Recovering from a sports injury

Fitness is a lifestyle. We aim and aspire to be the best version of ourselves not only mentally but physically as well which is why many people would adopt an extravagant routine in life where their body is always in motion helping them to stay sharp and fit. At some point in life it becomes a necessity considering that with time you realize that it is best that your body stays within exercise so that as you grow old, your body and joints in particular stay in the best shape possible. Sports and fitness are subjective, they can be considered as consistent physical therapy throughout your life that keeps your bones and muscles going which is exactly why you should be involved in at least one kind of sport. May it be high intensity games such as football, basketball, baseball and cricket or it could be something that requires a milder variation such as jogging and cycling. As you are indulged within the sport that you cherish there might come a time when you have overdone yourself within a period of time or might have suffered a hard blow whilst playing a contact based sport resulting in an injury. These minor adversities are common in sports and in order to revive back you might need to work a bit on yourself. In this piece we will teach you how to recover from a sporting injury! https://ptsolutions.com/

Rest

The first step of recovery can be regarded as rest. This is the first initial phase where you have just contracted the injury on a very recent basis within hours or 1-2 days. This period of time can be catered as very essential but you would want to relax your injured part may it be a muscle, joint or your bone to prevent the injury from worsening further. Rest is divided into two important fragments

1. Analysis:

The first step to rest is analysis. You know that you are injured obviously and if you do not want to go see a doctor then you will have to diagnose yourself. A lot is dependent on the magnitude of the injury in all honesty, if the pain is unusually uncomfortable then you will have to go see a doctor, however in 1st grade injuries it is unlikely that you will need to. Either way you need to research how good or bad your condition is, how much time will it take for you to heal and what are the types of movements you need to avoid. Most importantly, whether it is appropriate to return to exercise as soon as possible. Your mind and focus should really be diverted towards analysis 24 hours within the injury.

2. Diet:

The importance of a good diet cannot be exaggerated enough. Just how it is necessary to eat well if you are someone who regularly indulges in sports it is also a must to eat the healthiest and best possible food so you gain strength quickly. Before and after physical therapy the protein you consume is extremely important so make sure to include chicken, beef and fish in your diet. Carbs are not exactly essential so you can lower their intake when you are injured and are planning your diet for the week.

Recovery and Rehab

Rehab and recovery are regarded as the most important stage of coming. For example, in the event of a muscle injury you need to make sure that you work on recovery to remaster full range of motion and to also strengthen the injured muscle. Rehabilitation in particular has different stages.

1. Recovering range of motion:

After injury your muscle or joint is damaged so when you start recovery, your two main aims are to strengthen the muscle over a passage of time and also recover the full range of motion. To elaborate, your injured body part should be able to operate in the same way that it used to before injury and this refers to movement in different angles, sprints and stops etc. Recovering the range of motion is the first step of physical therapy and the most important as well which is why your keen attention is needed. Resistance bands are perfect for you to practise and develop further range of motion to return back to your best.

2. Strengthening the muscle/bone:

 The second stage of rehab can be regarded as muscle or bone strengthening. This is essential for you if you want to return back to 100%. Recovering range of motion allows you to fully move yourself in different directions but muscle strengthening works in a different way with the emphasis being laid over the fact that you want to prevent re-injury. After basic injury, the fibers grow impeccably weak so you need to bring the might and power back to them. Let us take an example of a very common injury to football players in their thigh to the Rectus Femoris muscle. Now if the injury is to the 2nd grade or degree then there is a strong chance that your muscle is very weak now therefore if you do not work on making it strong then there is nearly a 70% chance of re-injury. Depending on the type of injury, you will have to work on your recovery and increase intensity and weight load time by time as the muscle keeps getting stronger.

3. Gaining back endurance:

It is important to note that whilst working on your recovery, the more you move closer to fitness you need to consider all factors to make sure that you comeback 100%. Which is why when you are 70% done with your recovery then it is also best to start doing light endurance exercises. The thought behind the doing is that injury restricts activity and when you can no longer stay involved then you are bound to lose your stamina and endurance which is why one of the last stages of recovery is gaining back your endurance. 

Revival

Revival can be considered as the final stage of recovering back to sport. Now you have successfully recovered from your injury and must revive again! It is important to note down that your muscle/joint is still not fresh and it takes time for it to note down the experience of the exercise so you need to make sure to lower down the intensity for the first two weeks. After you feel fresh again then you can do at your previous pace again and re-open the door to fitness!

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