5 Steps to Recovery After Experiencing a Sports Injury

Getting injured is a complete nightmare, especially if you are active and an athlete. Injures mean sitting out of games, lost time at the gym and just feeling like you have been defeated. You are not the only one who wants to recover quickly and rush back to being active again after the injury, but it is very important to rest. Many athletes and fitness fanatics want to get back in action as soon as they can because they don’t want their hard work to go to waste. So, if you want to avoid the pain and emotional distress that comes with a sports injury, follow our simple steps that will lead you towards quicker recovery.

Step 1: See a Doctor

First, you need to know the difference between being hurt and suffering from an injury. You need to get help from a doctor and not self-diagnose the injury. We all love to play doctor for ourselves, and even worse, offer advice to our partners at the gym or our friends. Self-diagnosing is a very bad idea. We believe that you need to let the professionals assess your injury, because all sports injuries have similar symptoms.

Work with your doctor on a rehab program that is exercise-based. You can also seek help from a physical therapist or a personal trainer who can help you correct bad movement patterns and muscle imbalances so that any other injuries are prevented.

Step 2: Do Not Mask the Injury

Avoid covering up the injury by using some over the counter drugs, splints, wraps and supports, without proper instructions from a professional. If you use supports without advising a medical professional, you can cause muscular imbalance if you do it improperly. The severe pain is your body letting you know that you are doing something wrong. If you are masking the body’s natural defenses, you will be at risk of worsening your condition, which can make your recovery last even longer.

Step 3: Have Patience

You need to follow the prescribed treatment your doctor has given you and not let the frustration and worry of losing your form convince you to do too much, too soon. Your body will need time to heal itself and exercising before you are fully healed is a very bad idea. You need to have an understanding of how the injury has occurred, so that you can avoid any further injuries. Knowing what went wrong is going to benefit you mentally, because getting injured can really shake up and impact your confidence levels.

Step 4: Do Not Take Unnecessary Risks

If you have any doubts, always ask your doctor questions. If you have twisted your ankle, and believe that you can still work on your upper body, you might be wrong. Muscles are individual entities, but our body is one complete unit connected by complex connective tissues and fascia. Some lower body injuries will not affect your ability to do upper body exercises, but there is still a chance that the stress you will be placing on your body may cause a chain reaction that can cause other injuries. So, when you see your doctor, ask them some important questions, like how long you should rest and what exercises you can do.

Step 5: Step 5: Train Smart

You have to be aware that your body will lose its conditioning quickly when you stop exercising. Understand that you cannot continue to exercise at the same intensity as before. You need to follow a slow and gradual approach in getting your performance levels back up. An excellent way to get back after an injury is to focus on the duration of the exercise, not on the intensity. This should go on for a couple of weeks. Try to do low-impact moves before you attempt more stressful high-impact moves.

Try to have a positive outlook and do not let any minor setbacks derail your active lifestyle. If you are starting to feel depressed, look for some other activities that will change your mood until your injury is completely healed. Maybe this physical rest is something you needed all along, a time to finally finish reading that book or spend some quality time with your friends.