My Bone Bruise Experience
Author: Julie Donnelly, LMT – The Pain Relief Expert
Editor: Dr. Steve Chaney
August is here and it’s hot in Florida, but that’s why we have air conditioning in our homes, offices, and cars…so that’s okay. Meanwhile, we can enjoy outdoor sports in the morning, or later in the afternoon after the sun starts to go down. Or, if you like sunning yourself at the beach, just avoid the strongest sun in the early afternoon.
In late May and June, I spent a good bit of time up north. In May I was in New York for my granddaughter’s college graduation, and in mid-June I was invited to Montreal to help a group of people who had tight muscles and long-standing pain.
As you probably know, I love sharing my work. I think one of the most important things I do is teaching people how to do self-treatments, so they know how to stop pain FAST! I was able to do that in Montreal and it was fulfilling for me, and certainly beneficial for the people I worked with. I’d love to teach all over the USA, and the world! Hopefully this trip was just the first of many!
In July I had several conversations with people about bone bruises. It’s always interesting how a topic I had already planned on discussing ends up being a part of conversations with clients. I guess it’s just confirmation that this is an important topic.
My Bone Bruise Experience
Several years ago, I was in Hawaii visiting friends. I used to live in Honolulu, so I had a lot of friends I wanted to see. I set out walking to visit one and by the end of the day I had walked at least seven miles all over town vising different friends. That was fun, but the problem was, I was in flip-flops.
It ended up being a two-fold problem since every step I took my toes would curl down to hold on my flip-flops. This overstrained the muscles that are underneath and next to the Achilles tendon. But that’s another story for another time.
As I stepped off a curb my left heel hit the curb and my heel crashed down onto the road. I hit it so hard I thought I had to have broken it. At the minimum I thought I had cracked the bone. Limping I headed back to my friend’s house and put ice on my foot.
The pain never lessened so I went for an x-ray. The x-ray showed it wasn’t cracked or broken and I was told it would just heal. Nice thought. Months passed, I couldn’t put any weight on my heel, and nothing helped it.
It didn’t matter if I used ice or heat, lifted my leg up onto a chair or had my foot on the floor. Cushions in my shoe didn’t help, neither did rubbing it. The ache went all the way up my leg and into my hip, so I was limping because of my foot, and I was limping because of hip pain. Yikes!
That’s when I learned about bone bruises.
Dealing With A Bone Bruise
Google, who knows everything, wasn’t much help. It told me that “a bone bruise is a traumatic injury” – you think!!
Then it said:
“A bone bruise causes blood and fluid to build up in and around your injured bone: You may have symptoms such as pain, swelling, and a change in color of the injured area.
Most bone bruises eventually heal without any problems. If your bone bruise is very large, your body may have trouble getting blood flow back to the area.”
In any case, I had 3 different x-rays because I couldn’t believe you could have this much pain without having a broken bone. All of them showed that the bone was definitely not broken.
It took a full year for the pain to stop!
So, I learned two lessons…
1 – Don’t do anything that can bruise a bone.
2 – If I do get a bone bruise, just realize it will really hurt for a long time, nothing works to ease the pain, and eventually it will just go away.
It’s pretty hard to live life and never do anything that could bruise a bone, so just do your best. It’s one of the reasons I looked for the Perfect Ball that I use when I teach clients how to relieve muscle spasms. I give a Perfect Ball to every client who comes to my office or buys one of my books since I want them to have a great ball that won’t bruise the bone.
One important suggestion is to never use a baseball, golf ball (on your arch), or lacrosse ball, as these can easily cause a bone bruise.
Here’s hoping you never have a bad bone bruise, but if you do, chin up and know it will eventually heal.
Coming Next Month
The summer is a great time for swimming! It’s hot out and swimming refreshes the body, plus it’s a wonderful form of exercise.
The muscles of the shoulder get strained if you are swimming for extended lengths of time, so that will be our topic of the month.
Treat Yourself To Pain-Free Living
Not only is this the name of my self-treatment book, it’s also a wonderful way to live…..pain-free!
The book has:
*Lots of information about “why” and “how” muscles cause pain
*Over 200 pictures showing you how to release tight muscles
*Simple instructions for treating each muscle
For only $47 (plus S&H) you can have direction to find and self-treat aches and pains from your head to your feet! It’s easy-to-read and easy-to-do. You don’t need to stay in pain when you can Treat Yourself to Pain-Free Living.
Wishing you well,
Julie Donnelly
www.FlexibleAthlete.com
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.