How to recover from a sports injury
After sustaining a sports injury, taking care of your body is imperative. You may feel frustrated with the incident, which is understandable, but sooner or later, you must take the necessary steps to get back on track. To do that, you have to focus on your recovery. While it may be tempting to get active quickly, it’s not beneficial for your healing, as it will slow down the process.
Whether you are a casual runner or an experienced soccer player, suffering a sports injury is challenging – besides stopping you from practising the sport you love, it may also cause immense pain. And the suffering isn’t only physical – an injury can also take a toll on your mental health, causing you distress.
In this article, you’ll learn some tips on how to recover from a sports injury – both physically and mentally – so that you can get back to your favourite activity as soon as possible.
Do some stretching
If you’ve sustained a severe injury, you may have to wait a while before getting back to your routine. Supposing you’ve suffered an injury such as pulled or torn muscles, stretching is not recommended, as it can worsen your injury.
However, you may be able to practice some light stretching and exercise for other types of injuries – but only under your doctor’s approval. Stretching is beneficial for your muscles, conditioning them and preventing future injuries.
Use RICE therapy
The acronym RICE comprises four elements – rest, ice, compression and elevation – and it’s a critical method that helps treat acute soft tissue injuries. RICE therapy can help control the inflammation and start the recovery process early.
The initial phase of sports injury results in redness, warmth and swelling, followed by pain. Cold therapy can alleviate the pain while using a soft bandage for compression limits swelling. Also, it’s essential to elevate the injured area up to 48-72 hours after sustaining the injury to reduce swelling that happens because of gravity. Here are the four elements of RICE therapy:
- Rest. After suffering an injury, it’s imperative to stop the activity right away and rest for the first two days. Resting is essential to prevent further bruising. Also, you should avoid putting weight on the wounded area for at least 24 hours.
- Ice. The next step is to apply an ice pack covered with an absorbent and light towel for 15 to 20 minutes every 2 or 3 hours. You should do this during the 24 to 48 hours after you’ve sustained the injury. The cold can help decrease swelling and pain. Don’t worry if you don’t have an ice pack – you can also use a bag of frozen corn or peas.
- Compression. This is the third element of RICE therapy, and it involves wrapping the wounded area with an elastic medical bandage to avoid swelling. You should do a snug wrap, but not too tight to interrupt blood flow.
- Elevation. You should raise the wounded body part above your heart’s level – this helps decrease pain, swelling and throbbing. You can use a pillow for elevation.
Get a diagnosis
Minor sprains usually improve considerably after resting for about two weeks and taking a break from practising sports. However, you must visit a doctor if you don’t notice any improvements. A medical expert can give you a proper diagnosis by performing a detailed clinical examination. Imaging tests like scans or X-rays will allow the doctor to assess any critical injury, such as inflammation in the spinal cord or nerves.
Getting an accurate diagnosis is critical to get treatment as soon as possible and start your recovery faster without any complications. Some injury symptoms may occur only after some time from the incident, such as whiplash. This type of injury often results from car accidents, and victims can claim compensation in the UK for the damage they’ve suffered. But whiplash can also result from sports injuries, and while it is considered a relatively mild condition, it can cause discomfort and long-term suffering. You may have also sustained other types of injuries that may negatively impact your life, and this is why it is critical to get examined by a doctor to ensure you can safely go back to your routine after treatment.
Eat healthily
Your diet can strongly influence your healing process. During recovery, make sure to eat foods rich in proteins. Protein is critical for muscle development, which will be vital when you return to practising sports again. Omega-3 fats and Vitamin C can also support healing due to their anti-inflammatory properties.
Thus, include foods like walnuts, chia seeds and salmon in your diet.
If you’ve suffered a bone injury like a fracture, you should also eat calcium-rich foods like yoghurt, almonds, cheese and milk.
Get enough rest
Usually, you should wait at least one to three days before you get moving again. However, this depends on your injury’s severity and your doctor’s advice.
As you take this time to rest, you can reflect on the factors that led to your injury. Did you push yourself past your physical limits? Or did you fail to warm up adequately? Or perhaps you used a poor technique. Thinking about what caused your injury can help you take the essential steps to prevent future similar injuries. Sometimes, injuries can occur due to a freak accident, but there are also times when you can learn a necessary lesson from such an incident.
Be patient
This is perhaps one of the most challenging parts of recovery. However, being patient is imperative – if you give your body enough time to heal correctly, you’ll reap the rewards and be able to look forward to a bright future where you can practice the sport you love.
Often, athletes are impatient and want to jump back into physical activity before their body recovers completely. But doing this can result in re-injury and a longer recovery haul. Therefore, you should practice patience during the healing process and not rush things. During this time, you can engage in other activities – for instance, you can pick up a new hobby. While it may not fulfil you as much as sports, you may discover a new passion.
