For Today’s installment I want to discuss some of the non-protocol things I did to help my physical recovery.  But before I do, I have some words about MRIs….

…Standard MRIs are garbage.  When I felt my elbow go in the game, I was fairly sure that I was going to need surgery.  When I got my MRI a week later, however, my doctor could get a very accurate picture of my ligament on the films.  The regular MRI was just not clear enough in showing my ligament, and as such he recommended rehab and flexibility work, which had worked for me in the past.   Teammates of mine had had MRIs with a dye injection, which makes diagnoses much easier.  After 8 weeks of rest and rehab, I tried to pitch but couldn’t do it without pain.  My elbow felt loose when releasing the pitch, as if my ulna really wasn’t attached to my humerus.

So I went back and got an MRI with a dye injection, and it was clear as day that my ligament was torn.  My recommendation for others is to get a dye-injected MRI the FIRST time.  Ask for it and see if the doctor will prescribe it.

Your Elbow is What You Eat

So under the knife we went.  Surgery took only 70 minutes, and I was on my way home before I knew it.  It felt very surreal to have had the surgery that I so dreaded, but I was now on my way to having a clean, fresh elbow and career.  

Diet was the first thing I could control, and I’m a huge believer in good nutrition.  I believe the American diet is terrible and compromises the body’s ability to heal itself.  That said, I made it my quest to stuff as many vegetables and fruits down my throat as I could.  If the average person healed in 9 months, then I felt I could heal in 8 just because my body had every nutrient it needed to heal itself.  My rehab went very smoothly, and while I can’t say for sure that my diet helped, I know that I am organically healthier for the way I ate, and currently eat.  I took calcium supplements and a multivitamin, and always had tons of omega-3s from fish and flax oil in my system.  It is said that post-surgery energy needs are increased as well, so I made sure I was eating enough (although that has never been a problem for me).  

Some Like it Hot

Another thing I did that was out of the box for most was Bikram Yoga.  I had done Bikram Yoga, which is a 90 yoga minute class performed in a 105 degree room, in the past and enjoyed the increased flexibility that it afforded me.  So much heat is generated in the classes that bloodflow is through the roof, and it seems to speed healing and promote good health.  So I went twice a week for about 10 weeks after my incision was closed and I was cleared to sweat and exercise. The green light to exercise was given to me after 2 weeks, so I was happy to get back out running and into the Yoga studio.  Another goal of my rehab was to reinvent myself mechanically and make myself physically stronger and more athletic.  I had very tight hips and quads, and the Bikram Yoga helped so much to loosen me up and get me on track to maintain my flexibility outside of the yoga studio.  After about 10 weeks I had had it, and couldn’t invest the time anymore to make it to yoga.  On top of my running, rehab and lifting, it was too much to fit it in anymore.  My friends Eddie and Emily at Bikram Yoga Baltimore were wonderful in helping me recover.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chuNZAcagCE]

Pump That Off-Arm

There is a human phenomenon known as bilateral transfer, which is the body’s desire to keep paired muscles balanced in size and strength.  When one side is worked more than the other, the less-used side will still get the same growth hormones and bloodflow as the worked side, which will result in similarity bilaterally.

In rehab this is useful because you can work out your non-surgical side and still get the benefits in your surgical side.  As long as the incision is close and sweat and infection is not an issue, working out the non-surgical side can be very useful in preventing atrophy and weakness in your surgically repaired arm.  

So with these three tactics of excellent nutrition, Bikram Yoga and bilateral transfer, I felt I was able to get ahead in my rehabilitation and heal to the best of my body’s ability.  I never had any tricep tightness, a common symptom of the surgery, and my flexibility was excellent all through my recovery, both of which I attribute to working hard and doing the extras early on.

My next installment will cover the doctor-prescribed rehab protocol up to the throwing stage