Safety/Injuries Archive

Fitness levels rapidly diminish when people abruptly stop workouts. Cardiovascular fitness declines within weeks, while muscle strength deteriorates after about two months. The longer a person hasn't exercised, the longer it will take to regain prior fitness levels. To restart exercise, people should seek their doctor's approval, especially if they have chronic conditions; build up exercise levels slowly; do the same types of exercises they once enjoyed; find an exercise partner; and track progress with wearable devices or by keeping a paper log.

Pickleball elbow is a type of tendinitis called lateral epicondylitis. The injury can result from gripping a pickleball paddle tightly for long periods or repeatedly twisting and turning the wrist while preparing to hit the ball. To avoid pickleball elbow, doctors recommend that players improve their muscle strength, use a paddle with the right grip size, build time on the court gradually, warm up their muscles before playing, stretch muscles afterward, ice their elbows after playing, and get guidance to hone their pickleball technique.

About half of all falls take place in the home. To prevent them, it helps to eliminate fall hazards in every room of the home, such as floor clutter and throw rugs.

A 2023 study noted a sharp rise in injuries (from 2001 to 2020) among people who walked dogs on leashes. Dog walkers most commonly suffered broken fingers, shoulder sprains, and traumatic brain injuries.

A 2023 study suggests that women and older adults are more likely to sustain serious injuries, such as fractures and head trauma, than others while walking a leashed dog.

There's no time to lose when someone suffers a burn. For a minor burn on a small area of skin, run cool water over it for 20 minutes to help limit damage, and then apply petroleum jelly or antibiotic cream and cover the burn with a bandage. If a blister develops, dab antibacterial cream on it, cover it with a bandage, and get to a doctor as soon as possible. Second-degree burns that are large or involve the face, hands, feet, or genitals, and all third-degree burns, warrant a call to 911.

If you work out at a gym, you may notice warnings on the exercise equipment. For most of us, these warnings should not be cause for alarm, although people with certain health conditions should be cautious about exercising.

Tramadol is a painkiller used to relieve moderate to severe pain. Learn more about this medication and if it might be right for you.

Some supplements can interfere with lab tests to diagnose or monitor health conditions, which can lead to life-threatening misdiagnoses or unnecessary additional testing. Biotin (vitamin B₇) can skew results from a blood test to diagnose heart attack. Other problematic supplements include vitamin C, which can interfere with blood sugar readings and stool tests; calcium, which can make bones appear denser than they are on bone density scans; and creatine, which can lead to falsely high readings of creatinine, a marker for kidney disease.

An estimated 2.5 million Americans have implanted heart devices, which can be affected by magnetic or electrical interference from electric vehicle charging stations, induction cooktop stoves, and smaller gadgets such as smartphones and wireless earbuds. Magnetic energy can cause pacemakers to revert to a preset mode that may be faster or slower than the programmed heart rate. Electrical interference can cause a pacemaker or implanted cardioverter defibrillator to mistakenly stop functioning or deliver an unneeded shock.