June is men’s health month, and Nancy Walker, registered nurse and health educator at Naval Health Clinic Quantico, said she wanted to encourage men to prevent injuries in the first place rather than treating them after the fact.

“Just like you take care of your car, you should take care of your body,” she said, emphasizing the need for “regular maintenance.”

However, Walker said, men are more likely than women to be risk-takers and to neglect their bodies. That’s why she and others in the business of health aboard Quantico marked men’s health month with a series of injury-prevention information booths at Barber Physical Activity Center on June 12, 2013.

Part of preventing problems, as well as maintaining mission-readiness, is getting regular screenings such as ophthalmology and hearing tests and, for those older than 50 or with a family history of colon cancer, colonoscopy exams, she said.

Daily habits also play an important role in preventing injury and promoting long-term health, and Walker recommended quitting smoking, limiting alcohol intake, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, eating right and reducing stress as ways to stay healthy. She noted that the therapeutic massages offered by Semper Fit at the gym not only reduces stress but also increases blood circulation and removes toxins from the body.

Semper Fit dietician Lauren King had plenty of information on hand about eating right, but with summer starting, she was emphasizing hydration. “With the humidity in Virginia, a lot of people get outside to PT, and they don’t realize how dehydrated they are even after just 30 minutes of exercise,” she said.

As a general rule, she said, body weight in pounds, divided by two, is the minimum number of ounces of water one should drink each day, even before taking into account heat and exercise.

King also noted that water can often serve as an energy drink, as dehydration is the most common trigger of daytime fatigue. And, she said, drinking water can also help with weight loss, because more than two-thirds of Americans’ thirst mechanisms are so weak that thirst can be mistaken for hunger.

Walker also distributed pamphlets on caring for the knees, ankles and spine. For example, stretching, avoiding kneeling and deep squats, and wearing quality athletic shoes help prevent knee injury, while activity-specific footwear and improving balance decrease the likelihood of ankle injury. For balance improvement, she recommended yoga.

Dr. Jeff Wynn, chiropractor at the clinic, said the most common mistake he sees weight-lifters make is not putting a towel behind their necks when bench pressing, which would prevent them from overarching their backs or pressing chin to neck when exerting themselves. Using a bench low enough for the feet to reach the ground also prevents overarching, he said.

Maintaining proper posture and treating minor problems like stiffness and low-grade pain early on also help prevent bigger problems in the future, Wynn said, and he also emphasized striking a balance in exercise routines. “If you’re doing too much or doing too little, it’s dangerous either way,” he said.

Nate Brooks, director of marketing at VA Runner, was also on hand to talk about the use of proper footwear, inserts, recovery compression sleeves and massage rollers in preventing and recovering from injuries. “Today we’re just educating, providing information on footwear and the importance of it,” he said.

— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com