A sports injury can be devastating, and completely unexpected. You could play the same sport or do the same exercise every day and never experience anything, and then one day, something happens, and you’re left with a painful injury that puts you out of the game. Taking the time to recover is important and while you might want to push yourself to bounce back straight away, this will not have a happy ending and could leave you out of the game for life. Learn more about recovering from a sports injury and get back to fighting fit.
Get medical attention
This might seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people leave their sports injuries untreated, believing they’ll just go away or are as minor as a sprain. It’s always worth getting a medical opinion just to rule out something serious. If it is something more serious, surgery could be the answer to solving the problem. At the very least, your doctor will be able to prescribe you with some medication or give you the right strapping to help make dealing with the injury more bearable.
Rest
This may be a difficult one if you’re a particularly active person. Rest is important for letting your injuries to heal, especially if your mobility is impaired. You’ll want to avoid doing anything that could cause further inflammation or damage, and for once you’re just going to have to get used to lying in bed or taking it easy on the couch. There are certain techniques for resting after an injury, and if you want to go about it the right way, you may want to take a read. Who knows, you may even enjoy taking some time to chill out and relax!
Get your fix online
It’s understandable that you’ll miss your sport if you’re forced to be away from it for a period – that’s normal. You could, however, get your fix by playing a sports game online. Of course, there are upsides and downsides to playing sports online regularly, but as you’re injured and can’t really do much, this will help you miss it less which will mean you’re more likely to stay at home and recover instead of rushing back into things.
Get some rehab
Rehabilitation for a sports injury is a great idea, and companies like SportsLab are great at offering solutions for all kinds of injuries. From physiotherapy to sports massage and even diet and nutrition solutions, there are many different kinds of therapies that can help you recover from your injury, and prevent further ones from occurring. The right treatment program will help make you stronger and healthier so that when you do return to exercise, you’ll be at the top of your game.
Don’t rush into things
Even when you’re feeling better, your body will still be at risk of becoming injured again if you push yourself too hard. Ease yourself back into any training, and if you don’t feel ready, don’t do it. Get advice on when you’ll feel ready to return to sports and don’t let anyone pressure you into it before it’s time.
Start with gentler exercise
Don’t get back into things by heading straight to the weights bench or running 10k on a treadmill – intense exercise after a break could cause you to injure yourself again, and you’ll probably feel demotivated when you see that your performance isn’t as good as it was. Building up your strength and fitness through other activities such as swimming, yoga and gentle cardio will get you back into a routine and help you get back to where you were so that you can return to your old training program when it’s time.
Learn your lesson
What caused you to get injured? Was it over-training, poor diet, poor technique or was there an underlying issue that you were just ignoring? Learning lessons from how you got injured in the first place is important to stop you doing it again, and you may need to reevaluate how you perform certain activities, what training you take part in and so on to prevent further injuries in the future.
Coping with an injury is difficult, but there is a lot to learn from the experience. Rather than letting you get yourself down about your injury, find ways to turn it around. You might make the realization that it’s time to quit, and that’s ok – you could always move on to the next step and try teaching or coaching so that you don’t lose touch with the sport you love. Recovery is tough, but taking the time to do it right will pay off in the long run.
