Injuries happen. Any person who practices regular physical exercise on an almost daily basis will at one point suffer an injury. This might be a simple sprain, or it might be a serious tear. Perhaps the injury itself hasn’t been caused by a specific action (i.e. you falling or slipping), but rather damage to your knees, for example, by continual use, wear, and tear. No matter the problem that has occurred you, of course, need to deal with it.
Just leaving the injury as is, and “toughing it out”, will lead to a disaster. What you want and need is to treat the injury as it should be treated, do everything you can to let it heal properly. An injury that has not been treated adequately will cause you serious trouble down the line, it will make you more prone to other injuries, as well as leading to serious chronic pain down the line. The article below deals with a couple of ways you can let your sports injury heal completely.
Visit a professional immediately
First things first – no matter how bad your injury is, or if you think you can just walk it off, visit a professional. Don’t stay complacent, and don’t let your ego take the wheel. Rather, go to the doctor, and listen to what he or she has to say. Maybe you need immediate treatment, maybe you don’t, but there is only one way to find out.
Namely, if you just try to leave it be, it can heal in an improper way, or cause even worse issues. The more you procrastinate on this problem, the worse it will get. Basically everything you do needs to be in line with your doctor’s advice and instruction.
Go back slowly
No matter if you’re a hard-core athlete or like to casually work out, you still need to watch out when you get back in the game. You can’t just go 100% into it like before, you need to ease into your workout, you need to start slow, and move forward from there. There is still a chance that you are vulnerable, and the last thing you need is to finish up your rehabilitation and then end up at the doctor’s office in less than a week. Furthermore, this injury will most likely be worse than the previous one, since your injured spot is weaker and more vulnerable.
Stick to your rehab regimen
Too many people, to their doctor’s chagrin, don’t follow the instructions their physicians give them. You can visit the best possible sports injury clinic, get the best treatment, the most thorough exam, and high-level instructions and therapy, and it all won’t matter much if you don’t stick to it.
So, don’t be lazy. If your doctor says – do this regimen five days a week, you are to do it five days per week. No more, no less. Do it too often can also cause problems since you won’t give your body enough time to rest.
Try the RICE method
One of the best things you can do to help your injury heal is to stick to the RICE method. Namely, if you have a muscle tear or a simple sprain or pull, the RICE method will do wonders. Namely, this acronym stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
Rest is pretty simple and clear – just relax, try to give your injured tendons and muscles as much rest as possible. You don’t want to cause even more stress to the injury, letting it rest is vital. Furthermore, most of your body’s healing processes happen when you sleep, so try to get a good eight hours every night.
Now, ice means you should put some ice on the injured area for around 20 to 30 minutes per session, about four to eight times per day. This will lower bleeding, swelling, muscle spasms, and pain. We advise you to put the ice into an icepack and then wrap that into cloth (or get a specialized sports ice pack). Putting an ice pack directly on an injury several times per day can be very unpleasant, and can damage your skin.
Compression is also there to help with swelling, though this should be done with the advice of your doctor. Finally, elevation helps with pain and swelling as well. Use a pillow, or some kind of sling, and elevate the injured area.
Conclusion
If you want to avoid having your injury become much, much worse than it already is, we advise you to stick with the methods above. Get as much rest and relaxation as possible, and stick to the RICE method. Of course, immediate treatment is obligatory, since, unless you yourself have medical training, you simply don’t know how serious an injury is. Proper rehab does wonders as well, and going slow when going back to the game is vital.
