Leisure & Wellness

Look out Phnom Penh, Melissa Fisher has hit the racetrack. Without hesitation you press down on the gas and wonder, perhaps a bit too late, “Does my traveler’s insurance cover this?” Grasping the steering wheel of the plastic yellow go-cart, you hit the accelerator and take off. With the sun beaming down on the hot red #4 cart, you will the wheels to grip the road and make a sharp right, only to look up and hope the emaciated cow grazing nearby does not suddenly decide to cross your path. Situated out in the boonies, a few kilometers past the airport, on the right-hand-side of Road No. 4, Kamb…

It’s not so easy top keep your face looking as smooth as a baby’s bum. Even keeping abreast of the latest technology is taxing. Nora Lindstrom goes to EL Skin to try out its LHE treatment.There used to be a time when weekly Saturday bathing was all there was to body care. Then came daily moisturising, with the occasional mask and scrub. Now, it’s all about hi-tech solutions designed to eliminate skin problems from pimples, through wrinkles, to fat and stretch marks. Thankfully, there’s at least one spa in town that’s on top of the latest developments. Run by Sim Sovanratana, who has a diploma …

Though not for those with severe vertigo, rock climbing is a fun and challenging activity for people of all ages. Now you can also do it in Phnom Penh. Words by Nora Lindstrom.Moving to Cambodia can mean having to give up particular sports or hobbies, especially if they relate to ice or snow. A novel setting can however also prompt starting something new. With Khlimb the Penh, the capital’s latest recreational club, not only those with a background in rock climbing can enjoy the sport, beginners can have a crack at it too. “We’ve had people between the ages of four and seventy climb the wall,”…

Many people like having a footbath as part of a foot massage, but how many know that you can detox yourself at the same time? Words by Mark Jackson. My mother always told me that water and electricity do not mix. So, as I sit with my feet in a basin of water while the technician drops the transformer in, I feel some trepidation. A contact is strapped to my wrist and some salt is added to the water. No, this is not the latest Pentagon-approved interrogation technique, but a detox bath. My technician turns on the switch and tells me to keep my feet still for 30 minutes. Invented by an American d…

The road to recovery takes many paths….

Every one knows that injuries can be very frustrating. Not only do they cause pain and disability, but they also result in time away from your chosen sport, and even work. Once an injury occurs it is important to get a precise and accurate diagnosis of the structures involved in order to get a specific recovery plan that will return you to your chosen activity without injury recurrence. Understanding the structures involved in injury, and how they heal, is key to understanding how to recover.

Not all injuries heal at the same rate. The two most important factors in injury healing are the severity of injury, and the actual tissue structure involved. Different tissues heal in different ways and time frames. This relates to both the natural regenerative capacity of the tissue, and to the amount of natural blood supply to that tissue. The higher the natural blood flow, the faster an injury will heal. This is more important than other factors such as your age, or whether you are a “quick healer”.

Muscles have a very high blood flow and generally heal up quickly, with partial return to activity within a week or two, and complete return within a few weeks. Bone is very similar with rapid healing in most cases. Generally speaking, bone has the best capacity to completely regenerate itself once damaged. Tendons and cartilage on the other hand have a very poor blood supply and can take many months to heal once damaged. A common example of this is “tennis elbow” – the tendon becomes inflamed (“tendinitis”) and then degenerates, causing pain and weakness. All tendons in the body are composed primarily of thick fibrous collagen with very few blood vessels within the tendon itself. The poor blood supply hampers recovery and makes treatment difficult. Medications rely on blood delivering them to the tissues, as does the body’s natural healing mechanisms.  

Tendon injuries require careful and elaborate rehabilitation programs that are designed to regenerate damaged tendon without aggravating or overloading them. Many therapeutic modalities are employed to try and recover from these injuries, ranging from anti-inflammatory medication, to physiotherapy, injections, or surgery. Cartilage, particularly articular cartilage (joint surface cartilage) is the tissue least capable of healing itself naturally. It has almost no blood supply at all and thus its natural ability to regenerate once damage is severely limited.

There are many effective treatments for managing sports injuries, but no single treatment is wholly effective in every situation, and many treatments are inappropriate. However, RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) is universally accepted as the most effective immediate treatment of any injury to any tissue until a more definitive assessment and treatment plan can be obtained.

Dr Elise Reid is a specialist in Sports Medicine at the International SOS Clinic in Phnom Penh. She has a Masters degree in Sports Medicine and a degree in Medicine. Prior to coming to Cambodia she was a sports doctor for Essenden AFC.