CLEVELAND, Ohio. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — The CDC reported that 27 million more Americans will become active by 2027 compared to 2020. More people in the gym means more people with inexperience about what exercising entails, which paves the way for injuries. A 2021 study found that injuries from rhabdomyolysis increased 10-fold from 2010 to 2019.
At the gym, you’re supposed to increase your difficulty only a little every time, if you go too hard too fast, you may put yourself at risk of rhabdomyolysis.
“Rhabdomyolysis is when muscle breaks down very rapidly and it leads to a big release of proteins that can be detrimental to the body,” explained Jessica Tomazic, MD, sports & exercise medicine doctor at Cleveland Orthopedic Institute.
Symptoms include muscle pain, swelling of limbs, dark urine, exhaustion, irregular heart rate, and brain fog.
“If you really think you have rhabdo, I would recommend that you go to the emergency room,” said Dr. Tomazic.
When your muscles break down, they release their compounds into the bloodstream, overloading the kidneys.
“It can lead to organ failure, which can lead to death,” Dr. Tomazic told Ivanhoe.
And she says rhabdo can happen outside of the gym.
“Things like trauma, infection, drugs, or like medication use, certain medication use, or people who are not moving for a long time,” Dr. Tomazic explained.
One two-year-old got rhabdo after a COVID infection. So what can you do to prevent it?
“You wanna progress your activity slowly. Secondly, you wanna make sure that you hydrate and maintain good proper nutrition,” said Dr. Tomazic.
Whether you’re training for a marathon or recovering from an illness, don’t push too hard — rhabdo is rare, but very serious.
Dr. Tomazic says treatment for rhabdo involves rest, an IV fluid, and electrolytes. Once protein levels are back to normal and symptoms are gone, you can discuss with your doctor starting light activity for two weeks, and from there work your way back up to your normal level of activity.
Contributors to this news report include: Marcy Wilder, Associate Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/active-people-healthy-nation/media/pdfs/Active-People-Tracker-Nov2023_508.pdf
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21184-rhabdomyolysis
* For More Information, Contact: Jessica Tomazic, MD
Sports & Exercise Medicine at Cleveland Orthopedic Institute
and
Grant Passell
Communications Associate at Cleveland Clinic
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