[vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][vc_column_text]By: Active Sports Therapy
There are no two ways around it. Injuries are hard! They can knock you off of your exercise and training routines, leave you side lined from your favourite sport, have you missing work, and experiencing down time from day to day life. At Active Sports Therapy we’re committed to helping you get back to doing the things you love as soon as possible, safely and effectively. With so many injury related services under one roof, we try to simplify the process of needing multiple practitioners to help with you with your injury.
In addition to seeing specialists that can help you get back to your game, we’ve also compiled a few tips to help you when recovering from an injury.
Nutrition
Recovering from an injury requires a person to pay special attention to what they’re putting in their bodies in terms of food, drink, and supplements.
You’ll want to learn about anti-inflamatory foods during recovery and ensure you’re getting enough of these foods. Things like avocado, olive oil, nuts, fish oil, pineapple and turmeric can all help your body lessen inflammation. Ditch the processed foods that are high in saturated fats, vegetable oils, and sugar.
Eat an adequate amount of protein from non-processed meats, legumes, eggs, or plant-based proteins. A rainbow of fruits and vegetables are important and don’t forget to include some healthy carbs as well, like oats or quinoa.
Talk to your practitioner about supplements if you’re interested as Vitamin C has many properties that can help with injuries because of its ability to help your body produce collagen. Omega 3 has been shown to help with inflammation and Zinc includes a component related to wound healing. Talk to your Doctor before launching into a new routine involving supplements.
Take Care of Your Mind as Well as Your Body
Injuries can be emotional events and depending on the situation or prognosis. A person can have various levels of emotional reactions to their injuries ranging from disappointment to PTSD and there are many things that can help with this.
Some athletes find it helpful to stay connected with their teammates by watching practices and still going to team meetings and outings.
Utilizing your support network of family and friends to help take you to appointments, help you when you’re feeling down, or to check in on you from time to time can be great emotionally supports.
If you are feeling depressed or overwhelmed by an injury, it can be helpful to seek professional counselling. If you are an athlete, a sport psychologist will be well versed in assisting with the impacts that an injury can have on ones’ mental health and provide a healthy tool kit to help you through it.
Follow the Plan
Going to your appointments as scheduled and taking your doctor or therapists advice in between appointments is essential. With any injury there is the in-clinic work which will consist of assessments, treatments, patient education, and assignments of homework. This homework is usually essential to help you recover and might consist of hot or cold treatments, stretches, strengthening, working on flexibility and more. Sometimes it can be easy to forget these steps so it’s essential to ensure you complete the homework tasks with diligence. To help you remember to do your homework you can add an alert in your phone, create a chart that you can check off, put a calendar entry into your work calendar, write a reminder on your bathroom mirror with dry-erase marker, or ask a friend or spouse to hold you accountable. If you’re a competitive individual, create a game or a reward system. Also, focusing on why you want to get better,(E.g. be ready in time for the playoffs, get back to work for incomes sake, coaching our child’s team, or regaining your independence), instead of the task at hand can be a real motivator. Ultimately, the success level of your recovery can differ based on your commitment to the at-home portion.
If you’re reading this article you’re likely dealing with an injury so we hope you’ll put these tips into practice and wish you the best of luck with your recovery!
*This blog is not intended to officially establish a physician-patient relationship, to replace the services of a trained physician, naturopathic doctor, physical therapist or chiropractor or otherwise to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
