Tips for Running in the Heat
August weather typically means hot sticky days that can make it difficult to take part in your daily runs. In some cases, the heat can even be dangerous. Here are a few tips to stay cool and safe during your hot weather runs.
- Wear light clothing: Dr. Cool shirts are a must have for warm weather runs! These chemical-free cooling shirts will keep you cool and comfortable during some of the hottest days so you can perform your best. What’s even better is that since they’re chemical-free the cooling benefits will never wash out.
- Hydrate: Make sure you are drinking plenty of water before and after your run so that your body can function properly and keep you cool. Dehydration effects your body in many ways, and can cause a lack of energy, so it’s important to drink lots of water on hot days.
- Run in the morning or evening: schedule your runs for early in the morning or later in the evening when the sun isn’t as strong and temperatures are cooler. If the only time you can run is during the heat of the day, make sure to run in the shade!
- Run near water: If you are lucky enough to live by the ocean, lake or river move your run along the water. Besides having lovely views, temperatures tend to be cooler by bodies of water.
- Sun screen: If you are running in the sun, always remember to protect your skin from sunburns. Applying sunscreen keeps your skin safe. Besides cooling, Dr. Cool apparel also contains UPF protection. We told you our cooling shirts are a must have for summer activities!
- Wear a hat: The top of your head is a big temperature regulator (hence why you wear hats in the winter to keep heat in). This works as well in the summer if you are using a cooling hat, such as the Dr. Cool cooling hats. Besides using your sweat to keep you cool, hats also catch sweat so that it stays out of your face, and provides you with shade and protection from the sun.
- Slow down: Warmer weather can slow your pace. So don’t fight it, slow down and enjoy your run!
Most importantly, have fun and listen to your body. If it is too hot out or you begin to feel sick, stop! Now go enjoy the summer and run cool!
Using Ice to Prevent Injuries
We tend to reach for the ice wrap after an injury has already occurred, but wouldn’t it be great if you could prevent that injury from the start? Many athletes don’t wait for the injury to occur to start icing. Icing after intense runs or workouts helps fight inflammation and can speed recovery up. This is ideal for anyone training for a big race or competition. Going from a half to a full marathon? Going from a 5K to a 10K? Or just started CrossFit and it feels like your muscles are actually mad at you? Icing is guaranteed to speed up recovery and decrease soreness.
Another great trick to post-workout is using compression. Research has shown that compression can increase lactic-acid and heart rate recovery. Compression regulates your blood flow to help you recover and keep running at your best.
For most of us though, dropping into an ice bath is a little too much – even after leg day. Using Dr. Cool Wraps combines the ice and compression for an all in one recovery tool. Combining both rescues your muscles from hours of soreness and allows you to continue your training day in and day out. Ice is great to help cure an injury, but all runners can agree that we’d much rather prevent an injury before it even happens. Luckily, Dr. Cool Wraps combines the recovery power of ice and compression all into one wrap for simplicity and your convenience! Run on!
Top Running Injuries: Treating Ankles and Knees with Ice Wraps
It's widely established that running is one of the most injury-prone sports humans can endure. Large amounts of stress are put on certain parts of a runner's body when they're active, mainly around the knees and ankles. Couple that with the studies that show 65% of all runners will be injured at some point during any given year, and it's easy to see why recovery and injury prevention are necessary for those who run.
Most common running injuries are a consequence of overuse or improper training. In fact, about half of all running injuries are often reoccurring, with the same four culprits often being to blame. We took a look at the most common ailments that plague both experienced and amateur runners, and what you should do to prevent yourself from falling victim to one of these painful problems.
1. Runner's Knee
Also known as "patellofemoral pain syndrome," runner's knee is an irritation that occurs between the kneecap and thigh bone, caused by too much stress being put on the knee. Improperly conditioned quads or hamstrings can often lead to runner's knee, and women are especially susceptible to the injury.
The pain felt from runner's knee occurs directly on or behind the kneecap, and can form as a sharp, shooting pain or a dull and aching pain. The pain typically subsides when a runner is active, only to return later.
The best treatment for runner's knee is patience and preventative care. A Dr. Cool 4” ice wrap can help soothe the irritation felt from the injury, but can also be useful in preventing future flare-ups. It's also important to know your limits if you experience runner's knee—try running on softer surfaces for shorter amounts of time, making sure not to increase your running time or intensity by more than 10%. Stretching and strengthening are also key in preventing injuries like this one.
2. Achilles Tendinitis
Tendinitis is a word that runners never like to hear. Achilles tendinitis occurs when the Achilles tendon becomes inflamed due to overuse. Add that with the fact that the Achilles tendon typically sees little blood flow, and you have a nagging injury that can cause unwanted pain for a considerable amount of time. Tight calf muscles are the most common causes of Achilles tendinitis, and improper stretching of lower leg muscles can make those problems worse.
Like all common running injuries, the best thing you can do to limit the effects of Achilles tendinitis is to stop yourself from doing too much all at once. Overtraining can cause the injury to become painful and limit your ability to stay active. Additionally, since Achilles tendinitis is an inflammation, cold compression and elevation can help your recovery efforts.
3. Plantar Fasciitis
A closely related injury to Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciitis is also an inflammation that occurs around the foot. This injury occurs at the bottom of the heel, and can manifest as a sharp, stabbing pain. Poorly-conditioned foot muscles and calves can often be the culprit when it comes to plantar fasciitis, but things can become especially worse with inadequate footwear. Runners who use old running shoes could find themselves susceptible to the injury if they don't immediately get a fresh equipment.
Strengthening and conditioning is the best way to counter act plantar fasciitis. Taking pressure off the plantar fascia by improving foot and calf strength will help prevent future inflammations. For quick relief, rolling your feet on a golf ball or resting a bit with a Dr. Cool 3” ice wraps are good solutions!
4. IT Band Syndrome
The iliotibial band, or IT band, is a strip of fibers that connects the lateral glute muscles to the shin bone, running along the outside of the knee. With the repetitive bending of the knees during running, it can be very easy for the IT band to experience a lot of strain and become inflamed. This often results in soreness or sharp pains felt on the outside of the knee.
The trick in preventing IT band syndrome is to eliminate tightness and conduct a proper amount of strengthening. When inflamed, it can be difficult to run due to the pain—because of this, runners should try cross-training if their symptoms flare-up. Use ice compression wraps to minimize swelling and recover faster.
Preventing these common running injuries takes a lot of preparation, patience, and proper care. While Dr. Cool ankle and knee ice wraps are perfect for recovering from strains and sprains suffered by runners, they can also be used as a preventative measure. Simply freeze the wraps and apply them to your knees, ankles, or feet to provide ice and compression! Make a habit out of this after every workout, and your chances of avoiding one of these nagging injuries will be significantly reduced!
National MS Awareness Month: Staying Active with Multiple Sclerosis
For many, March simply means the end of winter, the height of college basketball season, or the beginning of Major League Baseball. However, our third month of the year is also used to commemorate certain occasions like National Women's History Month, or bring awareness to important issues like National MS Awareness Month.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder that affects the central nervous system. It can directly affect an individual's ability to navigate through daily life, and impacts those who have it on a physical, mental, and emotional level.
While there are treatments and therapies designed to limit the effects of the disease, there is no known cure, which makes National MS Awareness Month so important to the people who live with it and their families.
While many people find ways to cope with the effects of MS in everyday life, trying to stay active while having the disease presents a different challenge. As the nervous system is affected by MS, it can be difficult to maintain sufficient energy levels, body temperature, and even body movement in general. While Dr. Cool's chemical-free cooling products can help solve some of the overheating issues that athletes with MS deal with, they still face challenges when trying to do the things they love.
However, there are many people with MS who choose not to give up. They realize their challenges and push their limits, and even though they have MS, they refuse to let it stop them. At Dr. Cool, we're incredibly honored to have three such people on our team of ambassadors.
Runners Marisol Beigert and Cheryl Hile, along with mountain biker Lindy Haaglund all battle multiple sclerosis. This March, for National MS Awareness and Education month, we sought their help in understanding what life is like as an athlete with MS, and how they resolve themselves to accomplish their goals while dealing with the disease's effects.
Stay tuned for more posts with insights from Cheryl, Lindy, and Marisol, as we celebrate our ambassadors and all others who find the strength to overcome their multiple sclerosis diagnosis!
Knee Injury Treatment and Prevention!
Knee injuries are some of the most dreaded injuries to an athlete. From runners’ knee to ACL or MCL injuries, the results can be devastating to any workout regimen. Even more daunting is when these injuries begin to interrupt your everyday life. It is extremely important to take care of your knees. Whether you are treating an injury or preventing injuries, check out these tips to make sure your knees are always walk, run, jump, and climb ready!
Many of us ignore injuries and take the ‘walk it off’ approach, but this can aggravate a knee injury and turn something small into a bigger problem, if the right amount of rest isn’t given. Luckily, most injuries can be treated by the R.I.C.E. method! For minor injuries that don’t require a doctor’s visit, combine Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation to help ease pain and heal an injury. Luckily, Dr. Cool ice wraps provide ice and compression therapy in one convenient, flexible, chemical-free ice wrap that goes everywhere you go! The ice wraps are available in three sizes to work on any body part, and come in 11 fun colors.
Keeping your body healthy and injury free means continuing a constant balance between pushing forward and not pushing too hard. Many athletes neglect important steps such as warming up before a workout or stretching after a workout. Also paying attention to the wear and tear of shoes and keeping them up to date. Try these tips to avoiding injuries.
- Do some pre-season conditioning for your sport or activity. Get strong. Become flexible.
- Make training changes gradually instead of all at once.
- Always warm up. Between 5-10 minutes of light cardio and stretching.
- Start your first practices or workouts gently and slowly. Work up gradually to more aggressive play or training.
- Use proper equipment in good condition.
- Learn and practice good technique.
We can’t stress the importance of taking care of injuries and taking steps in the future to avoid them. Ignoring minor injuries often turn into much larger ailments that can persists for years. Be kind to your body and remember Dr. Cool Wraps have you covered for all of your recovery needs!
Don't Let Injuries Stop You
The alarm goes off, you lace up and you’re heading out for your morning run, like you do every morning. You’ve got a good tempo going, playlist on point but then something happens! The dreaded bump in the road, stray twig or pot hole! Doesn’t matter, you rolled your ankle and now you are 2 miles away from your house and stumble all the way back home.
We’ve all been there. In fact, 25,000 Americans suffer from an ankle sprain everyday. It happens at the gym, running outside, during that oddly intense yoga class or even at work. What do you normally do after that? Head for your usual injury wrap concoction, a mix of compression wraps and ice packs to help get the swelling down and reduce the pain. Ice packs can be messy and keep you in one place. On average, injuries take 7.3 days of recovery with ice and 10.2 days of rest without ice. This can be a huge problem for the on the go people.
We made Dr. Cool Wraps to make life easier by combining ice and compression. You still may need to take some days off, but Dr. Cool Wraps makes the recovery process easier and can even go anywhere you go! Let’s face it, we can’t stop the injuries from happening, but with Dr. Cool Wraps, we can take the hassle out and help you stay moving!
Click below to see some interesting statistics from Dr. Cool
How To Treat An Ankle Sprain - Dr. Cool House Calls
The ankle sprain is one of the most common injuries occurred by both athletes and non-athletes alike. According to the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society, there are 25,000 ankle sprains a day. That's a lot of swelling! Ankle sprains are caused by an unnatural twist of the ankle due to a strange placement of the foot, uneven ground or a large amount of weight onto the joint. This means someone can get an ankle sprain playing a sport or running and they can also happen when just getting out of bed if they step wrong.
When the injury occurs, the tissue surrounding the joint becomes inflamed and causes swelling around the ankle. A person usually experiences pain as well in the sprained joint but the severity can vary depending on how bad the sprain is. Pain can worsen when pressure is put onto the joint, such as standing or walking on the injured ankle. If pain becomes unbearable crutches may be used to relieve the pressure and help rest the ankle.
Rest, ice, compression and elevation (R.I.C.E) are the best ways to treat a sprained ankle. Resting the ankle gives it time to heal and prevents any further injury while the ice reduces the swelling of the joint. Compression and Elevation also aid in reducing inflammation in the joint and compression provides extra support for the ankle. This means you should stay off your foot for approximately 72 hours or more, depending on the severity of the sprain. If you continue to walk on the injured ankle, the swelling and inflammation will not reduce. After swelling and inflammation have gone down, gradually increase activity on the ankle to prepare for daily use. The best ways to prevent ankle sprains are to wear the proper shoes for every activity and to keep your ankle strong and flexible. Also, make sure any playing field is cleared of anything that could cause injury, such as rocks or ditches in the ground.
View our video below of how to treat a sprained ankle with our small 3" Dr. Cool Wrap
How To Treat Carpal Tunnel - Dr. Cool House Calls
Carpal Tunnel syndrome is a chronic condition that causes pain in the wrists due to the compression on an important nerve called the median nerve. This nerve runs through the wrist up the forearm. The carpal tunnel houses this nerve along with other tendons. The compression comes from the inflammation of this tunnel, squeezing what is inside. This can cause mild discomfort to extreme pain for many people and is often associated with excessive typing, working with vibrating tools or sleeping with a flexed wrist.
There are many potential problems including issues with the tunnel itself. For example, some people have smaller tunnels constricting the nerve and tendons. Trauma or injury to the area can also be the cause for swelling, and in some cases there is no exact cause to be found which can cause recovery problems. Symptoms can begin with burning or tingling in the wrist or fingers and then can increasingly intensify. The pain can vary from case to case. Some people have swelling in the fingers or can have the pain run up their arms. Others find as it increases they can have decreased grip and a difficult time holding things.
It is best to learn how to treat carpal tunnel as early as possible to hopefully stop the pain and discomfort from increasing. One common way to treat it is simply by using ice and compression to help reduce swelling and therefore pain. A wrist brace or wrap can be wore during sleep or during the activity that causes the pain. Also, performing exercises to stretch and strengthen the area, guided under a therapist who specializes in physical impairments can help take care of the problem. In some chronic cases, surgical procedures are necessary to reduce the restriction in the carpal tunnel.
The most important thing one can do is to not ignore the problem and treat it early!
Our small 3" Dr.Cool Wrap is an easy way to help treat carpal tunnel.
How To Treat Shin Splints - Dr. Cool House Calls
Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome, more commonly known as Shin Splints, is known and dreaded by many athletes. This syndrome most commonly affects runners and dancers alike. It is caused by repetitive stress put on the shins from running and other high impact movements. Shin splints can also be a common outcome caused by wearing bad shoes, running on hard surfaces, doing a lot of stop-and-go movement, or having flat feet. Symptoms of Shin Splints consist of tenderness, soreness or pain along the inner portion of your lower leg; in serious cases, inflammation and extreme discomfort may occur.
Though shin splints are the bane of existence in many athletes, they can be treated fairly simply. Rest or limited activity along with ice and compression can mitigate symptoms. If needed, taking Ibuprofen can also help with pain and doubles as an anti-inflammatory to reduce swelling.
There are a multitude of ways you can prevent shin splints! First, increase your workouts and their intensity gradually. Big jumps in intensity can cause too much stress on your joints and ligaments. Always remember to strengthen and stretch! Tight calves and weak hips make more work for the shins, but if they are flexible and strong they will support them. Finally, invest in good shoes and replace old worn ones, and if you have flat feet consider inserts. There are quite a few running shoe stores who work with customers on identifying the correct shoes based on their own gait and pronation.
Watch the video below to see how to treat shin splints with our 4" Medium Dr.Cool Wrap.
Train smart and you’ll go further!
How To Treat Runner's Knee - Dr. Cool House Calls
We are continuing with our blog series this week! For our 2nd installment of injury specific ailments we will be talking about Runner's Knee!
Runner's Knee a.k.a. Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is one of the more common injuries among runners. It isn’t too detrimental to your overall health, however, it can cause a lot of pain and remain a nuisance to your every day running routine. Runner’s Knee can be caused by a number of things. Issues with the bio-mechanics of your body, such as a misalignment or a wide angle from the hips to knees (common cause for women), tight hamstrings or weak thigh muscles that don’t offer enough support to the knee can cause damage; runner’s knee can also just be caused by the daily wear and tear of running.
This level of injury can be taken care of by resting with a slow increase of exertion and intensity. This means, either stop running completely or reduce running mileage and intensity and slowly adding it back into your workout routine. Doing this will give your knees time to rest and recover. Along with rest, you should do weight training exercises to strengthen your hamstrings, thighs and hip flexors. This will add strength and support to your knees. Finally, after strengthening your muscles it is imperative to stretch out the muscles. Foam rollers also work wonders for working out those kinks!
Doing all of these things for about a month (depending on pain) will help immensely and you’ll be back to running in no time! Of course all of this can take some time and the pain won’t go away immediately. To really relieve pain add ice and compression after your runs/workouts to reduce any inflammation and relieve pain. 15 to 20 minutes of compression and ice from a Dr.Cool Wrap works great!
Pick up a 4" Medium Dr. Cool Wrap to treat runner's knee and relieve the pain.
See Part 1 of our injury specific blog series about How To Treat Plantar Faciitis!
The New R.I.C.E. Method
If you're an athlete, physical trainer or even just injury prone, surely you have heard of the infamous R.I.C.E. method.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
4 magically descriptive instructions that help facilitate injury recovery. For years, doctors and other professionals have been telling you - "Take it easy, put an ice pack on your injury, wrap it with an Ace Bandage and put it up on a pillow."
Sure the R.I.C.E. acronym made it easy to remember all of those steps, but what if you could make it easier than that? What if you could cut one of those extra steps out by combining them?
Having a Recovery-On-The-Go wrap certainly makes it easier to combine ice and compression at the same time. The only thing you have to rest is your anxiety about sitting still! You now have the freedom to elevate your mobility!
Now that a lot of you have had the chance to experience Dr. Cool Recovery-On-The-Go wraps first hand (or ankle, or knee!) what are some of YOUR recovery stories with Dr. Cool? Tell us in the comments section!
Ready-Set-Go!