Five Tips to Cope With Your Injury

An injury can be really disruptive when you're trying to stay fit and active. It might prevent you from exercising, but even worse it may make it difficult to go to work or look after your kids. Consider these five tips on how to cope with an injury.

See a Professional

Don’t rely on Dr. Google. The right treatment to an injury can be key to your recovery. If after a few days of rest, you’re not seeing progress OR if you have concerns right away the injury is severe, then make an appointment with your doctor or physical therapist for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.

Allow Yourself to Rest

Rest is important when you have an injury, even if you want to get back to exercising right away. This can be difficult to accept, but if your tissues are inflamed, painful or swollen, it’s essential to the healing process to let that subside. RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) is a common acronym if you sprain your ankle, but keep it in mind for any injury you may face.

Get the Right Support

Having the right support might help you cope with the injury, and prevent it from happening again. For example, nagging and chronic injuries such as shin splints, might benefit from a shoe that prevents over pronating or provides more cushion. Try searching for the best walking shoes for shin splints. Sometimes as you’re recovering from knee or wrist injuries (it’s hard to keep wrists in neutral caring for a baby!), providing more stability to the joint with a sleeve or brace can be helpful as well. You can wear the support while active to provide additional comfort or remind your body to be mindful while playing with or caring for your kids. SI belts can sometimes help support pubic symphysis pain during pregnancy if you’re on your feet a lot or get discomfort walking. As a reminder, the extra support for any injury shouldn’t replace treatment, but can help you get by while addressing the injury.

Find Alternatives

Being injured doesn't always mean (although it can) that you have to stop working out completely. Consider your injury recovery needs. If weight bearing is painful, try seated or lying strength exercises. If the upper body is impacted, consider low impact lower body exercise. Treat the injury, but avoid cancelling all activity plans unless it’s part of your recovery plan. Use it as motivation to try something new!

Progress Back Activity

When you're ready to get back into working out, don't just jump back into your usual workout routine. Exercises should be designed to gradually strengthen the muscles impacted by the injury. As you regain strength and stamina, gradually add more challenge. If you’re recovering well from those workouts, continue to progress back to your standard routine. If you’re chronically injuring yourself or constantly feeling back pain, you might consider a dedicated core training program in addition to your regular workouts.