We all know the feeling of soreness, which follows the beginning of any get-fit program, or even any unaccustomed muscular exercise. Much of this soreness is actual damage, at a micro level, to blood vessels and other tissues and this abates as one becomes fitter and the body more accustomed to the work involved.
Overstrain is normally a warm-up problem.
Our body's ability to cope with any level of physical activity or load without failing, is much more due to the muscles, ligaments and circulatory system being fully warmed up and flexible and the circulation fully prepared for the task at hand.
Even an elite level weight lifter can easily pull a muscle or damage a ligament, if lifting only 50% of their best weight, if they are out of work for a very short time and stone cold unprepared. Conversely, it is very difficult indeed to tear a muscle or ligament during exercise when fully warmed up, without some sort of fall or outside impact injury being involved.
When treating an overstrain injury I treat them both internally with a mixture of herbs and externally with a cream containing a number of herbal oils and extracts. I also recommend including a combination of ground millet and linseed included in the diet.
The herbs I include in my Overstrain Mix include the following; Rosehips, Equisetum, Nettle, Rue, Elecampane and Saw Palmetto with the Bach Flowers Gorse, Rescue Remedy and Larch.
The external cream includes the herbs Wintergreen, Hypericum, Linseed and Rosemary in Oil form and Maritime Pine and Elecampane in herbal extract form, again with Rescue Remedy.
A course of three to five months for anyone suffering an overstrain injury while gradually building up the work again, will ensure complete and healthy healing of any overstrain injury to either muscles or ligaments.
