Returning to Sports After an Injury

Have you recently been injured playing your favorite sport? The most important thing on your mind is probably when you can get back at it. I know how frustrating it can be to have to sit on the sidelines, but taking the right amount of time to recover is important. It's not easy to guess how long it will take for you to recover. Every injury and every person is different. If you head back out too soon you risk re-injuring yourself, and if you wait too long you might lose some of your conditioning. Being in good shape will help you recover faster. Not only will it help you recover faster it also reduces your chances of getting injured in the first place. While you are actively recovering you need to use the R.I.C.E principles. You will also want to stop engaging in any activity that will affect your injury. If you are suffering from a more severe injury self treatment is not going to be enough. You will want to seek the advice of a doctor ASAP. While you are waiting for your injury to recover do your best to stay in shape. You can use different types of exercise like water running, rowing or swimming. Anything that doesn't put stress on your injury is fine. Starting to regain your strength should start as soon as possible. Make sure that you get help from a therapist if the injury is serious. If you feel uncomfortable doing a certain move stop doing it. After your muscles start to regain their flexibility and strength you can start back up with your sport. You won't want to go above about 50 though 70 percent of your max capabilities in the first couple weeks. Before you think about returning to your sport here are some things you'll want to be sure of. First you want to be absolutely pain free. In addition to that you want to make sure you are not experiencing any swelling. You will also want to have full range of motion. The last thing you'll want to be sure of is that you have at least 90 percent of your strength back.