An athlete’s body is under constant physical and mental pressure which often leads to sports injuries that can be very painful. No matter what sport you are playing or how you managed to get an injury, the treatment and recovery time is often similar.
The most common sports injuries are stretched muscle beyond its level of elasticity. This is considered a minor injury, and you don’t need a professional medical team to treat it.
However, there are more serious injuries that can ruin someone’s career no matter how good a player we are talking about. In today’s article, we will focus on treating sports injuries and all the necessary steps you need to take.
PRICE Therapy
Minor injuries that often occur in sports can be treated at home using the PRICE therapy for two or three days.
The PRICE therapy means – Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation
Protection
Protect the injured area to prevent further injury (example: using support)
Rest
We all know that you are eager to get back on your feet, but resting time is crucial for faster healing.
Ice
Apply an ice pack for the affected area for 15-20 minutes every three hours for 2-3 days depending on the injury. You can use ice, or frozen peas and use a towel so that it doesn’t directly touch your skin.
Compression
Use elastic compression bandages just to avoid or limit swelling.
Elevation
It is important to keep the injured part raised above the level of your heart, whenever possible. By doing this, you might reduce swelling.
Pain Relief
Sometimes the only treatment is resting. This means that you have to spend few days in bed and find something to relieve your pain. In order to ease the pain, you can get painkillers such as paracetamol.
There are other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that you can use to reduce swelling and ease the pain.
Immobilization
Immobilization is crucial when it comes to preventing further damage. You have to limit movement and rest just to reduce pain, muscle spasms, and muscle swelling.
For example, splints, slings, and casts may be used to immobilize injured arms, shoulders, and legs.
After completing the resting period, you should try gently moving the affected joint as long as you can do so without experiencing significant pain.
Physiotherapy
If you receive a more serious injury than resting therapy isn’t the best treatment. The recovery process needs to be combined with physiotherapy.
Physiotherapy is a specialist treatment where professionals use different techniques such as exercises to improve range of motion, massage manipulation, strengthening surrounding muscles, to help you return to normal muscle function of the injured area.
Sports Injury Central explains that depending on the injury, different treatments and exercise programs can take from a month to few years to recover. Physiotherapy is a process that will help you strengthen the affected body part and reduce the risk of the injury recurring.
Corticosteroid Injections
Corticosteroid injections are a common therapy for injured players in most sports. This is a standard procedure in the NFL and this injection help athletes that are suffering high-angle sprains, or other similar injuries to recover faster.
According to recent studies, corticosteroid injections will speed up the recovery process up to 40%, or 10 days earlier than those not receiving the treatment. Corticosteroid injections are also used in racing horses, including the free horse racing picks by TwinSpires.
Final Words
Depending on the injury type, it can take few weeks to few months to reach full recovery. It is important to avoid returning to your previous level of physical activity until you are fully recovered.
Your body needs to adapt to the new normal and start things easily. This is very important to prevent the injury from happening again. So, start things easily and with gentle massages and step-by-step physical activity, you’ll be able to reduce pain and get back to your full stamina in no time.
Most athletes forget about their mental wellbeing. We all heard of miracle recoveries from injury, and that has a lot to do with a great mindset. You need to focus on the positive things and cheer yourself with the progress you achieved no matter how little it is.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
