Mend it like Beckham

David Beckham's left foot has become a national obsession; will it or won't it have healed in time for the World Cup?

Much depends on the efforts made by the medical team at Manchester United, who are drawing on the latest sports-medicine expertise to speed up the healing process of the broken metatarsal bone.

Normally, such an injury takes between four and six weeks to heal with another two to four weeks needed for rehabilitation. But according to some reports, our super-hero could be back on both feet in half that time.

Here, with the help of experts, we've compiled the David Beckham survival guide, a sure-fire healing process that could work for anyone with a broken bone ...

Diet

According to John Brewer, director of the Sports Injury Centre at Lilleshall National Sports Centre, the place many football clubs send players to recover from injury, Beckham will have been advised by a sports dietitian to reduce his calorie intake so that he doesn't gain weight during his lay-off.

"This is crucial to his recovery," says Brewer. "He is probably expending up to 2,000 less calories a day and if he were to continue with his usual diet, it would result in weight gain that would affect his comeback." Leading sport dietitian Louise Beaver of Leeds Metropolitan University says that his recovery diet should include all important minerals. "It is a myth that consuming lots of calcium by drinking more milk will hasten recovery from a fracture," she says. "But you can complement the healing process of a fracture by eating well. Calcium,

found in dairy foods and green vegetables, needs vitamin D, found in oily fish, to be absorbed by the body, so include those foods in your diet.

"And it is wise to limit your intake of phytic acid, a substance in foods like bran and brown rice, that inhibits calcium absorption. Avoiding rhubarb and spinach, rich in oxalic acid which also lowers calcium absorption, is another tip."

She adds that a lack of calcium and vitamin D will leave you more prone to fractures in the first place, so make sure you eat them regularly.

Suppliments

"There is no supplement that will magically speed up recovery from a broken bone," says John Brewer. "But taking glucosamine might aid future injury prevention." Glucosamine sulphate is a building block for cartilage tissue and, in a study published in The Lancet journal, it was shown actively to prevent the wear and tear of ageing joints as well as lessen pain of injury.

It is widely used for protection by sports people whose knees and hips are put under enormous pressure when they train. David Wilkie, the former Olympic swimming champion, used the supplement for 20 years and says it helped him cope with the demands of training twice a day throughout his career.

Micro-current therapy

It is likely that Beckham will opt for a new alternative to conventional ultrasound to get him back into training quickly. Micro-current therapy is said to stimulate the regeneration of cells, which helps muscles regain their strength more rapidly, and has already been used on some of his Manchester United team mates. Physiotherapists use a small machine called the Micro Doctor to administer electric currents with one millionth the power of a torch battery. Two 30-minute treatment sessions are needed twice a day, but, according to sports medicine specialists, they can cut recovery time by half.

"He will need to rebuild his leg muscles, which will have become wasted through lack of exercise, so this could help," says Brewer.

Wobble-board

Physiotherapists favour a tried-andtested device called a wobble-board for improving ankle and foot mobility after injury. Constructed from a flat wooden board with two pieces of concave wood fixed underneath, the idea is that you stand on the platform and, keeping your feet glued to the surface, rock backwards and forwards. "It will increase strength in the ankle and foot, but crucially it will also relieve stiffness and swelling," says Brewer.

For a more fun approach, try the Wobbler device, based on the same principle, but you must manoeuvre balls through a maze by shifting your body weight.

? The Wobbler, £39.99, from The Physical Company (01628 520208).

Reconditioning

Once he is able to exercise, Beckham should opt for sessions in a low-oxygen chamber that works on the same principles as the oxygen tent, says Brewer, but is big enough to fit training equipment, such as rowing machines and treadmills, inside. "Training in a low-oxygen environment is significantly more taxing than exercising in normal conditions, so you are forced to work harder which means you improve cardiovascular fitness in less time," he adds.

"Beckham will be limited by his foot at first, but could still do onelegged rowing or cycling. From there, he will progress to specific strength training prescribed by his trainers."

Leslie Watson, a chartered physiotherapist and former international marathon runner, says jogging in a swimming pool using a buoyancy vest to keep him afloat could also aid recovery. Water acts as a giant cushion to the human body, so it is much kinder to injuries than hard surfaces.

"A lot of elite sports people are advised to run in water when they are injured. It allows them to simulate running physiologically so that they get all the cardiovascular benefits and stay fit, but without aggravating their injury," says Watson. "In addition, water running helps to stretch and strengthen damaged muscles and tendons, clearing fluid from the injured area and preventing scarring.'