5 Things To Avoid Following A Sports Injury

This article is brought to you by Dr. Franics, a sports injury chiropractor in Wilmington DE.

What is the best way to avoid any injuries in the first place?

Prevention

Obviously, all people that play sports run into a risk of injury, but the best way is to stop an injury before it even happens. Sports injuries can be caused by simple trauma to the body, but can also be caused by simple oversights. 

For instance, injuries during sports can be caused by not staying hydrated. Staying hydrated and drinking water is easy to forget while playing, but an easy way to avoid any complications is to drink water before and after. It is always recommended to drink water around half an hour before you partake in any kind of physical activity, and take 20-minute breaks in between to replenish your body’s fluids. Don’t forget to bring extra water, and drink more water depending on the intensity of the sport/activity. 

Another precaution you can take is to warm up and rest when needed. To properly prepare for physical activity, it is important to stretch or warm-up. Stretching your major muscle groups before intense activity allows your muscles to release tension to avoid pulling any muscles or straining anything. Warm-ups are a little more strenuous but still very light. Just jogging or some light activity for around 10 minutes will help substantially. Another important part of maintaining proper physical health and preventing sports injuries is to rest before or during games and practices. This is to prevent muscle overuse or muscle straining.

5 Things to avoid

If you ever do get hurt out there, it is important to keep in mind what to do and what not to do. It is important to know what you need to avoid to supply your body with the environment and conditions it needs to get you back on your feet, and back outside.

Continuing Exercise

Resting is a fundamental part of the healing process of any injury, and nothing changes when a sport is the one to make you fall. Now although it may seem pointless to some to just stay in bed and relax instead of going to your game tomorrow, your team will still be there once you are able to come back. For team members, and active people alike, rest may not seem like relaxation, but confinement. Although you may not like it, it is important to let your body rest and focus on fixing, not using your body. Continuing to use a damaged part, such as an arm or a leg may transform it from a simple acute injury, to possibly a chronic one, as the body struggles to heal a part but intensively use it at the same time. The more you move while you heal, the longer you will be forced to stop. 

Stay Clueless

Following an injury from sports, it is usually best to let a doctor assess the damage and tell you exactly what’s wrong and what you should do to fix it. If you decide to just stay home and not go out, then you could possibly make it worse or continue with the pain a lot longer than you could’ve if you just visited the doctor or E.R. If you stay clueless on what your problem is, you may treat it incorrectly, or miss out on a plan that will speed up the process with no more pain or extra, new complications. 

Return to Sports Before the Entire Healing Process Has Taken Place

While recovering, your specialist may ask you to partake in a light, and early range of joint movements under their supervision. Allowing them to see the extent of your movement without pain will allow them to pinpoint when you are fully healed. Any premature returns to sports can backfire on you and injure you even more than you were in the first place.

Muscle Wasting

Now although it is important to not include any heavy workouts into your life while recovering, attempting to regulate your walking pattern and very slowly attempting to regain your muscle strength may prevent any wasting of muscle or increase of weight. Lightly conditioning your body during the later stages of recovery may prove useful, and could bring you back to sports quickly. Just remember to work your body too hard.

Staying away from a healthy diet

While recovering, you should still maintain a healthy diet, as a wide variety of food and supplements can speed up the healing process. Protein-rich foods such as fish or meat allow for increased muscle growth while leafy greens and different citruses full of vitamin-C rebuild tissues and reduce inflammation in the body. Omega-3 fatty acids speed up the healing process, and vitamin-D from sunlight is essential to regaining your body’s previous form.

Wilmington Sports Injury Doctor Dr. Mike Francis, is here to help you.