Nursing Aching Legs

The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Aching Legs Recovery-Nurses are Accidental Athletes Fatigued Leg recovery using an environmentally friendly recovery system “Oh My aching legs!” The nurses’ cry towards the end of a busy shift “Oh my aching legs!” The long distance walkers’ cry towards the end of a twenty-hour walking day Both of these are two different breeds of people, yet the cries of both of them are similar-I know this because I do a day job in a hospital, and at the weekends I work with long distance athletes as a recovery specialist Having worked on the legs of nurses and athletes, other than the cry of distress they have in common, there are other areas where their interests merge-they are both long distance athletes Nurses do not see themselves as this, and most of them would not even consider going in for a fun run or marathon or half marathon, but on an average day would cover nearly this distance on their feet anyway. Not only do they do this, they do it without training or special supplements, without coaches or without even a gold, silver or bronze medal to encourage them at the finish line at the end of the day-just a pay check-not only do they do this, they may even go back a few hours later to do it all over again! These swollen ankles are mine after I was testing out a theory on long flights but it is a fair bet that many nurses have them like this at the finish of their day When you are on your feet all day the calf muscles start to fatigue, power stops being supplied to the pump and the blood just pools around the ankles-the water (or lymph fluid) separates from it and migrates into the tissues in and around the ankles

As it is not being pumped away fast enough from the lower legs, the ankles swell and if it wasn’t for the ends of the toes it would all flow out of the body all over the ground Recovery from swollen feet and ankles does not come just with just sitting down resting as soon as the shift is finished-if it did, then when the nurse gets in the car for the drive home after work, then as soon as they got into the driveway, they could leap out of the car and go for a game of football or basket ball with the children. But they can’t

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan

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The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist Like these guys who have just run for 3 days they can barely move!

These are 2 people who have just been running for 3 days around a running track in all weathers and they have aching legs What usually happens is when the car is driven into the driveway and the engine is stopped it can be hard to even move as the muscles have stiffened and tightened-it can take a few minutes before normal walking can even start to happen. To compare between a nurse ‘accidental athlete’ and an ultra marathoner To show how fatigue can compound, we can visit a 24-hour relay event where the athlete runs for ½ an hour, has 5 hours break and goes back for another ½ hour leg In all they do 4 half hour periods on the track in the 24 hours. Easy no problems, ½ an hour of running and five hours to recover should be ample, yet each time the athlete goes back after having sat down, ate and slept for 5 hours, it gets more and more difficult to go back out and start moving as the muscle set and stiffen up. The nurse can work for 7 ½ hours or even 12 hours and have only a few hours extra than the shift is long to recover, and be back in the hospital for another shift. Over the long term, this compounding aching leg fatigue can interfere not only with the leg health, but with general health too-(see www.hazards.org/standing) for some of these problems that aching legs can contribute to Being a nurse is a professional occupation, being an athlete can be a professional occupation and yet the nurse is closer to being a professional athlete than they realize-they both have similar problems in recovery, but the athlete is more aware of how to treat the body to prevent occupational problems. The nurse should become more aware If you are like the ultra marathon runners and walkers and do not have time to wait for passive recovery to work at relieving those aching legs the active option is better

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The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist Aching legs are easy to develop and unless they have a medical contribution to them (and there are many medical reasons so they should be investigated by a medical professional) they can be relatively easy to relieve If they are put in a position where they constantly ache, they can actually be the cause of medical problems (see www.hazards.org/standing) The Calf Muscle Pump

The calf muscle pump is a major part of circulation in the lower legs All the fluids in the body gravitate down towards the lowest part of the body; the feet-gravity holds it there and prevents it from going back up to the body for recycling and recirculation as fresh blood The calf muscles are the motors for a pump called the calf muscle pump that forces used blood against gravity through one-way valves in the veins back up the body, but to provide the power for this they need to be moving-it they don’t, they can’t contribute to circulation-so used blood stays in the ankles and feet Because the muscle tissues are not being refreshed with supplies of fresh blood, the muscles fatigue and they ache with the legs increasing in weight as the fluid builds up-they are heavy to carry around Aching Leg Relief The relief of aching legs can be approached in different ways and the decision of which way to go is dependent on a number of factors-the biggest one being what other commitments you have in your life at that present time and the time you have to commit to it There is the passive way for those with time to spare and the active way for those without Passive Relief The ‘passive’ option is the most recommended way to relieve aching legs

Find a quiet area and lie down with the legs elevated to let the fluid flow back (Been there-done that-didn’t seem to work too well-I was stiff when I stood up and went light headed)

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan

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The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist Ultra athletes suffer from sore feet, sore legs, swollen ankles, stiffness, wasted muscles, muscle cramps, tiredness, mental fatigue, restless legs, sore skin, night pains, muscle spasm, muscle wastage, swollen ankles, hyperthermia, hypothermia, temper tantrums, vomiting, food sensitivity, allergies, rashes, loss of judgement-and that is the good part Aching legs fatigued muscles and recovery Someone with aching legs and ultra marathoners both have the same thing in common-how to recover from their aching legs and fatigued muscles quickly, and the quickest most effective way of doing this is simply to work the calf muscle pump so that the output of used blood and the input of fresh blood is increased To stop the muscles fatiguing, fresh oxygen and nutrient filled blood has to keep being supplied to the muscles-but when the muscles are fatigued they can’t work at facilitating or supplying their own needs There are 2 main ways of relieving them of soreness-passive and active

This is the passive way-waiting for the legs to recover themselves Below is the pro-active result sheet from a 6 day event using Light Manual Muscle Relaxation Using an environmentally friendly pro-active leg recovery system is easier than you think when you learn how to use the muscles to work on them selves But an especially good way to recover from aching legs is to simply work the calf muscle pump by hand to break the cycle of inactivity caused through muscle fatigue and get rid of some of the depleted fluid so that fresh blood can enter the muscle tissues The secret to leg recovery The calf muscle pump The calf muscles act as the motor for a pump to take it from the feet back to the body against gravity through the venous system where it is re-nourished and recirculated-but to be working they have to move.

Look at the photo above-how many towels and bottles of oil do you see?

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan

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The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist None because the latest in non-polluting, non-technical method of leg recovery techniques is being used

The active way to help the legs recover is to learn how to work with the muscles If you can use your hands you have the tools to do the job of recovery

Recovery from leg fatigue or ongoing leg maintenance Light Manual Muscle Relaxation

Here I am giving a demonstration of leg recovery in Denmark using Light Manual Muscle Relaxation More details and references on ultra marathon can be found on my websites Everyone needs recovery after a tough day-and the fact that to get it blood to the muscles in the legs needs refreshing But to get that old depleted blood in the lower legs needs pumping out of them so that new fresh blood can be pumped in-simple really

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The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist Below is a chart from when I discovered working with the muscles rather than on them shows how much things did improve for the runners and walkers If these figures are translated into recovery speed for the person with aching legs they would be very happy Results from 1995 Coburg 6 day footrace Name A Krouglikov

Day 1 237.2 539

Day 2 113.6 284

Day 3 130 325

Day 4 106 365

Day 5 126 315

Day 6 108 Kilometers 270 Laps

T Rusek

215.2 538

98.8 247

98 245

139.6 349

138.4 346

122.4 Kilometers 306 Laps

M T aylor

174.4 436

128.8 322

143.6 359

123.6 309

138.4 302

122.4 Kilometers 223 Laps

B Beauchamp

180.4 451

133.2 333

124 310

117.6 294

110 275

93.2 Kilometers 233 Laps

150 375

134 335

105.2 263

94.8 237

111.6 279

106 Kilometers 265 Laps

138.4 346

108.4 271

106.8 267

116.4 274

106 265

107.2 Kilometers 268 Laps

168 420

119.2 298

90 225

116.4 291

106 180

107.2 Kilometers 247 Laps

G Watts

132.2 328

96.4 241

99.2 248

104.4 261

92.8 232

133.6 Kilometers 334 Laps

C Young

142 355

91.2 228

90 225

97.6 244

88 220

92 Kilometers 230 Laps

D Kettle

138.2 332

86.8 217

90.8 227

95.2 238

94.4 236

84.4 Kilometers 212 Laps

R H ill

128 320

80.8 202

99.2 248

70 175

95.6 239

96.6 Kilometers 241 Laps

K Fisher

164 410

91.6 229

50 125

115.2 288

49.6 124

81.2 Kilometers 203 Laps

P Gray

D Parri s

I Davis

G Pollard

T Rafferty

61.2 Kilometers 120 74.8 73.6 68.4 69.6 300 187 184 171 174 153 Laps The above group came in for Light Manual Muscle Rel axation The below group did not or had their own recovery people 141.6 112.8 104.8 101.6 98 96.4 Kilometers 354 282 262 254 245 241 Laps

G McConnel

145.6 363

110.8 277

126.4 287

113.6 284

108.4 271

106 ki lometers 265 Laps

G Audley

152.8

110.8

126.4

113.6

114.8

95.2 ki lometers

S Scanlon

140.8 352

82 205

84 210

J Timms 127.2 Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan

98.4

6

74.8

34 0 85 pulled out-bli sters 0

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The calf muscle pump and Nurses aching legs Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Quickly-easily and in an environmentally friendly way! The World Run Recovery System is a simple system that is easy to use without the need for equipment other than the hands Resource Box

Michael Gillan is an Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist who has been a masseur around many ultra long distance events both in Australia and internationally since he was a student in 1993 In 1995 while working at a 6 day run, he changed the approach to recovery of the athletes from the conventional way of working on the muscles using the hands and fingers to increase muscle blood circulation, to working with the muscles and making them work on themselves The results from this changeover can be seen on the Coburg result sheet on page 5 In 1996 Michael went to the Nanango 1000 Mile 16 day event where it was tested and helped the worlds 4-5 and 11th to achieve their distances Other notable events the World Run Recovery System was tested on was World Run 1 with Jesper Olsen www.worldrun.org and the World Run 2 training camp in Denmark in 2007

Aching legs should always be checked out by a medical professional before doing anything to and with them because there are many medical reasons why they may be aching-see a physician first If you want more details go to my website at http://aching-legs.org/the_nurse_aching_legs-recovery.html

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan

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