Overuse

The quadriceps and hamstrings are collective names for the upper leg muscles. Overuse can be caused by prolonged light loading or short-term heavy loading of the upper leg. When this happens, the body is so heavily strained that it can no longer restore itself. This is the opposite of a training stimulus in which the body, when in the resting phase, not only recovers but also becomes stronger. Below you will find a few examples of the different types of overuse. Here, the focus lies on the muscles, but overuse can also lead to problems with the tendons, joints and ligaments.

• Acute overuse, caused by short-lived great force. Such as a whiplash, wrong lifting, sporting without warming up or an accident.
• Heavy loading or untrained movement. If you start exercising fanatically after a period of inactivity, this can lead to overuse. Heavy chores in the garden or household activities count as well.
• Heavy loading and insufficient recovery. If you have heavily burdened your body and given it little rest afterward, this can lead to overuse. This means that more is broken down than built up. For example, intensive sports training schedule or a heavy physical profession.
• Prolonged repetitive movement. By too much repetition, the muscles can become exhausted.
• Long-term static tightening. If you constantly tighten your muscles without exercising a lot, it will put a lot of strain on your muscles. Due to the constant tension, blood flow is decreased resulting in a reduced supply of nutrients and oxygen, there is also a reduced discharge of metabolic waste. Resulting in little opportunity for your muscles to restore, resulting in overload.
• Unfavourable working posture. If you are sitting with your shoulders up, sagged, with a bent head, incorrect or not well-adjusted furniture, there are a number of different possibilities. There are many positions that stress the muscles more than necessary, causing overuse.
• Physical characteristics. Due to physical asymmetry such as pelvic deviation or a leg length discrepancy, an unfavourable posture can occur. Resulting in extra pressure on the shoulders or other body parts. Flat feet and joint hypermobility can also contribute to overuse complaints.
• Stress. When stressed, the body is continuously in a state of increased readiness and tension. Resulting in an increased heart rate and increased muscle tension. Overuse can be a result of long periods of stress or an unfavourable posture.

Consequences of overuse

Sometimes the consequences of overuse are something in your body breaking down. For example, a torn muscle, tendon, whiplash, tendinitis and so forth. When this occurs, a masseur can do nothing to help you, a doctor or physiotherapist have to help you. Very often, the conditions are less clear, such as strained muscles and joints, vague pain when making certain movements, an oversensitive area with radiating pains or headaches. For example, people can walk around with something for a long time while it is not clear what is the exact origin. Overuse in your leg can be recognized by pain when bending, sensitive hamstrings when stretching, loss of strength in your leg, muscle cramps, when sitting and during or after running. When experiencing pain for 1 or 2 days, nothing is wrong. Only if you feel pain during moderate efforts, you could be suffering from overuse. Also, the quadriceps and hamstrings can be completely torn off, this will have to be treated surgically.

Overuse treatment

Chronic overuse can be cured by the following methods.

• Rest. When resting, your body recovers.
• Healthy living. A good physical condition and the right nutrients, accelerate the recovery.
• Training. Blood circulation and subtleness are improved by frequent training.
• Warming-up. Muscles are more vulnerable when they are exposed to sudden heavy efforts.
• Stretching and heat. Stretching exercises make the body supple, resulting in less muscular stress caused when sudden movements are made. After all, a warm muscle is stronger than a cold muscle.
• Massage. Helps relax muscles after exercise, massaging promotes the drainage of metabolic waste and reduces muscle tension.

When suffering from acute overuse complaints, we recommend you to consult your doctor or physiotherapist. By cooling with cold water or ice, applying pressure bandages or by raising the body part in question, you can still limit the swelling to some extent. We, at Podobrace also have a number of products that help you with recovery. For example, our products improve blood circulation and retain heat. The Novamed Thigh Support is number #1 at the moment! Thermal wear like the McDavid Neoprene Shorts can be a suitable alternative to prevent overuse.