Filed under: General Health
Yes it’s true, I broke part of my tibia a little over a week ago. I played in a rugby tournament with some old college buddies and on the last play of the last game I got tackled (though not before I passed the ball off and we scored as time as expired to have a chance to tie. Alas we missed the kick.) and simply rolled my ankle inwards towards the ground, breaking part of my tibia.
Other than breaking my nose in practice, and subsequently re-breaking it two weeks later in a game, I have never been injured playing rugby. Bruised and battered yes, but never injured. Maybe at 28 I am past my prime! Probably so when it is only the second time I play in 4 years!
Anyway, apparently this injury is quite rare. 90% of the time you roll your ankle you roll it the other way, with the outside of your ankle going towards the ground, ending up in a sprain. I did this a bunch of times in high school soccer. This was different. After I got tackled I was able to walk off the field, but just a little while later after icing the ankle it stiffened up to the point that I could no longer walk.
After getting assessed by the trainer she was pretty sure I had broken the bottom part of my tibia. Apparently the ligament that attaches your tibia to your calcaneus (aka your heel), known as the tibiocalcaneal ligament, is so damn strong that instead of spraining, it simply breaks your tibia where it attaches. Awesome.
The white ligament going from your tibia to your calcaneus (heel)
Right now I am in a sweet cast with a walking boot. Fortunately I am able to walk about pretty well, and will be in this get up for 2 more weeks. From there we re-assess and see if I can go to a walking boot only or need surgery. Apparently 1 in 6 of these breaks don’t heal properly and require surgery, but I am young and healthy and this is less likely for me.
So, moving forward I will be discussing my nutrition and supplement strategies to help facilitate healing as well my training while I am injured. I will also be posting up some sweet vids of my training with a cast on, so be prepared!
Filed under: General Health
I have written before about the importance of air quality to your health (Breathing Green, Indoor Air Pollution, Dangerous Dryer Sheets). I recently came across a really cool tool to learn about the air quality for where you live.
I was reading my UMaine Today magazine, which highlights interesting research being done at the University (alas they haven’t been too interested in The Effects of Ecosystem Management on Wheat Composition), and came across 10Green.org.
Your city gets an air quality score from 1-10, the higher the number the better. It is impossible for any city to get a 9 or a 10 because global greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are at such high levels everywhere. However a place like Seattle scores a 7, which is great. A place like Auburn, Maine (where I live) scores a 5, which is decent. A place like LA scores a 3, which sucks.
The website not only provides a score, but it provides an explanation as to its score as well possible negative health consequences from each of the 10 hazardous pollutants it uses to calculate air quality.
The goal of the website is to provide people with real-time information. Too much of the focus of climate change research and advocacy has looked at what will happen 50 years from now. That is a hard concept for people to worry about, because it is not right now. This score is about right now, and having that knowledge to protect your health (and that of the environment) immediately.
There is a lot you can do even if your local air quality is substandard. Get some HEPA filters for your home. Get some plants for your home (I cover options on both of those on my Indoor Air Pollution post). Plant some trees and greenery around your house. Move to the suburbs where there is less traffic and more trees. Decrease exposure to fragrances and strongly scented items.
Check out 10Green.org and let me know what you think!
I also wanted to mention that Mike Robertson is putting on his annual Midwest Performance Enhancement Seminar at his facility in Indy. It is chock full of awesome presenters, including MR himself, Bill Hartman, Lee Taft, and Dan John to name a few. If interested, definitely check it out.
Posted on July 31st, 2012 by Brian St. Pierre
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