Why You Need to Take Recovering From An Injury Seriously

Why You Need to Take Recovering From An Injury Seriously – Even If It’s Inconvenient

It can be hard juggling a busy lifestyle as it is, and so getting a physical injury can feel like one of the most annoying setbacks imaginable. You may have injured yourself playing sport or running as part of your healthy lifestyle, or simply slipped or fallen, but either way, an injury can cause a lot of hassle as well as – of course – pain.

Why Some People Don’t Allow Their Injuries to Recover Properly

Whether it is a sprain, a muscle tear, a fracture, or even a broken bone, the most important thing you can do is apply first aid and then go and get it professionally checked out. Even serious bruising should be seen by a doctor, as it could just be the surface symptom of a worse injury – especially if you are also experiencing a lot of swelling and difficulty moving the affected joint. At the hospital or clinic, you will of course be given immediate pain relief and have your injury properly diagnosed, and then you’ll be told what you need to do next.

In many cases, this will simply be a case of ‘resting’, which is actually harder to do than it sounds for a lot of busy, active women! You may also be advised to attend follow up appointments or to begin a course of physical therapy to rehabilitate from the injury properly, and again, this can be something some people simply skip because by the time the appointments come around, they feel better, and they don’t want to take the time out of their other activities to do what they see as merely precautionary things.

This may seem like a good, time saving approach, however it can actually make things far worse, and mean you need to spend more time having treatment at places like a Michigan pain specialist in the long term because of more lasting effects from an improperly healed injury.

Muscular Imbalances

One of the biggest risks when you have an injury – especially to the knee, ankle or hip, is that you will start to walk in a way that is modified to avoid putting weight on the painful area. This will definitely happen if you start moving around too soon, or if you abandon your crutches or walking aids earlier than recommended. It can also be something you do long term, even once you think your injury is healed, as you subconsciously worry about hurting yourself again or still have some pain on certain movements. With bad sprains to the ankles or knees you can experience some pain for years, and most people end up limping somewhat because of this, even though it may not be obviously visible in their gait and they may not know that they are doing it.

The problem with this is that it leads to muscular imbalances, as some muscles are working harder than they should and becoming tight, and others are working less than they would in someone with normal gait and weakening. This in turn can lead to postural problems, which can cause all sorts of issues, from headaches and tension in your shoulders, to things like sciatic pain in your back and legs.

These issues can be corrected over time, but by the time you begin to see the symptoms you will probably have been walking incorrectly for a long time, and so you will need to effectively retrain both your body and your brain to move right, as well as working on your muscles. This can be a much longer and more difficult process than simply following the recommended after care when you are first recovering from the injury.

Going Back to Sport Too Soon

While some people have problems simply from going back to their busy everyday lives without adequate rest and physical rehabilitation, the problems can be hugely exacerbated if you go back to sport too soon and without following a program recommended by a professional. While it can be devastating to have to take time out of the activities you love, and even worse if you were training for something specific like a race, a competition or an important game with your team, it really is essential not to push yourself back into high impact activity with an injury.

Always talk to your doctor and, if necessary, a sports physical therapist, to get a realistic idea of when you can expect to start living life as you did before, and be sure to follow all of their instructions no matter how inconvenient or disappointing it may be.

Thanks to Carol Trehearn