nurses on ward legs resuscitation

8/14/2019 Nurses on Ward Legs Resuscitation

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Nurses Accidental Athletes Recovery

Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan

http://aching-legs.org/the_nurse_aching_legs-recovery.html

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Swollen anklesThese swollen ankles are mine after I was testing out a theory on long flights but it is a fair bet

that many nurses have them like this at the finish of their day

When you are on your feet all day the calf muscles start to fatigue, power stops being supplied

to the pump and the blood just pools around the ankles-the water (or lymph fluid) separates

from it and migrates into the tissues in and around the ankles-so they swell

As it is not being pumped away fast enough from the lower legs, the ankles swell or haveedema

Recovery from swollen feet and ankles does not come just with just sitting down resting at thenurses station and hoping they will go away-all this does is to leave the fluid in the lower legs

and lets the muscles cool down-the muscles in the back of the legs sitting position shorten andon standing it is difficult to walk properly as the legs are not straight

Like these guys who have just run for 3 days they stand up they can barely move!

These are 2 people who have just been running for 3 days around a running track in all

weathers and they have aching legs

The professional athlete’s career for all their care only lasts a few years, the nurse is hoping for

a career that will last for years without any ongoing self-maintenance, they should realize that

unlike like a cars tyres which when they wear out they can be changed, the nurses legs when

they wear out can’t be

(to find out what can go wrong with the legs see www.hazards.org/standing)

If the nurse wishes to have as long a career as the athletes is short, they should

make some changes to their maintenance routine



http://www.hazards.org/standing










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There are 2 major groups of options to relieve aching legs

These are passive and active

Aching Leg Relief

The relief of aching legs can be approached in different ways and the decision of which way togo is dependent on a number of factors-the biggest one being what other commitments you

have in your life at that present time and the time you have to commit to it

Passive Relief

The ‘passive’ option is the most recommended way to relieve aching legs

Find a quiet area and lie down with the legs elevated to let the fluid flow back

(Been there-done that-didn’t seem to work too well-I was stiff when I stood upand went light headed)

That like the ultra marathon runners and walkers nurses do not have time to wait forpassive recovery to work at relieving those aching legs-the active option is better

Ultra Athletes

Ultra athletes cover a lot of ground, like nurses they are on their feet for many hours and their

legs get fatigued-they suffer from sore feet, sore legs, swollen ankles, stiffness, wasted

muscles, muscle cramps, tiredness, mental fatigue, restless legs, sore skin, night pains, musclespasm, muscle wastage, swollen ankles, hyperthermia, hypothermia, temper tantrums,

vomiting, food sensitivity, allergies, rashes, loss of judgement-and that is the good part

The runner in the red shirt had been going for 4 hours when fatigue hit him; he was discovered

at the side of the track lying down unable to move-here you see him 20 minutes later up andmoving again

How was he able to get going so quickly and obviously happy because he got on the track

again and was able to finish the event?










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The Calf Muscle Pump

The calf muscle pump is a major part of circulation in the lower legs

All the fluids in the body gravitate down towards the lowest part of the body; the feet-gravity

holds it there and prevents it from going back up to the body for recycling and recirculation as

fresh blood

The calf muscles are the motors for a pump called the calf muscle pump that forces used

blood against gravity through one-way valves in the veins back up the body, but to provide the

power for this they need to be moving-it they don’t, they can’t contribute to circulation-so usedblood stays in the ankles and feet

Because the muscle tissues are not being refreshed with supplies of fresh blood, the muscles

fatigue and they ache with the legs increasing in weight as the fluid builds up-they are heavy tocarry around, and this leads to fatigue

Aching legs fatigued muscles and recovery

Someone with aching legs and ultra marathoners both have the same thing in common-how torecover from their aching legs and fatigued muscles quickly, and the quickest most effective

way of doing this is simply to work the calf muscle pump so that the output of used blood andthe input of fresh blood is increased

To stop the muscles fatiguing, fresh oxygen and nutrient filled blood has to keep being

supplied to the muscles-but when the muscles are fatigued they can’t work at facilitating orsupplying their own needs

The active way then is to manually reduce some of the fluid that has built up in the lower legs

and allow fresh blood to enter the muscle tissues

Using an environmentally friendly pro-active leg recovery system is easier than you thinkwhen you learn how to use the muscles to work on them selves

But an especially good way to recover from aching legs is to simply work the calf musclepump by hand to break the cycle of inactivity caused through muscle fatigue and get rid ofsome of the depleted fluid so that fresh blood can enter the muscle tissues

The secret to leg recovery

The calf muscle pumpThe calf muscles act as the motor for a pump to take it from the feet back to the body againstgravity through the venous system where it is re-nourished and recirculated-but to be working

they have to move.










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The latest in non-polluting, non-technical method of leg recovery techniques is being used

The active way to help the legs recover is to learn how to work with the musclesIf you can use your hands you have the tools to do the job of recovery










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Quickly-easily and in an environmentally friendly way!

Recovery from leg fatigue or ongoing leg maintenance using

Light Manual Muscle Relaxation-the massage –lite system

Here I am giving a demonstration of leg recovery in Denmark using

Light Manual Muscle Relaxation

Everyone needs recovery after a tough day-and the fact that to get it blood to themuscles in the legs needs refreshing

But to get that old depleted blood in the lower legs needs pumping out of them so that new fresh blood

can be pumped in-simple really

The World Run Recovery System is a simple system that is easy to use withoutthe need for equipment other than the hands

Resource Box

Michael Gillan is an Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist who has been a masseur around many

ultra long distance events both in Australia and internationally since he was a student in 1993

In 1995 while working at a 6 day run, he changed the approach to recovery of the athletes fromthe conventional way of working on the muscles using the hands and fingers to increase muscle

blood circulation, to working with the muscles and making them work on themselves

The results from this changeover can be seen on the Coburg result sheet on page 5

In 1996 Michael went to the Nanango 1000 Mile 16 day event where it was tested and helped

the worlds 4-5 and 11th to achieve their distances

Other notable events the World Run Recovery System was tested on was World Run 1 with

Jesper Olsen www.worldrun.org and the World Run 2 training camp in Denmark in 2007



http://www.worldrun.org/










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I am presently supporting 2 student nurses in the Philippines please buy a manual ifyou go there so I can continue doing this

Aching legs should always be checked out by a medical professional before doing anything to

and with them because there are many medical reasons why they may be aching-see aphysician first

If you want more details go to my website at







nurses on ward legs resuscitation

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