LIFESTYLE . . . Healthy Living negative side effects of NSAIDs, Tylenol®, or aspirin. For short term inflammation like muscle soreness on a surf trip, use a proteolytic enzyme combination like bromelain, trypsin and chymotrypsin for 1,000-2,000mg daily on an empty stomach. For long-term use after a surf trip, take a mixture of ginger, turmeric, boswellia and other botanicals for 1,000-2,000mg per day. I use Anabolic Laboratories because they utilize a pharmaceutical-made process which maintains the highest standards of production. Contrary to popular belief, any ‘natural’ supplement or vitamin can have interactions with medications or pre-existing conditions. These enzymes are perfectly safe for most people, but do not use proteolytic enzymes if you are prone to stomach ulcers. On the El Salvador trip, I also used white willow bark as a natural pain-killer. White willow bark is in the Salicin family, or a cousin of aspirin. There are few if any documented negative side-effects of using white willow bark in the medical literature. Use this baby-aspirin equivalent if you want pain relief without the worry of trashing your liver or developing aspirin-induced stomach ulcers. In fact, the combination of proteolytic enzymes with white willow bark has been studied as being more effective than a placebo for musculoskeletal pain syndromes during short-term use for acute injuries! (2,3)
F Probiotics: This gut-friendly bacteria is very en vogue! Believe it or not, there are literally millions of types of stomach-friendly bacteria that make up the kingdom of healthy digestion and immunity in your stomach. Scientists are currently deciphering if there are certain bacteria strands that are better suited to treat specific conditions. Because I was concerned specifically about ‘traveler’s diarrhea’ in El Salvador, I consulted with my father, David B. Doman, MD, gastroenterologist and clinical professor of medicine at The George Washington University School of Medicine. He recommended two things: take an over-the-counter probiotic brand,
Dr. Sandra L. Doman is a chiropractic physician and registered yoga teacher. She earned her doctorate from Palmer College of Chiropractic, Florida Campus, and holds a B.S. in Marketing and Management from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Dr. Doman has worked with a variety of athletes including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and horse racing jockeys in addition to surfers. She is the President of the Dade County Chiropractic Society and author of, ‘A Yoga Doc’s Guide to Working with Injuries©,’ a 20-hour continuing education certification for yoga teachers. Have any other recommendations for preparing for a big surf trip? This is only a sprinkle on the cupcake of great tips to help you enjoy every minute of your surf travels. Please
Florastor®, daily for a week leading up to the trip as well as every day during the trip. There are many excellent probiotics available on the market today however Florastor® is noted as the best one to take to prevent and cure traveler’s diarrhea. Catching a stomach bug on your trip would be a total buzz kill! If you do happen to catch a particularly nasty stomach bug, he also recommends bringing a back up antibiotic prescription of Xifaxan® instead of Cipro®. Cipro® was issued the FDA’s sternest ‘black box warning’ for causing Achilles tendon rupture and tendinitis as well as a nasty, aggressive infection of the colon. Very bad! No antibiotics are good antibiotics, but they will get you out of a horrible emergency in a pinch! Please consult your own medical doctor about using pharmaceuticals specific to your own health history.
F Pedialyte® & bananas: Take a lesson from my mistake! On a lovely surf trip to Nicaragua in 2011, I became dizzy, pukey, and developed a rocking headache in the evening about half-way through the trip. The cause? Heat exhaustion and dehydration! If you’re paddling all day in crispy cool water with a light ocean breeze, you may not consume as much water as you are shedding in sweat. I drink as much water as I can handle on these surf trips, but when I’ve made a big paddle out, it’s very unlikely that I will come in for water breaks during a session. In El Salvador, I chowed on bananas like a Sun Bum® monkey and brought Pedialyte® to sip bed-side both first thing in the morning as well as right before bed. Dehydration causes our bodies to become imbalanced, as water is moving out more quickly than we can replace it through drinking. When the body loses too much water, it can no longer function efficiently. Pedialyte® travels well and will replenish you with potassium, sodium, and chloride. Bananas are the perfect super food for surfers by giving us carbohydrates, simple sugars and dietary fiber. This cheap and convenient food also packs a potassium punch, a mineral that helps your body avoid cramps while maintaining optimal nerve and muscular function.
EMOTIONAL CONDITIONING I have the funniest conversations about emotional stress relief with my patients. Not surprisingly, because ‘like attracts like’, my chiropractic office is chock-full of A-type driven athletic patients. My inner surfer and yogini seeks to guide these patients into a greater health balance by bringing awareness to the effects of mental stress on the physical body. No joke. Prolonged mental stress does a few deleterious things to your health, the least of which produces hormones that break down your body, decreases your immune system and can create a lasting feeling of anxiety or ‘disease’. Getting your ‘mind right’ in addition to getting your body ready for physical performance is the great secret of high level athletes. Because my A-type patients don’t want to hear about meditation and ‘om-ing’ around for stress relief, Bikram yoga is a great avenue to get your head in the right place for heavy surf. Forget the physical godliness that is procured in the 105 degree heated room, the 90 minutes of sustained yoga postures, and the lack of water breaks. In the face of extremely stressful conditions, this style of yoga teaches you how to take a calming breath and dig deep! The psychological training you develop with a regular Bikram yoga practice develops your ability to keep calm while maintaining mental strength under pressure. When you get pounded in the impact zone or held under water during a heavy set, your stress hormones kick in and the natural reaction is to panic! Bikram yoga is a dress rehearsal for successfully navigating the stress response. It will teach you how to remain calm, clear-headed and relaxed under extremely stressful conditions outside of the yoga studio. So was my pre-trip conditioning plan totally worth it? Absolutely! Pumping waves, stunning sunsets, impromptu yoga sessions, delicious El Salvadorean chow… I enjoyed every minute of the trip and in good health! F
feel free to email me questions or new tips at DrSandra@DrDoman.com or by visiting www.DrDoman.com. SOURCES: 1) Weyand PG, Sternlight DB, Bellizzi MJ, Wright S. Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces not more rapid leg movements. J Appl Physiol. 2000 Nov; 89(5):1991-9. 2) Bucci LR. Nutrition applied to injury rehabilitation and sports medicine. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 1995. 3) Bogduk N. Pharmacological alternatives for the alleviation of back pain. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2004;5(10):2091-98. Dr. Sandra Doman, Las Flores, El Salvador Photo: FernandezPhotoArt.com
54 | womenssurfstyle.com | wSSm