Latest / The Driven Athlete / What If The Best Joint Medicine Is Motion | Ep 130

Transcript

What If The Best Joint Medicine Is Motion | Ep 130 · The Driven Athlete

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a driven, active person who wants to reach and pursue a higher quality life with some ambition, then guess what?
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is for you.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Driven Athlete Podcast.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: What's up, y'all?
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's your man, Dr.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Kyle.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Driven Athlete Podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Something I say that we all say in my in our clinic a lot in our practice is motion is lotion.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: The more motion that you can get for a joint or an irritated joint or a soft tissue structure, the more lotion for that structure.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: The more lotion for the joint.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason, and what I mean is like non-irritating, non-aggressive, non-pain-driving motion.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: The pain, the motion has to be non-painful, all right.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be non-irritating, non-aggressive, non-painful motion.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that will help facilitate synovial fluid, blood flow, pliability of the joint, and um tissue healing.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to promote tissue healing.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: The other component is that it helps with the neural structures also to get nutrients and oxygen and blood flow because nerves, you have you have millions of nerves everywhere.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Tiny nerve endings that innervate like an unbelievable amount of these tiny little nerve endings on every square millimeter, square micrometer of your body.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And they're highly interconnected and intertwined and innervating in between all the joint structures.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: So your joint capsules are highly innervated.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So every joint that moves and glides and stuff, there's a joint capsule that ensheaths that joint.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's a thin capsule.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it just adds another layer of stability, passive stability for the joint.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, on the undersurface of that joint capsule is a membrane, and that membrane is called your synovium.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that synovium is very smooth and uh very well lubricated.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it could be better lubricated for people that don't really move that much.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: But um that synovium, when it feels friction and it feels movement, it's triggered to produce synovial fluid.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: And synovial fluid is the lubrication fluid for your joints, all right?
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that delivers nutrients to the joint, right?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Being like your cartilage, the bones, um, and all the nerve endings that innervate your joint capsule, all right.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and all the neighboring soft tissue structures benefit from that as well, which would be like ligament structures that attach to the joints, tendon insertion points, so the tendons that insert to the joint structure, the bones, and then also the musculotendinous junctions, where most strains and tears of muscles occur is at the junction between the muscle and the tendon.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that would be like the musculotendinous junction.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so all those structures that are right near the joint area benefit from motion as lotion and synovial fluid and blood flow and nutrients and oxygen.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to facilitate um healing, all right.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Angiogenesis of new blood vessels, angiogenesis of new collagen fibers, all right, collagen cells of the tissues that um re-fortify this and solidify the structural integrity of those soft tissue structures, being the capsule, the ligaments, the tendons, musculotendinous junctions.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that and also, but and then like I said, the nerves, right?
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because nerves get very sensitive and irritable and they are ready to send signals, like, oh, that's dangerous.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that that hurts.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Don't do that.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: That sensitivity, that hypervigilance, hypersensitivity will decrease and settle down over time with appropriate motion and movement because it acclimates to the movement again.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, this movement is not threatening.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm okay with this.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to shift the awareness of these nerve endings that innervate so much, and also not just nerve endings, but also major nerve pathways, that these movements are um are not threatening.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Shift it from being threatening to non-threatening and that they're safe and that are good and actually beneficial.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that helps to settle down the irritability of a really inflamed and irritated joint.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it delivers uh it produces synovial fluid, which delivers nutrients and oxygen to the joint, the underlying synovium, the surrounding neural structures, um, and also more blood flow for the neural structures, the nerves, to also get blood, nutrients, and oxygen to help heal and settle down.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the soft tissue structures that are on the area as well to create more angiogenesis of blood vessels, um, lay down new collagen fiber, and that takes a handful of weeks.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Other podcasts I've mentioned, cellular turnover rate, like when do cells um how long does it take for tissues to return over new tissues, right?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: New cells.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: It takes like six to eight weeks.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: It takes six to eight weeks of time for cells to turn over a new batch of cells in enough of a uh of a volume to improve the overall structural integrity of a soft tissue structure, like a ligament or a tendon or a muscle belly or something like that.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm like, what if we were able during that six to eight week time, we're able to move and use and bring improve range of motion and some activation of muscles and when activating some things, maybe even mild strengthening stuff that at an appropriate level that's not hurtful to help facilitate better healing and more angiogenesis and more collagen fiber laydown for new structures for improved structural integrity.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and if there's scar tissue involved, it helps the scar tissue to grow in a more organized fashion during that six to eight weeks of time of interventions of range of motion and movement, it helps facilitate the healing process actually, versus like not doing anything, just resting.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Rest leads to rust, and it doesn't improve the range of motion or activation, neural desensitization of the nerves and structural integrity and collagen fiber lay down of all the soft tissue structures.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't help that.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what does help facilitate and improve that the research is finding is appropriate movement, all right, appropriate motion that's non-aggressive and non-painful.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's going to help stimulate the synovium and the joints to produce more synovial fluid for better lubrication.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: So if everybody feel that feeling where it's like, I did a whole warm-up to like, I'm not working out yet.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: I just warmed up.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I did like a little bit of a warm-up, I did a bike or elliptical, I did some stretching.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And after you feel good, you feel loose, I feel warm, right?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: That is the stage that we want to get for rehab at the early stages.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: As in like, I feel good, perfect, you're done.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we want to get at.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to do too much, right?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna dip our toe and maybe the next time a little bit extra, because we don't want to, with at this very vulnerable stage of irritability, if we cross the line, that threshold of tolerance, everything is gonna let up again.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's very sensitive.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: It lights up and everything, it just sets the stage and takes us five steps backwards.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's like less is more, motion is lotion, underneath the pain threshold of like this is too much, volume threshold, tolerance threshold of impact and intensity and volume.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: We have to stay underneath that.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I usually err in the conservative side at the beginning stages because that's really going to set the stage for improved tolerance and improved impact volume and intensity, decreased sensitivity and irritability of the neural structures in the joints and joint irritation.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because once something's irritated, like it takes a good, purposeful effort and commitment and time to get that thing to settle down.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the first primary step is just settle things down and settle down the irritated structures.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: But my lens on that is what, and I'm an optimistic guy.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: My lens, and I'm like, what can we do?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: My lens is what stuff can we do to improve everything versus here's what we can't do.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what you shouldn't do, and here's what we can't do.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, got it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: But what things can we do?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we can do this active assisted range of motion intervention, this activation isometric exercise.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna stimulate more neural activation of the muscles that we want for recruitment and neural strengthening.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's gonna desensitize all the neural structures on the area and create less hypervigilance and sensitivity.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna improve the tolerance to impact next time.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna improve the synovial fluid production of the synovium in the joint capsule for joint lubrication, joint nutrients.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna improve angiogenesis of new blood vessels to develop and grow to innervate all the soft tissue structures for better blood flow and better blood innervation for nutrients and oxygen.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, all those benefits.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: So imagine doing that and then getting to the point after each session where it's like, I feel good, I feel loose, I feel, I feel better than when I came in.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's the goal every time.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And imagine doing that another time that week, another time the next week, and then doing that multiple bouts over a period of six to eight weeks.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you you're gonna feel significantly better.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then with that better foundation of low irritability, improved range of motion, improved strength tolerance, improved tolerance to impact, decreased neural sensitivity with that foundation, then we can really advance and uh exponentially increase um exercise and intensity and volume way better with that better foundation.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And the trajectory of improvement is way better.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: All right, like we've done this.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm working on I'm 11 years in almost at this point, like doing this stuff and the epiphanies that I've had with this, then I'm like, oh my gosh, this makes total sense.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we mean by motion is lotion.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's really cool to take it a step further, all right.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: And this is somewhat controversial, but I'm a controversial guy and I'm an optimistic guy.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Doing that with the what some research has found is doing that method with appropriate stress, appropriate impact, because your joints need impact.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: It actually improves structural integrity of your joint, right?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Neural structures, surrounding soft tissue structures, the joint capsule, bone mineral density increases with impact and weight-bearing activity, which would be like resistance exercise.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: The key is just an appropriate amount of resistance at the stage the person's end.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um not crossing that threshold.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So imagine being within that Goldilocks zone of stress tolerance and impact for a joint and range of motion, mobility, blood flow, all the benefits that we talked about.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine doing that over 24 months, a two years of time with gradually increasing the resistance, which would be like weightlifting exercise, right?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like lunges, leg press, shoulder raises, push-ups, stuff like that at an appropriate level that's not detrimental, but constructive and productive, all right, over a period of 24 months, not three months, 24, two years of time and gradually increasing the resistance and stress and pressure through joints at an appropriate level.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Research has found that cartilage actually improves its thickness, its vibrancy, um, and its structural integrity, all right, which that might be the cure for arthritis.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying, over a long research has found over a long enough time horizon with not creating more irritation, pre-MRI and post-MRI has found improved thickness and vibrancy of joint cartilage, articular cartilage, which, like I said, that might be like people are like, what's the cure for arthritis?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: That might be the cure for arthritis.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying it's gonna cure the arthritis, like it's not gonna be fixing 100%, but arthritic improvements have been found, and structural integrity of joint cartilage has been found in that direction with prolonged intermittent compression of joints, which would be stress on the joints, resistance on the joints on purpose.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: And bone mineral density for sure improves dramatically, right?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, like osteoporosis, the aging athletes, people are in their, you know, getting in the older demographics, our seniors.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's why resistance training and weight-bearing activity is really important.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so anyway, that's uh that's the controversial statement I was gonna make in that one.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we mean by emotion as lotion.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're passionate about this stuff.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: There is a solution, there is a way, and uh, everyone's different.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it depends on each individual person's profile, their injury, their stage of injury, what they have going on.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: All that stuff matters.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why we got to have an in-depth, purposeful conversation.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Roll our sleeves up and dive into the matter, and then figure out what the best course of action for you at this current stage is and what the next game plan looks like.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: We'd love to chat more about all this stuff and at least help you and point you to a direction that'll be best for you, even if it's not with us.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll catch you all next time.