Staying active is an excellent way to not only be fit but also improve your overall health. It doesn’t matter what kind of physical activity you engage in, there will be benefits. So, what happens when the sport you love to participate in leads to an injury? Suddenly you’re on the sidelines wondering when you’ll feel ready to get back to your regular activity. You may be dealing with pain, a loss of flexibility and motion, as well as other issues.
Here’s a look at how you can heal and bounce back from a sports-related injury.
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Give It a Rest – Take a Break from Sports and Exercise
While it may not be what you want to hear, it’s important to give your body a rest so it can heal. This means stopping sports and exercises temporarily – at least while it causes extreme pain. For minor injuries, you may not be sidelined for long but you don’t want to risk further injury by pushing yourself too far too fast. Once you can begin to move comfortably, take things slow. Generally speaking, for a basic sports injury, three to five days of rest is usually enough.
Use a Combination of Ice, Heat, Elevation and Compression
During those days of rest, you can adopt a routine of ice, heat, elevation and compression. Each one will have a different impact on your injury, all of which will be essential. These tips can help reduce swelling, pain, aid in mobility and speed up recovery.
Introduce Strength Training to Your Recovery Process
After the first few days of rest, you may be able to introduce strength training. Of course, it depends on how severe the injury is, but when done correctly, strength training can help speed up the healing and ensure you don’t develop a weakness in that affected area.
Give Physiotherapy a Try
Even with all your great intentions and careful habits for healing, you may need some professional help. It’s worth considering finding a physio in Barnsley that deals with sports injuries such as yours. There are several options when it comes to physiotherapy in Barnsley. Even something like deep tissue massage in Barnsley or sports massage in Barnsley can be worth researching.
An experienced physiotherapist in South Yorkshire will be well-equipped to deal with a common sports-related injury. The ATP Physio Clinic, for example, offers additional treatments such as massages and PRP joint and soft tissue injections, both of which can help with pain management and healing.
Remember that physiotherapy tends to work best when you’re also following a strict recovery plan at home.
Make Sure Warm-Ups and Cool Downs are Part of Your Future
Once you have recovered from your sports injury, it’s a good idea to use preventative tips so it doesn’t happen again. One of the simplest tips you can use is to include a warm-up and cool-down as part of your activities. This means doing gentle light stretches before you play a sport, and finishing in the same way.
If you’re feeling down about a sports injury and wondering when recovery will ever happen, try giving these tips a try.