Soft Tissue Healing Advice

I'm a treatment advisor with King Brand, maker of the Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy device. Ask me any questions about healing a soft tissue injury!

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Myths About Healing the Achilles Tendon

Myth #1: It's normal to push through pain during the healing process.

In fact, the pain you feel is there as a reminder from your injured Achilles tendon that you are still hurt, and pushing through that pain may indicate that you're aggravating, or reinjuring your Achilles tendon. If any activity, even walking, causes additional pain, it's best to stop doing that activity, or do less of it when possible. An increase in pain indicates inflammation, so get some cold therapy on to the spot where your pain is the worst as soon as possible. Pushing through the pain can slow down your recovery and even reverse it - respect the pain, and your healing will progress.

Myth #2: Cortisone shots will help you heal

In fact, cortisone may relieve your pain temporarily, but it almost always comes back - and cortisone does not help you to heal. Repeated cortisone shots can actually cause the tissue to thin over time, and they are associated with unfortunate side effects like tendon rupture, skin irritation, and nerve damage. Sometimes cortisone shots are necessary to relieve extreme pain, but it's best to avoid cortisone if you can.

Myth #3: Surgery is necessary

In fact, surgery should be treated as a last resort. Given enough rest, time, and proper treatment, many Achilles injuries can heal on their own. Surgery often causes tissue loss, which can lead to more pain and injury in the future. Surgery is sometimes necessary in the case of a fully ruptured tendon, but conditions such as a partially torn Achilles tendon, or tendonitis, can heal and repair over time.

King Brand Healthcare Products will help

To speed up your recovery and to get the best, most complete healing, use the ColdCure and the BFST from King Brand Healthcare Products. These two FDA-approved, medical devices are designed to work in combination to heal the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

The ColdCure comes with three reusable gel packs that should be stored in the fridge or freezer, ensuring that you always have a freshly cold gel pack ready to go. The ColdCure will manage your pain, swelling, and inflammation beautifully with no harmful side effects like what you might experience from using painkillers.

The BFST plugs into the wall during its twenty minute treatments, and it's ideal to use it three to four times daily. It produces electromagnetic energy, which increases your circulation over time, and leads to healing the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the entire area that you treat. With time, the BFST can heal a partially torn Achilles tendon, or a case of Achilles tendonitis. The treatments are very relaxing - it produces a gentle warmth during therapy. The increase in blood flow helps to keep your muscles strong and healthy while you are resting and recovering.

The recipe to heal an injured Achilles tendon is an easy one to follow. Give it plenty of rest, allow enough time for your injury to fully heal, and use the ColdCure and the BFST to manage your pain and speed up the healing process, and you can heal your hurt Achilles tendon without the need for surgery.

Learn more at the link below!

http://kingbrand.com/Achilles_Treatment_Myths.php?REF=2160PV882.1522

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Facts About Healing Achilles Injuries

If you've injured your Achilles, wading through the sea of misinformation about how to treat it can be overwhelming. Whether you've recently been injured or you've been dealing with a more chronic injury that just doesn't seem to improve, it is possible to heal an injured Achilles tendon without having surgery.

Avoid Reinjury for a Quicker Recovery

When recovering from a soft tissue injury, it can feel as though you're taking one step forward and two steps back with your healing progress. This is due to getting reinjured. By pushing through pain during exercise, or not resting enough to allow the injury to make healing progress, reinjury can occur, which extends your healing time. Get ahead of reinjury by resting as much as possible, using cold therapy to manage inflammation, pain, and swelling, and by respecting the pain signals that your injury sends you.

Cold Therapy - Helpful Throughout Recovery

You can use cold therapy all throughout your recovery in order to reduce swelling, inflammation, and pain. The less inflammation that is present, the easier for the Achilles tendon to heal. The ColdCure wrap made by King Brand Healthcare Products is ideal to treat an injured Achilles - it conforms perfectly to the area that hurts most of your foot and ankle, and the cold compression therapy it provides eases the pain and swelling instantly.

Improved Blood Flow = Healing

It is a fact that blood flow is necessary to heal any injury. The best way to increase blood flow is by using the BFST, a medical device made and sold by King Brand Healthcare Products. The BFST is a comfortable wrap that you wear around your ankle for twenty minutes at a time, three or four times a day. It increases your blood flow gradually over time, and results in healing and strengthening the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the entire area that you treat - healing, and preventing reinjury.

More information:

http://kingbrand.com/Achilles_Injury_Treatment.php?REF=2160PV418.1522

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Causes of Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition that can disrupt your life. Knowing the causes of plantar fasciitis can help you prevent it. Taking steps to protect the health of your feet can save you from a lot of pain over time.

Insoles and orthotics

Having flat feet means that your plantar fascia are more open to damage, which can lead to developing plantar fasciitis. Using arch supports, heel supports, or any kind of orthotics that put upward pressure onto any one part of the foot, risks damaging or irritating your plantar fascia. Avoid insoles or anything that causes additional pain or discomfort.

“Stretching the foot” is not beneficial

You may have seen recommendations for stretches or exercises such as rolling your foot on a tennis ball, step stretches, or doing towel stretches. Your plantar fascia is not actually designed to stretch very much at all, and stretching it can damage or reinjure your tissue. This is also true for massage. If you’re having any pain, rubbing and putting more pressure on to the area can lead to more irritation.

Cortisone does not help you to heal

It’s true that cortisone injections can reduce pain and swelling, but only temporarily. They can also cause a variety of side effects, including skin discoloration, infection, tissue thinning, and even leading to rupturing the plantar fascia. It’s best to avoid cortisone, if possible.

These are only a few of the potential causes of plantar fasciitis. Educate yourself with the facts, and protect your feet from developing plantar fasciitis – you can find more detailed information at the link below.

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Antibiotic Induced Tendonitis

Many people are unaware that a certain type of antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, can be responsible for causing tendon damage, or even tendon rupture. This serious side effect can come on seemingly out of nowhere, and it can be a very painful condition. The good news is, there are ways to prevent and effectively treat antibiotic induced tendonitis.

Not All Antibiotics

Fluoroquinolones are sometimes better known as Cipro or Levaquin. The FDA has required a "black box" warning regarding tendon damage to be included on all fluoroquinolones since 2008, due to increasing evidence that correlates these antibiotics to tendon injury. These antibiotics should be used only as a last resort if other antibiotics have not been effective.

Any tendon can be damaged when taking fluoroquinolones, but the Achilles tendon is particularly at risk - antibiotic induced tendon damage can occur even after you've already stopped taking the drugs. There are a few things you can do preventively to minimize the risk of this painful side effect.

Risk Factors

While taking antibiotics, you should try to minimize your activity level. Being active while taking fluoroquinolones increases your risk of tendon injury or rupture. Lower your activity, and try to do gentler exercises. Non-weight bearing exercise like swimming is better than high impact exercises like running. Use cold therapy following your workout, even if you don't feel any pain - the cold treatment will reduce inflammation and therefore reduce the possibility of injury. If possible, you should also avoid taking corticosteroids while taking antibiotics, because corticosteroids may also weaken or thin your soft tissue.

How To Heal

If you're already dealing with antibiotic induced tendon injury, you need treatment that really works. King Brand makes medical devices that are designed specifically to heal the tendons, muscles, and ligaments. By using these medical devices about three to four times daily, you can heal from tendonitis, tendinosis, or even a torn tendon. Relieve your pain, swelling, and inflammation by using the ColdCure. Then, use the BFST to increase your circulation, thereby healing the soft tissue and relieving the pain.

http://kingbrand.com/Antibiotics-and-Tendon-Injury.php?REF=2160PV822.1522

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Understanding the Healing Process

The way our bodies work when healing is truly amazing. Understanding the healing process can help you in your recovery in many ways. Whether you're dealing with a tear in the muscles, tendons, or ligaments, or even if you're dealing with a more chronic condition like tendonitis or bursitis, your body will do its best to repair itself. Knowing what to expect at each different step of healing can help you prevent getting stuck in a cycle of reinjury, and help you make real, forward moving progress.

Stage I

There are four stages of recovery during the healing process. During the beginning stages of an injury, your body responds to fresh trauma by forming a thin, protective membrane around the injured tissue - this is to contain any damage, stop any bleeding, and begin healing.

Stage II

This is when your body begins to repair the damaged tissue. The body starts to fill in the gaps with new tissue, and this tissue continues growing, on average, for about 4-24 days after you were initially injured. This stage is when your nerves, capillaries, veins, and new tissue in general begin to heal.

Stage III

Stronger tissue begins to form, which closes the wounded area over time. Scars begin to shrink or fade, and this shrinking stage typically occurs when you are three months to a year into the healing process. Because your pain may be gone at this point, it is very common to believe that you have healed during this phase, even though the process is still incomplete.

Stage IV

During this stage, new skin, ligament, muscle, tendon, or cartilage can begin to grow. When this final stage is complete, the wound can be considered fully healed. It will regain the same range of motion and functionality that it had prior to being injured. Any scars will be very faded or gone completely. This stage may take place between 1-2 years after being injured initially.

The Cycle of Reinjury

The reason why some people suffer injuries that take years and years to heal is because of how easy it is to get stuck in a cycle of reinjury. To heal, it is vital to give your body time to rest. Every time you feel pain from your injury as a result of some motion or action, that pain is an indication that your injury is being aggravated. You should never push through the pain - doing so can re-tear your tissue and reset the healing process back to stage 1.

When your pain goes away, you are typically only in stage 2 of the healing process. The pain may be gone, but you are only about 30% healed. Many people believe they are fully healed because their pain is gone, but the tissue has only regained 30% of its strength.

How To Heal

Soft tissue injuries can disrupt every part of your life, and taking an extended amount of time off due to an injury isn't realistic for many people. Use King Brand Healthcare Products to heal as quickly as possible and get back to your life! The BFST increases your circulation and heals the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, speeding up the healing process after you've been injured, or even after you've had surgery. Regular BFST treatments help the tissue to regrow as quickly and healthily as possible.

http://kingbrand.com/Healing-Home.php?REF=2160PV520.1522

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Ankle Ligament Injuries

Ligaments vs. Tendons

Ligaments and tendons are both made up of strong, rope-like tissue that connects to your bones and helps you to move. A tendon is a rope-like tissue that attaches to bone on one end, and the other end connects to your muscles. A ligament is a rope-like tissue that attaches to bone at both ends. When you experience a ligament injury, it can be incredibly painful and difficult to heal - but, recovery is absolutely possible.

Rest is essential for recovery

Part of why ligament injuries take so long to heal is that they often don't get as much rest as they truly need. Did you know that when your pain has mostly gone away and you're feeling better, your ligament is likely only about 30% healed? You shouldn't be doing weight bearing exercise or stretching while you still feel pain from your ankle ligament - in fact, stretching will not help you to heal at all, because the ligaments are not actually supposed to stretch. Wait to start physical therapy or resume weight bearing workouts until you aren't dealing with pain or flare ups any more.

How to heal for good

King Brand Healthcare Products creates FDA-approved, registered medical devices that are designed specifically to heal the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. The ColdCure and the BFST work in combination to relieve pain, and speed up your recovery time. The ColdCure relieves pain, swelling, and inflammation, and then the BFST works by producing electromagnetic energy, which stimulates healthy blood flow and heals the soft tissue. By using these products 3-4 times daily, you can heal your injured ligament and avoid surgery.

http://kingbrand.com/Ankle-Ligament-Injury.php?REF=2160PV694.1522

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Metatarsalgia

What can cause metatarsal injuries?

Metatarsal injuries can be a result of a few different conditions, including a stress fracture, wearing poorly fitting footwear, or even increasing your activity level. With any soft tissue injury, one of the most important things you can do to help yourself heal is rest. Applying cold compression will also be a big help in reducing your pain and inflammation.

Metatarsalgia is most commonly felt as pain and inflammation in the ball of the foot, otherwise known as the spot on your foot between the toes and the arch of the foot. For those of us who may have work, or other obligations, it can be difficult to take enough time to rest, and this can make your healing progress very slow going. It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of reinjury because walking puts pressure on the metatarsals, and keeps your injury inflamed and aggravated.

What can help?

If you have to keep moving while you are dealing with a metatarsal injury, King Brand Healthcare Products are the best solution to speed up your healing process. These hospital grade, FDA-approved products are proven to heal the soft tissue and reduce your pain. One of the most important things you can do to prevent aggravating your metatarsal injury more is to use KB Tape to support your foot during the day, and even during sleep if you tend to wake up with pain. This tape has adhesive on one side of it, which helps it to hold the skin together and form an “armor” for your injury, as well as giving you support and stabilization when walking.

The importance of healthy, oxygenated blood flow cannot be understated when it comes to healing completely. King Brand’s medical device, called the BFST (Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy), is designed to increase your circulation by producing electromagnetic energy that stimulates more blood flow. The BFST has helped thousands of people to heal from soft tissue injuries, and by using it 3-4 times a day for 20 minutes each time, it can heal metatarsalgia and help you get your life and normal activities back.

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Haglund's Deformity

What causes Haglund’s Deformity?

Haglund’s deformity is characterized by a growth or a bump on the area of the heel bone where the Achilles tendon attaches. There are a few things that you may not know can contribute to this painful condition. Improperly fitting footwear, repetitive overuse, genetic predisposition, and having high arches or a tight Achilles tendon can all exacerbate Haglund’s deformity. You may experience pain in the heel, swelling or a bump on the back of your heel, and difficulty walking.

Wearing the correct type of shoes can help manage foot conditions. It’s important to remember that footwear can cause foot injuries or ailments, but it cannot cure them. However, wearing shoes that fit properly and don’t put additional, uncomfortable pressure up onto any one area of the foot can help decrease your pain from Haglund’s deformity. If your shoes cause more pain, that’s a sign that your footwear is aggravating your condition and should be changed.

It’s vital to listen to the pain signals that your body sends to you, particularly if you tend to be on your feet quite a lot. Haglund’s deformity can be worsened by repetitive overuse, and giving this condition time to rest and heal is extremely important for your recovery. If any activity is causing more pain, that indicates that your condition is being aggravated. If you feel an increase in pain, try to rest and apply cold therapy as soon as possible to manage any inflammation.

What can help?

A high dosage of vitamin D, while reducing calcium intake, may be beneficial at reducing Haglund’s deformity, although you should always check with your doctor before taking any new medication or supplement. The best pain relief solution available is through King Brand Healthcare Products. There are two products that work in combination – the ColdCure and the BFST.

The ColdCure reduces inflammation, pain, and swelling in general. The BFST works to increase your blood flow, which heals and strengthens the soft tissue in the entire area that you treat. The BFST will work on the Achilles tendon insertion point. Neither of these devices can make the Haglund’s deformity go away, unfortunately, but they will help symptomatically with pain relief. Haglund’s deformity tends to go away given enough rest and time – if it is particularly persistent, you can talk with your doctor about options to move forward, including surgery. Both the ColdCure and the BFST are excellent to use when recovering from surgery as well.

Blood Flow Stimulation Therapy Wrap for your foot plantar by King Brand Healthcare Products®

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Hammer Toe

What causes hammer toe?

Hammer toe is a painful condition that results in a hammer-like shape or bend to the toe, typically found in the middle joint of the toe. It has a number of causes - it can be brought on by a pre-existing condition, like diabetes or arthritis, or it can be something as simple as wearing poorly fitting footwear. Of course, trauma or an injury can lead to developing hammer toe. Hammer toe develops when something forces your toes into an unnatural position over a long period of time.

Footwear Do's and Don't's

Shoes with high heels, or shoes that fit improperly and are too tight, can cause or worsen hammer toe. If your shoe or orthotic is causing pressure to be put onto the foot or rubbing against the toes, this can contribute to hammer toe. It's best to prioritize comfort over style - if your shoes are making your feet uncomfortable or causing pain, that's an indication that they're aggravating your condition. It's important to make sure you have comfortable shoes that don't rub or apply pressure anywhere on your feet, with enough room for your toes and a low heel, or no heel.

What can help?

The most effective treatment for hammer toe is to use the BFST from King Brand Healthcare Products. The bent shape of a hammer toe is caused by the muscle being bent unnaturally and eventually seizing up and staying that way, so, the solution is to relax the muscle. Often, surgery is not necessary to accomplish this. All you need to do is use the BFST for twenty minutes at a time, three to four times daily, and it will heal and strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the entire area that you treat. The BFST is a FDA-approved, registered medical device that creates electromagnetic energy in order to stimulate the blood flow in the soft tissue - with daily use, it will heal the soft tissue, and can result in relaxing the bent muscle that makes hammer toe so painful.

http://kingbrand.com/Foot-Home.php?REF=2160PV519.1522

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Peroneal Tendonitis

What causes peroneal tendonitis?

Tendonitis of any sort can have a few different causes – overuse of the tendon, trauma or an injury, or even certain antibiotics can all lead to developing this painful condition. When your peroneal tendon is stressed dramatically or repeatedly, it can be strained or damaged, causing tendonitis.

What should be avoided when dealing with peroneal tendonitis?

There’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding tendonitis. Arming yourself with the facts will help your recovery go as quickly as possible. There’s a few things that can lead to worsening your condition that should be avoided.

One of the most important things to avoid is getting stuck in a cycle of reinjury. Your tendonitis needs time to heal – if you continue normal activity, you may end up lengthening the time you spend recovering from this condition. Give your body time to repair itself, and try to avoid weight bearing exercise, or any motion or exercise that causes more pain.

Any footwear or orthotics that cause discomfort or cause you to modify your gait when walking may be aggravating your condition. You should avoid footwear that puts pressure onto any one particular part of your feet, such as arch supports or heel supports. It’s best to have a layer of uniform cushioning. Improper footwear can cause foot problems, but there is no footwear that can cure them.

You may have been advised to consider a cortisone shot. Except for in extreme cases, cortisone should be avoided because it does not help you to heal, it only temporarily eases the pain. Cortisone shots can result in thinning the soft tissue over time, which can make your condition worse.

What can help?

The best thing you can do to heal peroneal tendonitis is to use the ColdCure and BFST from King Brand Healthcare Products. These FDA-approved medical devices are designed to be the most effective at relieving inflammation, and at healing tendonitis through increasing your circulation. By using these products 3-4 times each day, and resting as much as possible, you can heal peroneal tendonitis without surgery.

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Hammer Toe

What causes hammer toe?

Hammer toe refers to a deformity of the toes wherein the toe is bent in the middle, making it resemble a hammer. This painful condition can be the result of wearing shoes that aggravate your feet, or anything that applies pressure to the toes and makes the muscles and joints tighten.

The most difficult part of dealing with a foot injury is the one step forward, two steps back nature of the healing process. Rest is essential for any injury to heal, but for many people, it isn’t realistic to take an extended amount of time off of your feet. Walking around during the day puts pressure on the injury and keeps it inflamed, which can result in a slower healing process.

The good news is that it is possible to heal from hammer toe without having surgery. Avoiding any footwear or orthotics that puts pressure onto your foot, or that causes discomfort, is often the first step on the road to recovery. If you notice that a particular pair of shoes makes you change your gait, or the way you walk naturally, or if it causes any discomfort, that may indicate that those shoes aren’t necessarily the healthiest for your feet.

Heal hammer toe for good

The best solution out there to heal hammer toe is to use King Brand Healthcare Products. The BFST is a FDA-approved medical device that uses electromagnetic energy to increase blood flow in the area that you treat, which heals the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. By using it 3-4 times daily, you can recover from hammer toe without surgery.

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Footwear

When dealing with a foot injury or condition, you may turn to footwear searching for relief. It’s important to remember that footwear can’t fix conditions like plantar fasciitis – but improper footwear may contribute to causing these sorts of conditions.

Arch and Heel Support

It’s a common misconception that arch and heel supports are beneficial when treating problems with the plantar fascia. In reality, they can make your pain worse. Extra support for the heel and arch is only really required if you deal with something like fallen arches or flat feet. Applying pressure that pushes up onto any particular part of the foot can increase pain and extend your healing time.

High Heels

Shoes that have a high heel can very easily throw off your gait and weight distribution. High heels increase pressure on your metatarsals and toes, and this can lead to creating inflammation in the plantar fascia and the Achilles tendon.

What will help?

You should wear shoes that are flat bottomed with uniform cushioning that does not put pressure on any one part of your foot. If it decreases your pain, it’s ok to have a little cushioning on the heel as long as it does not extend to the middle of the foot or the arch. Anything that causes more discomfort is a sign that your condition is being aggravated.

Plantar Fasciitis Shoes

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Why is cold beneficial?

Cold therapy is very important when recovering from a soft tissue injury, especially during the beginning stages of recovery. Cold therapy works to reduce inflammation, swelling, and pain. When dealing with a foot injury, it’s important to use cold all throughout your recovery. When we walk, it puts pressure onto the foot and any injuries there. Cold will help reduce pain and inflammation that may be aggravated just from being on your feet during the day. The ColdCure by King Brand provides the most superior cold therapy available, and is designed to conform to the area that you treat.

What does using heat do?

It is a common misconception that heat leads to healing. In fact, heat can provide some pain relief, but it does not do anything to help you heal. Heat draws blood to the surface of the skin, which can actually contribute to inflammation. If you use heat, it’s best to use it for a shorter amount of time; ten minutes is a good place to start. If you want the pain relief that comes with warmth, you should use the BFST – it produces electromagnetic energy, and soothing warmth. This electromagnetic energy works to stimulate healthy blood flow and actually heal the soft tissue.

Should I alternate heat and cold?

There is no benefit to alternating heat and cold – in fact, by alternating heat and cold, the positive benefits of both of those treatments are basically negated. It’s best to start with using cold therapy to bring down inflammation, then allow your skin time to warm back up to body temperature. Once your skin is no longer cold, try applying the BFST! The pain relief this medical device provides lasts for four hours following each twenty minute treatment. It’s so much more effective than a heating pad, and only stimulates healthy blood flow to the area that you treat.

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Physical Therapy and Plantar Fasciitis

When is the right time to start physical therapy?

Physical therapy can be a good thing, IF your injury is healed enough for the exercise to be beneficial. You might not be aware of two of the biggest reasons why physical therapy can often be ineffective, or make your pain worse. Two things that won’t help you recover: 1) Pushing through the pain, and 2) Beginning PT or exercise too early in your recovery process, and getting stuck in a cycle of reinjury.

When your pain is mostly gone, your injury is typically about 30% healed. At that point, you can add in some gentle physical therapy or exercises. When you’re still dealing with pain and/or swelling, your injury is still inflamed and aggravated. By beginning PT at this point, you can get stuck in a cycle of reinjuring your foot, and this will extend your recovery time. You should give your injury as much rest as possible while you’re still having pain, and only start exercising once your pain is gone, or barely there.

Some exercises can be harmful

You may have been given advice to do exercises or stretches such as rolling your foot on a frozen water bottle or tennis ball, doing towel or step stretches, or doing heel raises, and even wearing night splints. These methods can do further harm to your injury and set back your healing process, making your recovery longer and more painful. This is because the plantar fascia are not intended to stretch – stretching contributes to keeping your injury inflamed.

Some exercises are helpful – using certain gentle exercises can actually help reduce foot and heel pain when you first get out of bed. Ankle rolls, towel scrunches, and picking up a marble with your toes are less likely to aggravate your injury. Remember, if you’re still having pain, you should rest and use cold therapy.

You can find recommended exercises – as well as what NOT to do – at the link below.

Information on plantar fasciitis exercises such as warm ups, ankle rolls, towel scrunches, marble pick-ups, single leg standing, general str

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Achilles injuries have many different causes

It is true that an Achilles injury can occur as a result of sudden trauma or injury, but there are many lesser-known things that can trigger an Achilles issue. When your Achilles injury is caused by sudden injury, you can typically recognize right away when it happens because it’s usually accompanied by intense pain. However, this isn’t always the case.

Repetitive motion overload

Injury can result when repetitive motions are done in excess at work or during physical activity. This can happen if your job requires physical activity, or really in any situation where you’re physically active and repeatedly performing the same actions. You may feel a slower onset of this type of injury, with your pain beginning slowly and becoming more noticeable over time. This type of injury requires rest in order to fully heal.

Footwear

There are plenty of companies that sell footwear that supposedly helps to heal the Achilles. The unfortunate truth is that wearing the incorrect footwear can cause an Achilles injury, but no footwear can heal the Achilles. Any shoes or orthotics that put pressure onto any specific part of the foot can lead to aggravating the soft tissue. If you feel additional discomfort or tightness when you wear a particular pair of shoes, that is a sign that your foot is being aggravated. This can be a result of arch supports, heel supports, a heel strap, etc.

The Incorrect Kind of Stretching and Exercises

Stretching can be very helpful when recovering from a muscle injury – your Achilles tendon, however, is not designed to stretch. You may think of tendons as the cables or wires that connect your muscles to your bones – stretching them can lead to further damage. You should wait until your pain goes away and stays gone for longer than just a few days to incorporate any sort of physical therapy or stretching into your recovery. If you’re dealing with a tendon injury, it’s best to avoid stretching at all.

What’s the solution?

Any foot or leg injury can get stuck in a state of chronic re-injury because pressure is put onto the injury when you walk, keeping it inflamed and unable to heal. The first step to recovery is to give your injury the rest it needs.

Use King Brand Healthcare Products to accelerate your recovery, heal your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and strengthen the whole area you treat. These FDA-approved, registered medical devices are designed and proven to heal soft tissue injuries. The BFST® and ColdCure® are the highest quality, most effective way to heal any soft tissue injury, including an Achilles injury.

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Cold Therapy - Necessary For Recovery

What does using cold therapy actually do?

When recovering from a soft tissue injury, the importance of cold therapy is often underestimated. Cold therapy reduces pain, swelling, and inflammation. The less inflammation you have, the easier it will be for your body to heal.

When should cold therapy be used?

It’s a common misconception that cold therapy is only useful during the beginning stages of your injury. With any soft tissue injury, but particularly a leg or foot injury, healing can be frustratingly slow. This is because walking puts pressure onto your injury, keeping it in a constant state of inflammation and slowing down the healing process. Using cold therapy all throughout your recovery will help to keep your inflammation and pain down – resting as much as possible will lessen these symptoms as well.

What is the best cold therapy device to use?

The ColdCure® from King Brand Healthcare Products is the best cold therapy wrap available. The wrap is made of soft, flexible neoprene fabric, and it comes with three reusable gel packs, which are meant to be stored in the fridge or the freezer, depending on what’s most comfortable for you. During treatment, one gel pack is inserted into the wrap at a time, ensuring that you always have two gel packs that are cold and ready to use. The gel inside of the packs is designed to not move around like the “blue goo” gel packs you might find at a drugstore – King Brand Rigigel® holds its shape and conforms specifically to the shape of the injured area, ensuring the best coverage and compression. Rigigel® packs stay cold for 20 – 60 minutes, and they hold approximately 3x more cooling power than other gel packs.

More Information:

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Heel Spurs - Causes and Treatment

What are heel spurs?

Heel spurs are calcium deposits that may be found on the back of the heel, or on the bottom of the foot. These spurs are often caused by inflammation, particularly inflammation of the plantar fascia. They may be brought on by repeated strain or stress to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, which can cause stretching or tearing of the plantar fascia. There are many other causes, including improper footwear, exercise, and improper stretching. Plantar fasciitis can also be caused by wearing footwear that puts pressure onto any one specific part of the foot.

In fact, plantar fasciitis and heel spurs are closely so closely interrelated that plantar fasciitis is often mistaken for heel spurs, and vice versa. It is common to have heel spurs in addition to plantar fasciitis, since spurs can be caused by inflammation of the plantar fascia. Luckily, plantar fasciitis and heel spurs are treated the same way.

How are heel spurs treated?

Whether you’re dealing with plantar fasciitis or heel spurs, or both – the first step is to rest. Walking puts pressure on the foot, and in turn, onto your injury, keeping it in a constant state of inflammation and keeping it from healing effectively. Rest and cold therapy are essential to fight inflammation and reduce pain and swelling. The ColdCure® offers superior cold compression therapy – it conforms to the bottom of your foot and your heel, and the gel is designed to hold its form for the best coverage.

The BFST® is your solution to heal any soft tissue injury, such as plantar fasciitis. The BFST® works wonderfully for pain relief from bone spurs. While it cannot actually heal the bone, the BFST® will heal all of the soft tissue in the area you treat, including the plantar fascia, which are often the cause of bone spurs.

Other helpful things you can do to help heal heel spurs include taking Vitamin D, and reducing your calcium intake. Reducing your activity is essential to give these calcifications time to dissipate, and wearing footwear that does not put pressure on any particular part of the foot (i.e. arch or heel supports) will avoid aggravating the injury further.

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