Sports Injury and Dealing With It

It is likely if you play a sport you will be injured while playing it. Depending on what you do after you sustain your injury will determine how long it might take to recover. Most injuries, baring broken bones or a severe tear in your ligament or tendon, require rest and rehabilitation. The first thing you will want to do is to put an ice pack on your injury. This helps to slow down any swelling that may take place right away. Don't ignore your injury if it requires the hospital to have it checked out. I personally don’t recommend taking any painkillers at this time so an accurate assessment can be taken.

After it has been determined that the injury is painful but minor, you can continue to ice it on a very regular rotation. Take 20 minutes on and then off with the ice. It is handy to have multiple icepacks at your disposal at this time. I like to do the gel cold packs that can also be used as a hot packs. Once the first 24 hours ends, this will be very helpful. If you doctor doesn’t prescribe any painkillers, you can take any over the counter non-steroidal pain medication to control the discomfort.

You can start using a hot pack after the first 24 hours. The hot pack helps to promote blood flow to the injury which helps to heal you faster. Again stick with 20 minutes on and 20 off of hot. 20 minutes of hot followed with 20 minutes off of hot. Then start again. You need to stay off of your feet and not stress the area. After a few days begin to do some simple stretching exercises to begin to stretch everything out.

Massage therapy can also assist with sports injuries as well. A combination of soft and deep tissue massage can help muscles heal faster and reduce scar tissue formation. You can then start some basic therapy to slowly get back into shape. Using resistance bands can help with this if you were laid up for quite a while.

Slowly work your way back into exercising, don’t rush it or you can expect to be laid up even longer. You should take it slowly and as your pain subsides, beging to increase your activity again.