Simple Tips Can Help Weekend Warriors and Boomers Maintain an Active Lifestyle
For weekend warriors and active boomers, staying healthy and fit as their bodies age can come at a cost. Not only is there wear and tear on joints and muscles, but bumps, falls, and overexertion while working out or competing can also occur.
“Weekend warriors and boomers are particularly more susceptible to injury because oftentimes they are not keeping themselves physically prepared for exertion,” says Anne Meyer, M.D., whose private practice in West Los Angeles focuses on sports rehabilitation medicine with integrative approaches to muscular-skeletal pain management.
Dr. Meyer says simple stretching, as well as exercising at least three times a week, is an essential measure that can prevent the likelihood of injury. She adds that good nutrition is also key to reducing pain.
“Eating healthy, such as incorporating fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet and relying less on prepackaged food, allows the body to repair itself better by helping build new healthy tissues,” she says. “Tissues are continually being renewed. Sometimes what you remove from your diet is more important than what you add.”
Her other tips for reducing pain include avoiding artificial sweeteners, drinking water more frequently to increase hydration, eating every four hours to optimize the metabolism, and avoiding acidic foods, such as citrus, if arthritis is present since it may exacerbate symptoms.
“Tissues are continually being renewed. Sometimes what you remove from your diet is more important than what you add.”
In the event an injury does occur, Dr. Meyer recommends resting and minimizing physical activity, applying ice to the injured area, elevating the injured arm or leg, and relieving pain by applying a topical like Boiron’s unscented Arnicare Gel. Arnicare Gel, which contains homeopathic Arnica montana, temporarily relieves muscle pain and stiffness and reduces swelling and bruising.
“In conjunction with eating a good diet, participating in regular exercise, and taking the proper care after an injury, Arnicare Gel can be used to naturally relieve pain in the muscles that have been strained,” says Dr. Meyer. “I recommend it to my patients to help them maintain their active lifestyles and to reduce pain, swelling, and bruising when injuries do occur.”
