I’VE heard of cheese and wine being mixed together at posh dinners or reception parties, but never in a physio room and for fixing injuries.

And of all the ‘old wives tales’ that I’ve ever heard in football for short cuts to fixing injuries, the one that is this week reportedly to have been suggested by former Fulham manager Felix Magath to be the best way to fix a thing injury, really takes the biscuit.

And it got me thinking about some stories from the changing room when I was back as a physio working in professional football.

It was nearly always the older players and especially the managers, who would have the best stories of how they “used” to do it back when they played.

People like Dave Hodgson, Marc Proctor and Mick Tait, would, on a daily basis, recount several stories of suffering from “so and so” type of an injury, such as an ankle sprain, and then couldn’t resist telling everyone how they used to get fitter quicker because they would do something as scientific as to take a dip in the sea.

And doing so would “do it the world of good” and that they’d be back playing within days!

Now, I couldn’t ever bring my self to remind each one that back here in the 21st century, we now had access to things ice buckets and running water in physio departments (even at Darlington), so there really was no need for a 25-mile trip from Darlington to Seaton Carew to find some ice cold water to stand in and restrict swelling and bruising (the reason for the cold water being applied).

Most of Dave Hodgson’s miraculous injury stories where from his Liverpool days and involved people like Ian Rush, Jan Molby and Kenny Dalglish – I can still picture the three of them getting in their posh cars and heading for a day at the beach!

But anyway, other favourite ways to cure injuries that I’ve been told about include things like: rub some deep heat on it, “stick a strapping on it”, “tiger balm it”, “sleep it off”, “run it off”, “stretch it off”, “cut it off” and “just ignore it” – as if all of these things are going to make a BIG difference.

Now, back to the cheese suggested by Felix.

Actually “eating” the cheese may have done the Fulham player some good.

It’s got plenty of protein in it, which IS useful for muscle recovery, although I wouldn’t recommend it – as many types of cheese have the wrong type of cholesterol contained inside which you wouldn’t want stacked up inside your arteries. If you wanted protein in your body: stick with ham, or something like tuna. But, if you want it to repair a torn thigh muscle, best enjoy eating it as you’re going to have to eat a lot for it make any real significance in repairing a torn muscle.

As for the alcohol? I’m not sure I need to write a paragraph that weighs up the pros and cons of alcohol in your system for speeding up recovery. Needless to say doing so would make you very dehydrated and even more likely to pull other muscles.

Anyhow. If you have suffered from a thigh or other muscle injury recently, and you want to knew the best ways to recover from it that don’t include trips to the beach, resting it, “tigerbalming it” or running it off, then look here: www.paulgoughphysio.com/echo there’s a free report waiting for you to download instantly and in 27 pages it tells you the current best methods to get fit quick like the pros do it. Enjoy!