There’s nothing quite as bad as a sports injury when you’re an athlete. Having just a single injury is lucky, in the sense that it could be worse if you had a number of injuries coming from the same place. I had to quit my favorite sport of running because of an enduring knee problem, so I fully understand the anger and sadness felt by those with sports injuries.
Sports medicine these days can do wonders, so if you are injured or ever become injured keep this in mind. Your mental health is often ignored when dealing with an injury however it’s of very great importance to take care of it. Below we’ll be looking at some ways of dealing with sports injuries, but hopefully you’ll never have to apply them!
It is important that you understand and can distinguish between chronic pain and being sore because they are not the same. Both will take a little time to figure out, but usually soreness will peak and then improve. Because muscle soreness is typically temporary, don’t rush to make a doctor’s appointment. A good time to call your doctor is if you’re sore for more than a week. You may have a chronic injury if the pain gets worse or is present all the time. You need to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you.
If you have a good sports medicine doctor they will fix an injury very conservatively. For example, unless the situation warrants more serious treatment, ice and rest are prescribed to reduce swelling. Anti-inflammatory and pain medicines may be prescribed if needed. Other more appropriate treatments may be suggested to you if your injury is quite serious. Getting rest and being sedentary during the first stages of a sports injury make it quite hard. You don’t wish to make your injury any worse by being active, which is why you must take it on the chin and rest.
Even after an injury seems to have healed, it is important to still be careful for a good period of time. To put it simply, don’t overwork yourself. It is very easy to re-injure yourself if your body starts telling you to slow down or stop and rest. It’s not worth injuring yourself further which is why you must top exercising if you feel any pain. You should also talk to your doctor and let him or her know what it going on. Making sure everything is OK is important, so if the doctor says it is then go right ahead. If you feel anything happening in the injured area you should obey your body’s signals and rest. To make sure that your injured area remains intact and continues to get better, consult your doctor about other gear that you could wear to protect yourself. Stay focused on getting healed to make sure it occurs in the fastest and most successful way possible.
