Recovering from an injury is incredibly frustrating, especially for active people! There’s nothing worse than sitting on the sofa for six weeks in a cast. All you want to do is get back in the game, and get the adrenaline pumping again. Even if you’re not a sport junky, an accident or hospital visit can leave us out of action for weeks. It’s hard work adapting to a slower pace of life, and nursing yourself back to full fitness is tricky.
We recently spent some time recovering from a leg injury, and it inspired this blog post. It’s so important to let your body get on with its recovery work. But, there are one or two things you can do to help it along the way. The trick is to take things slowly, and not force anything. Let’s look at some of the best techniques we learnt over our six week recovery period.
Rest
We can’t stress this enough; your body needs time to heal. Our bodies are fascinating machines, and they will fix themselves! But, if you keep putting unnecessary pressure on the injury, it will just take longer. For the first few weeks, at least, it’s a strict routine of rest and relaxation. Every ten minutes of activity could prolong your recovery by another day. The early stages are especially important here. Let your body do its work.
Diet
For any athletes reading this, you already know how important your diet is to your training. That’s because the nutrients and food we consume have a direct effect on the body. If you thought your diet was important before, it’s even more so now! Certain foods and nutrients will help speed up the body’s recovery process. What to eat depends on your injury. For example, muscles require lots of protein and potassium to get back to full strength. Broken bones love calcium, while vitamin C and K will keep your blood flow strong. It will also boost your mood, and keep you in good spirits.
Sleep
Our bodies do most of their recovery work while you’re asleep. It shuts down all the unnecessary functions and lets your system get to work on recuperation. While asleep, your body rebuilds cells, forges broken connection, and generally improves strength. Make sure you’re getting at least eight hours during your recovery period, if not more.
Physiotherapy
When you’re starting to get your strength back, you can begin to work those muscles again. It all starts with small movements to remind your body of the pressure. Physiotherapy is excellent when it comes to aiding recovery. It will slowly introduce strain and pressure onto muscles, and get everything back into ship-shape.
Low impact exercises
As you move closer to full recovery, you can start to push a little harder. Try some low impact exercises like swimming and walking. Swimming is perfect as there is very little resistance. It will strengthen your muscles, and you’ll begin to get your fitness and stamina back.
Stick to this plan, and you’ll be back on your feet in no time! Good luck with your recovery.
