Hey~
How are you?
RICE
Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation. This has been the remedy for sport injuries for as long as I can remember. But is this the best way to get better? Becoming a couch potato isn’t really fitness now is it?
What is ailing you?
Sport injuries such as IT band syndrome, stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, runner’s knee, shin splint or any other ailment traditionally has been treated by rest, ice, compression and elevation plus pain pills on the side. But this approach mentally and emotionally draining. When you want to be active, and stay off your feet, you don’t feel good. Why? Well, you get positive energy from exercise. Also, you think about losing your fitness level. You feel you have lost some of the fitness gains you have made, and will have to gain those back. Your fitness is taking a few steps back.
A better answer
Although you don’t want to do anything strenuous, you do want to do some lower impact activities. Options include cycling, pool running, swimming, elliptical, walking, and hiking.
How exercise helps
What happens? Well, you are circulating the blood that will bring nutrients to the injured muscles and tendons. These nutrients are vital for repair. Your lymph system is charged up which is essential to the removal of toxins. And the joints are lubricated and stiffness does not set in. Your emotions are boosted. You reduce cortisol the stress hormone. Keeping moving is simply good for over all health. With adequate exercise, you keep colds and the flu away better, you have better digestive health, and better sleep.
Do it right
Remember, you do not want to over do it. What activities you can do depend on the injury. You should consult a doctor first. You don’t want to aggravate the injury you have.
If it hurts, stop. That old saying, “no pain no gain” is not the best advice in this situation. If, after you did the activity, it hurts stop. Find another activity. If not, healing will take longer.
What caused the injury in the first place? There is an underlying issue that caused the initial injury. You need to remedy the cause of the injury. Possible causes include, improper training techniques, muscle imbalance, body alignment and nutrition. You may want to talk to a trainer, sport medicine doctor or even a chiropractor to diagnose the cause of an injury especially if it a regular issue.
Slowly, start back into the more vigorous activity as your rehab works. You should consult your doctor again to see if you are ready. You may want to consider mixing it up a bit. A little of the vigorous activity one day and the lower impact alternative the next. As time goes on, increase the more vigorous activity.
Eat well balanced meals. If you are not as active, it goes without saying that you may have to cut calories a bit if you are not burning up as many as you were before. Injuries such as stress fractures need extra calcium and vitamin D plus plenty of omega-3 fatty acids.
I’m not a doctor
I have one little note. I am not a doctor. This information is provided to get you thinking about the new method of healing. This information is from my research on the subject of getting over injury. It is provided by sport medicine doctors. And as mentioned above, you really need to consult professionals before doing any activities. You should consult doctors, trainers and nutritionists.
OK. I hope you found this to be interesting. Take Care!
Lisa Y. life coaching.
www.facebook.com/lisaylifecoach
Yeah!