Coping With An Injury: The Steps You Need To Take
For those of us that lead an active lifestyle, there will no doubt come a time in our lives where we will pick up an injury. It could be anything from a sprained ankle to a broken bone. Some injuries will keep us from being as active as we were for a while; others won’t take long to get back to it. But if you do get an injury that keeps you from exercising for a while, then what are the best ways to cope with it all? Here are some tips to help deal with an injury, so that you can stay healthy and well, and get back to your normal routine as soon as possible.
Get The Right Help
Depending on what personal injury you have, will depend on who you need to see for help. But if you think you’ve got a sprained ankle, and after ice compresses and resting for a week and it still isn’t better, then speaking to your doctor is the best route to go down. For larger injuries or ones that will take even longer, then they might even refer you to a physiotherapist or a specific trainer to strengthen the injured area. You should be wary of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to rehab for injuries. If you don’t think that you’re getting anywhere with your current doctor or physical therapist, then move on and get a second opinion. You don’t want it to hinder the injuries progress.
Keep Your Mind Active
For many of us, exercise is a great way to keep our mental well-being and stress levels in check. So if we are forced to slow things down a little, or not even exercise at all for a little while, then it could have a detrimental effect if you let it. So do things that will help to keep your mind active. Strategies to cope can be found online, as well as through doing things like meditation or perhaps some gentle yoga. You could pick up a less physical hobby in the meantime, such as music or crafts. But having a distraction gives you a new focus and can help you to stay well during the injury recovery.
Keep Moving
If you were running every day then it can be hard to just sit still. But, depending on your injury, you could do things like walking or some upper body weight exercises. Your doctor or physical therapist will advise you what you should and shouldn’t be doing. But at the end of the day, it if starts to hurt, then stop! You don’t want to make anything worse. But a little light and gentle exercise should help. You don’t want your muscles to seize up!
Reach Out
Having an injury can be quite emotionally draining, as well as physical. You might feel like you’re on this road alone. So it is important to reach out to others that might be able to help you through it. Just talking to someone and letting them know how much pain you’re in, can be a help in itself.
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