Injuries happen, and we all know it can really put a damper on our routines.
Many of us struggle with slowing down and feelings of “losing progress” but recovering from an injury shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Injuries when not properly healed can result in poor future outcomes such as repeat injuries or further dysfunction.
So, while getting back to physical activity, and even work after an injury can be hard, but there are ways to safely get you back to your exercise regime and restore your active life.
Treat Your Injury ASAP
A safe return to activity starts with proper and timely treatment when the injury occurs.
The mnemonic device RICE is one that you’re probably familiar with and is often used to treat common acute soft tissue injuries. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
If your injury is like many common sports injuries you should be able to safely follow this protocol to calm and heal the injury.
If you’re experiencing a more severe injury or one that does not respond to RICE make sure you contact your doctor or get the support of your Chiropractor or Physiotherapists like those at Kilian Chiropractic.
Also Read: Healthy Teeth: How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy?
Consider Supports
When you start to rebuild your strength and mobility after an injury, it can be easy for us to fall back into our old routines and try to push ourselves to function at the activity levels we were at before the Injury occurred.
This, however, can be a recipe for disaster.
While it’s true that some minor injuries may be easier to recover from and have you back to your 10k runs in no time, it’s always best to go slowly and build yourself back up after an injury to ensure you’re not causing more harm.
While it can be frustrating to make use of supports when working on building your strength and activity back up to where it was before, they are a helpful tool that can get you back on track safely and quickly.
Support can refer to a number of things – bracing, taping, and compression wear are a few of the most common supports used in those recovering from injury.
What supports you need will vary depending on the area and type of injury, but your healthcare team can help you choose and fit you for support so that you can start workout and restore your active life.If you already had mobility problems prior to your injury, they may recommend that you consider more long-term options for support. For instance, if you previously relied on a walking stick, with your injury, a mobility scooter might be a better option. You don’t have to worry about the practicalities that come with this, like having the right batteries to make it run, as you can easily find suitable battery chargers for mobility scooters, no matter what make you buy.
Slowly Build Your Strength With Help of a Physiotherapist
The key to safely getting back to your exercise regime after an injury is going slow and rebuilding your strength.
Depending on the type of Injury and length of recovery time, you may need to work on shifting from moving to accommodate the Injury to moving to strengthen and support your injury and return it to full function.
This is when the support of a physiotherapist Like the ones at Motus Physiotherapy can be invaluable.
A physiotherapist can help you focus your training on the specific muscles, joints and movements you need to strengthen after your injury, and get you back to doing what you love to do in no time – with the added bonus of helping you target the things you need to help prevent future injuries.
Give Yourself Time
“Slow and steady wins the race” is a common proverb for a reason, and it applies to getting yourself back to physical activity after an injury too!
We live in a society that pushes us to constantly keep moving, but that’s not often the best thing for our health and when it comes to injury recovery, slow and steady is where you’ll see the best results and with time you’ll be able to restore active life.
When an injury occurs, rest and follow the RICE method or whatever method your healthcare team has recommended for at least 2 days (unless advised otherwise).
Once you’re on the mend, go slow and incorporate the other suggestions we mentioned above, and you should be injury free and safely back to your routine in no time!
Just remember to practice self-compassion and be gentle with yourself, recovery is a process and the goal is not to recover the quickest it’s to recover safely and with a plan in place to help prevent further injury.
Hi, I’m the Founder and Developer of Paramedics World, a blog truly devoted to Paramedics. I am a Medical Lab Tech, a Web Developer and Bibliophiliac. My greatest hobby is to teach and motivate other peoples to do whatever they wanna do in life.