Contents:
- Medical Video: 10 Great Exercises to Improve Your Eyesight
- Walking aids, causes muscles to shrink after a long time of injury
- What can be done to prevent it?
- How do you cope with a shrinking muscle?
Medical Video: 10 Great Exercises to Improve Your Eyesight
People who experience severe leg injuries need to use a cane or crutch to help them move during the recovery period. But unfortunately, the muscles in the injured leg can shrink after a long time is not used for activities. Actually, what causes muscles to shrink after using a walker? Is this reasonable?
Walking aids, causes muscles to shrink after a long time of injury
During the healing period of the injury, the problematic leg is not strong enough to return to normal functioning so that you will rely on a walker to facilitate your activities and moves. As a result, the injured leg becomes rare or not even moved at all.
When muscles are not used for a long period of time, muscle tissue will slowly weaken and the muscle mass will shrink. This condition is called muscle atrophy. Depreciation of muscle mass is estimated to reach up to two percent every day while using a walker.
The use of a walker is also at risk of resulting in reduced blood flow to the legs, thus inhibiting the healing process and complicating the transition period if you want to stop using assistive devices.
In addition, shrinking muscle mass can be caused by an illness, such as a stroke (which may also make you need to use a walker after recovering), or after a major recovery operation that requires you bed rest total for some time.
What can be done to prevent it?
Although a walker can cause muscle to shrink, it doesn't mean you don't wear it at all. Especially if indeed the doctor recommends this due to your health condition at that time.
Injuries really make you uncomfortable to move. But if you just give up, the muscles in the injured leg will gradually be damaged because they no longer have the ability to develop and work normally. In the end, the legs will become weaker and harder to move even after you have fully recovered and released from the walker.
To prevent these "side effects", you must keep moving the injured leg muscles every day. For example, by doing simple stretches or exercising its strength by involving it moving slowly every time you walk.
The point is, don't indulge in excessive foot injury. You have to practice it regularly, although it will cause a little pain and discomfort.
How do you cope with a shrinking muscle?
A shrinking muscle can only be detected by a doctor through a physical examination. So, convey all the complaints that you feel in detail - including injuries or injuries that have occurred, both in the near and long time, medical conditions that have been diagnosed before, to the list of drugs, prescriptions, and supplements you consume.
To speed up the healing of muscles to shrink, there are several treatments that can be selected, reported from the Healthline page, namely:
- Ultrasound therapy is a non-invasive procedure that relies on the work of sound waves.
- Physical therapy, this method is more commonly carried out by a therapist by helping the movement of the legs that experience gradual muscle atrophy.
- Surgery, this treatment is taken when the muscle condition is quite severe, it can be due to a contracture or tendon that is torn, thus inhibiting movement.
If you are diagnosed with muscle atrophy due to the use of a walker, this condition generally only occurs temporarily and will not last long. As long as you want to move the injured leg muscles, muscle ability will slowly return.
If you are still in doubt, you can discuss with the doctor who is handling you for other possible alternatives - such asmobility device.
Mobility device is a walker made of lightweight plastic and aluminum, which is useful for restoring independence and walking ability for people with foot injuries. This tool can also help accelerate the healing of injuries and the ability to walk normally.
Unlike a walker that relies on the help of hands to move it, mobility devicemakes it easy for you to move and walk normally, such as wearing fake feet.
