Regardless of your health and fitness, sports injuries can happen to anyone. So if you’re sustained a sports injury be it playing pickleball at your senior living facility or in your rec soccer league once you’re ready to get back out there and begin playing again, there are a few things you’ll want to know to help you gain back what strength you might have lost without injuring yourself further.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for getting active again after a sports injury.
Ensure Your Body’s Ready To Be Active Again
For minor injuries, you may just need to take a few days off from playing so that you can give your body a chance to heal. But if you visited a doctor or trainer to take a look at your injury and the extent to which damage was done, you should have a conversation with them before you try to get back out and be active again.
During this conversation and examination, your doctor will be able to tell you if you’ve rested long enough for your injury to heal on its own. Additionally, they’ll be able to ensure that the healing was completed correctly and that you won’t have any further issues as you try to get back to where you were before. They can also give you advice on how to ease back into things in a safe manner.
Lay Off The Painkillers
While you might have been taking some painkillers when your injury first happened, once you think you’re ready to start being active again, it’s wise not to use this medication anymore.
Pain is a way for your body to give you a warning when you’re pushing things too far. But if you’re using medication to numb these sensations, you might not know when you’re overexerting yourself and exacerbating your injuries. So, to make sure you’re aware of your body and your injury, lay off the painkillers when you start getting back to exercising.
Practice With The Proper Form
Once you start exercising and working out again as part of your training, something you’ll want to focus heavily on is using the proper form during each movement.
Sometimes, using the wrong form may be more comfortable when you’re recovering from an injury. But if you train this way, you won’t be strengthening yourself from the injury and you’ll be potentially causing more harm to your body. So when you’re practicing, make sure you take things slow and use the proper form.
If you think you might be ready to get back into physical activity after a sports injury, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get ready the right way.
