Expert: Alan Kahn - 7/17/2007

Question
Hello Sir, my name is Robby and I am 25yo. I have been boxing for a few years now, but I have been competing amateur for a abour 4 mths now.  I am in the AF stationed in ND and have to work alot, along with trying to train as much as possible.  I am starting to feel the effects of past injuries that I thought were gone, such as a shoulder and wrist pain.  I was wondering what type of food or supplements do you recommend for joint pain and soreness.  Also, I tore my acl last year and am trying to strengthen it as much as possible. Any tips?

Answer
HI Robby,

I am not very knowledgeable about food supplements for I don't really use them much. For chronic soreness I would really suggest backing off a little and examine your exercise regime. Recurrent injury pain from older dings is not unusual for our body always remembers a past injury and overuse usually aggravates the area. There is no magic bullet for that, except to rehab the injury correctly the first time. Pain usually indicates a need to rest the area and let it heal. Ice is always a quick help after exercise, reducing swelling.  Some people (and doctores) really like Glucosamine as a muscle pain, cartilage supplement.  

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/glucosamine/AN00619

others swear by shark cartilage
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-sharkcartilage.html

personally, I think they help by lightening your wallet, easy the weight on your hip joint, but that is a personal opinion only.

I have been through Rehab many times for shoulder and neck issues, and have seen many athletes after ACL repair going through rehab also.  The best I can offer you there is links to some very reliable sites that discribe the rehab activities used.  

http://www.orthoassociates.com/ACL_Rehab_protocol.htm

http://sportsci.org/encyc/aclinj/aclinj.html

http://www.dynamic-edge.com/acl.html

perhaps the AF has a sports related athletic trainer or physical therapist that could demonstrate some ACL exercises, as well as offer advice about your chronic injury pains in the wrist and shoulder.  Don't be surprised if you hear the words, "rest" and "ice".  The appear a lot in these types of problems.  

Good luck with your training efforts and remember, "you are older now than you have ever been..", so be good to your joints.  thanks for your question.