Preventing Health Club Emergencies

by Bryan Fass

How many times have you been in the local gym and seen someone pull out of an exercise hurt, limp off the treadmill or go through such a horrific workout that they are out of the gym for a week. Ever wonder why the people advertising inside the gym are doctors and chiropractors. The odds are stacked against you, it is very likely that you will have an injury while exercising. In my past articles I have alluded in depth the how’s and why’s of exercise induced injuries. Please reference those articles so you understand how you are hurting yourself, and how to remedy the situation.

Having been a Paramedic for the past 5 years I have been called to health clubs numerous times. With a degree in sports medicine and numerous certifications in personal fitness and exercise I have developed a keen insight into recognizing and treating gym and exercise based emergencies.

Probably the most common and preventable emergency is hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. Many folks trying to loose weight go under the false assumption that to loose weight one is not allowed to eat. Add intense exercise into the mix and it’s likely that a hypoglycemic event may occur. Unfortunately the best way to assess a hypoglycemic emergency is to test blood sugar through a finger prick. This is not feasible in the typical health club setting. Knowing the clients medical history, last meal, supplements used is helpful in ascertaining if their sugar is low. Near-syncope or fainting, pale sweaty skin, dizzy, disoriented, nauseous are some of the signs and symptoms you may

see. If you are a trainer, please monitor your client, know what they had pre-workout. Keep a few bottles of sport drink stashed away for those occasions when your client is about to hit the wall.

The number one musculoskeletal injury in the gym is spinal, specifically lumbar. As I stated earlier, please read my other articles to understand the injury mechanisms and improper exercises that can injure and or aggravate existing lower back pain. If you are training and experience any type of pain in the lower back STOP. Pain radiating down the leg, no matter how far down can be a sign of disk or nerve root injury. At no point should you attempt to work through or work out the pain. Stop and seek medical attention.

Anyone starting a fitness program at home on their own or in a fitness facility should be evaluated by their family doctor. Every machine in the gym states this, but why. Many people go about their day unaware of a few scary medical conditions. Hypertension (high blood pressure) and cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beats). Both conditions are generally considered silent, you do not feel the effects of these conditions but they can cause strokes, heart attacks, aneurysms, breathing problems and circulatory issues. Better safe than sorry, get a check up first.

Heat illness can be both tricky and scary. It can have similar signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia, can occur without warning and be deadly if not detected and appropriate steps taken. Please realize that indoor pools, saunas, steam rooms, and outdoor activities in

the heat can all be a source of heat illness. The number one treatment is prevention, limit intensity and duration of exercise in high heat and humidity. The very young and very old are more susceptible. If heat illness is suspected remove them from the heat ASAP and apply cold packs or ice to the axilla (arm pits), inner thighs, behind the knees and or behind the lower neck. Arteries are close to the skin in these areas and can rapidly cool the body. Please remember to wrap the ice in a towel to prevent ice burns to the skin.

When in doubt call 911, speaking as a paramedic I would much rather show up and decide that we are not needed than to be called when it is too late. Remember to have and practice an emergency action plan, know your role in that plan and never panic.

Bryan Fass, BA, ATCL, CSCS, NREMT-P

Bryan Fass holds a bachelors in sports medicine, is a Certified / Licensed Athletic Trainer, Nationally Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Nationally Registered Paramedic. Bryan is also a highly skilled soft tissue and Myofascial Release therapist, And has over 10 years of experience in clinical and fitness settings. Specialties in Spine and postural re-education.

Bryan is available for speaking and consulting on numerous topics.

Precision Fitness is an advanced personal fitness, corrective exercise, post-rehabilitation, and sports performance facility with locations in Cornelius and Mooresville.

http://www.lakenormanfitness.com

Other Articles:

Busting the Dairy Myth - The Truth About our Health and Dairy
Millions of people around the UK consume dairy products on a daily basis. Our huge consumption of dairy is due not only to the convenience it brings to cooking and the habit of cooking with and eating dairy for the majority of our lives but more alarmingly because of the mantra that...

Blood Doping for Boosting Exercise Performance
As with any athletic event focusing on the extremes of human exercise performance, the Winter Olympics have allowed the ugly head of cheating in sport to rise again. Recently, police raided the Austrian ski team’s residences in Torino on suspicion of blood doping to improve athletic...

Proactive Medicine
Proactive medicine on the other hand aims to maintain homeostasis. That is, it aims to maintain health on the physical, mental and emotional levels. The principle behind proactive medicine is prevention is better than cure. In traditional Chinese medicine, for example, patients used...