatic drainage system (assuaging the risk of suffocation), it will avert, or at least significantly minimize, the disuse atrophy, increase local blood flow, prod the up-regulation of the production of stem and blood cells, stimulate the muscles to produce and release the myokines that mediate the tissue regeneration process (which includes but is not limited to the growth of both new blood vessels (angiogenesis) and mitochondria (mitochondrial biogenesis)), and ultimately reorganize the repaired tissue. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

[tweet_box design="box_12"]Cells that are otherwise perfectly healthy do not die as a result of some divinely-inspired preprogramed inescapable injury-driven master plan[/tweet_box]

Will ARITA prevent all cell death caused by suffocation and disuse?


I don’t know and frankly I don’t care.

What I do know is this: the charade is over and it’s time to rewrite the textbooks and amend related clinical expectations.

The whole idea of “secondary cellular death” following musculoskeletal damage is patently false. Cells that are otherwise perfectly healthy do not die as a result of some divinely-inspired preprogramed inescapable injury-driven master plan. They die (mostly) unnecessarily from suffocation and disuse.

In other words, if a person’s lack of action causes their otherwise perfectly healthy cells to needlessly die, said person is indefensibly guilty of negligent homicide of their own cells.

[box type="info" align="aligncenter" class="" width=""]For those who are not up to date on the topic, icing damaged tissue does not prevent the inevitable (e.g. once the tissue rewarms the “slaughter” will resume). More importantly, icing not only does not help, it actually delays the healing process, causes additional damage, increases swelling and shuts of the signals that alert you to harmful movement. 2 Even the godfather of the “ice age” (Gabe Mirkin, MD, the man that literally invented the R.I.C.E. protocol) has publicly acknowledged that he was wrong about ice and no longer recommends using it.[/box]

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Author Bio:


Gary ReinlGary Reinl is the author of ICED! The Illusionary Treatment Option: Learn the Fascinating Story, Scientific Breakdown, Alternative, & How To Lead Others Out Of The Ice Age

Gary has spent over forty years in the sports-medicine field, with diverse experiences ranging from training professional athletes to pioneering the field of strength-building for women during the pregnancy year to developing rehabilitation programs for injured workers.

Additionally, his ground-breaking senior strength-building protocol has now been implemented in more than 1,000 senior living facilities. Gary has authored two previous books, Making Mama Fit [Leisure Press, 1983] and the 2007 "fat loss" book Get Stronger, Feel Younger [Rodale Press].

Gary lives in Henderson, Nevada, with his wife, Susan. He has two grown children, Mandy and Casey, and three grandchildren, Harper, Hendrick, and Eleuthera.

Twitter: @TheAntiIceMan

Website: GaryReinl.com

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1.) Mark A. Merrick., Secondary Injury After Musculoskeletal Trauma: A Review and Update. Athletic Training Division, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 J Athl Train. 2002 Apr-Jun; 37(2): 209–217.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC164347/#B6

2.) Gary Reinl (Author), Dr. Kelly Starrett (Foreword), Gabe Mirkin M.D. (Foreword)., Iced!: The Illusionary Treatment Option. October 2014, http://www.garyreinl.com/

3.) G. Reinl, N. DiNubile, C. Reinl., Disuse: Wasting away in “Margaritaville”  http://www.garyreinl.com/articles/Disuse.pdf

4.) Blum, K., Ho, C. K., Chen, A. L., Fulton, M., Fulton, B., Westcott, W., Reinl, G., Braverman, E. R, Dinubile, N., Chen, T. J., The H-Wave® device induces no dependent augmented microcirculation and angiogenesis, providing both analgesia and tissue healing in sports injuries. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston Salem, NC, 27157, USA. Phys Sportsmed. 2008 Dec;36(1):103-14. doi: 10.3810/psm.2008.12.18. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20048478

5.) Buckwalter JA1, Grodzinsky AJ., Loading of healing bone, fibrous tissue, and muscle: implications for orthopaedic practice. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 1999 Sep-Oct;7(5):291-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10504356

6.) J. M. Baker*, Michael De Lisio* andGianni Parise*,†,1, *Department of Kinesiology and †Department of Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Endurance exercise training promotes medullary hematopoiesis. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology http://m.fasebj.org/content/25/12/4348

7.) Smith, T. L., Callahan, M. F., Blum, K., Dinubile, N., Chen, T. J., Waite, R. L., H-Wave® effects on blood flow and angiogenesis in longitudinal studies in rats. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. J Surg Orthop Adv. 2011 Winter;20(4):255-9. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22381420

8.) Sandri, M., Lin, J., Handschin, C., Yang, W., Arany, Z. P., Lecker, S. H., Goldberg, A. L., Spiegelman, B. M., PGC-1alpha protects skeletal muscle from atrophy by suppressing FoxO3 action and atrophy-specific gene transcription. Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (impact factor: 9.68). 11/2006; 103(44):16260-5. DOI:10.1073/pnas.0607795103. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17053067

9.) Tony Bonvechio, MS, CSCS., De-Iced: the End of the Cold War. Tabata Times,

Additional Suggested Reading

1.) Chinsomboon, J., Ruas, J., Gupta, R. K., Thom, R., Shoag, J., Rowe, G. C., Sawada, N., Raghuram, S., Arany, Z., The transcriptional coactivator PGC-1alpha mediates exercise-induced angiogenesis in skeletal muscle. Cardiovascular Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Dec 15;106(50):21401-6. Epub 2009 Dec 4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19966219

2.) Burr, D. B., Frederickson, R. G., Pavlinch, C., Sickles, M., Burkart, S., Intracast muscle stimulation prevents bone and cartilage deterioration in cast-immobilized rabbits. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1984 Oct;(189):264-78. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6478700

3.) Hoocking, D. C., Titus, P. A., Sumagin, R., Sarelius, I. H., Extracellular matrix fibronectin mechanically couples skeletal muscle contraction with local vasodilation. Integrative Physiology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18032733

4.) Pedersen, B. K., Muscles and their myokines. Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism, Rigshospitalet-Section 7641, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark. J Exp Biol. 2011 Jan 15;214(Pt 2):337-46. doi: 10.1242/jeb.048074. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21177953

5.) Hawke, T. J., Muscle stem cells and exercise training. Muscle stem cells and exercise training. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2005 Apr;33(2):63-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15821426

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