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How To Speed Up Recovery After A Sports Injury

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One of the scariest things for an athlete to go through is dealing with an injury. Most serious athletes don’t like being inactive for long periods and you may have no choice depending on the nature of your injury.

If you’re dealing with a serious injury, you will also have to keep close tabs on your mental state as you could fall into depression and make matters worse. You should know, however, that there are things that you could do to speed up your recovery safely and return to action faster than you expected. Here are a few of them.

Get a Formal Diagnosis

You have to get a formal diagnosis from a physician as soon as possible to know exactly what the issue is, even if it seems minor. This will allow you to know how long you’ll be on the sideline and what you should do and avoid.

If you try to walk it off, then you might turn a minor issue like a sprain into something much worse. So, get a doctor to examine you and try to avoid applying extra pressure on the area that was injured.

Rest 

The next thing you have to do is give your body some rest. While it’s not recommended to stay completely inactive for all injuries, in most cases, you will need to be inactive for a little while before you can start moving a little bit. This period can range from 48 hours to weeks in some cases.

If you are dealing with a limb injury, then you will usually need to compress the area, apply ice, and elevate the body part. This is usually the case with most leg injuries.

You should also consider getting a new mattress. Your doctor will probably recommend that you sleep in a particular position (usually on your back) so you can recover, but not all mattresses are good for back sleepers.

The best mattress for someone who needs to stay on their back would be a mattress that provides enough support to keep the spinal cord aligned without applying too much pressure. A medium-firm mattress will usually be better in that case. A medium or firm mattress may also work, but if you don’t want to go wrong, then go with a medium-firm one.

Gradually Integrate Range of Motion Exercises

Once the inflammation has settled in the injured area, you will usually be able to take on some light physical activity. You can start with some slight range of motion exercises. You can try a few at home, but it’s usually better to do them in a physiotherapy setting. A physiotherapist will be able to tell what stage of recovery you’re in and propose exercises that you can do safely.

Modify Your Diet

You also have to consume foods that will boost healing. You need to increase your intake of nutrients like protein and calcium. Magnesium is another nutrient you can add to your diet as it has been shown to boost recovery.

Look into things like omega 3s and calcium as well, as they both play an essential role in keeping your bones healthy and reducing inflammation. We would also suggest that you find a way to get sun exposure. This is because vitamin D is produced through contact with sunlight and has been found to help with muscle recovery and even help prevent future injuries.

These are all things that you could do to make the recovery process as easy as possible. Follow our advice and you will recover faster and hopefully come back better than you ever were before.