If you are seriously injured during a workout, you might need physical therapy to help you recover. During this time, you could be out of commission for a few weeks or even months. Here are some tips to help maximize your physical therapy sessions and speed up your recovery.
Treat Your Injury Immediately
The sooner you seek treatment after an injury, the better your recovery period will be. This is one of the reasons why professional athletes are able to return to their sports so quickly after suffering what appears to be a devastating injury.
When something snaps, breaks, or tears, do not finish that last mile, lift the last few reps, or stay until the end of your exercise class. Stop your activity and address your injury; doing so will prevent your injury from worsening and will lend to a faster recovery.
Naturally, the type of injury that you sustain dictates the type of attention you should give yourself, so you should be prepared ahead of time for the types of injuries most common to your sport of choice. For example, if you are a runner, you are susceptible to pulled hamstrings, shin splints, tendonitis, and iliotibial band syndrome. If you play basketball, you are more likely to suffer from a sprained ankle, jammed finger, and torn ACL. If you have a first aid kit that is catered to your sport already prepared, you can more quickly tend to your injury. Clamoring through your freezer in hopes of finding a bag of frozen peas will certainly not reduce the swelling in your shoulder!
Get Your Head Right
If you are like a lot of active people, you exercise to feel happier, reduce tension, and improve your mood. Working out has very real, immediate stress-relieving benefits. If you are suddenly injured and cannot work out during your recovery period, your emotional well-being can take a toll. Furthermore, physical therapy can be stressful and painful, so staying positive and mentally fit is absolutely necessary.
During your recovery period, consider seeing a psychologist for your emotional needs. You will need to stay motivated to continue with your therapy even when it hurts, and confident that you will be back to your sport of choice. Research even suggests that people with a positive mental outlook recover faster than those with more negative approaches. A psychologist can help you stay healthy mentally and emotionally, and can give you suggestions for how to cope with your injury and your recovery.
Eat Well
During a physical therapy regimen, you are probably not exercising as often and as vigorously as you were before you were injured. You need to adjust your eating habits during this period.
You are not expending as many calories during recovery. If you continue eating the way you did during your training, you will gain weight. This will not only put more strain on your injury and potentially slow down the recovery process, but also damper your emotional health. When you are done with your physical therapy regimen, the weight that you gained will also make it more difficult to perform at the level that you did before you were injured.
For more information, contact Hillcrest Nursing Center or a similar location.
Share5 February 2015
Over a year ago, I was formerly diagnosed with high blood pressure. However, due to frequent headaches and dizziness, I had already suspected that I suffered from this serious medical problem. Immediately, I was placed on medication. I also began to research natural ways that I can lower my blood pressure. I now carefully scan food labels for sodium content. I also try not to add extra salt to my recipes when I’m cooking at home. In addition, I strive to consume foods daily that are believed to have a positive effect on blood pressure numbers. On this blog, you will learn about various natural ways to lower your blood pressure.