Recovering From an Injury? The Role of Physical Therapy at All Pro Sports Medicine 

Recovering from an injury is arduous. You’ll need to take time off from the sport you love and follow a rehabilitation plan.

Your physical therapist will help guide you. They’ll examine and assess your needs and create a treatment plan that will allow you to get back in the game faster.

Rehabilitative Exercises

In many cases, rehabilitation exercises can help reduce pain and regain strength after an injury. They also can improve range of motion, flexibility, and endurance.

Patients should begin their exercise programs as soon as they can do them without aggravating their injury. This helps speed recovery and ensures they can return to normal activities.

Depending on their specific injury, therapists may use different exercises to help patients restore movement and strength. These include stretches and simple equipment like resistance bands.

During this phase of treatment, physical therapists will teach their patients how to perform movements as precisely and automatically as possible. This is important for maintaining good proprioception, or the body’s ability to sense its position in space. Patients can also experiment with topical wonder creams, like All Pro Sports Medicine provided and designed to ease muscular discomfort, as part of their rehabilitation.

Rest and Icing

Athletes often use ice to reduce pain and inflammation in a muscle. However, research suggests that icing may delay recovery from an injury.

Icing a muscle can decrease pain and swelling due to the cold constricting blood vessels and declining circulation to the area. It can be used for 20 minutes but is most effective when applied the first few days following an injury.

Using heat to promote healing is also recommended after an injury. 

Heat dilates or expands blood vessels to promote blood flow and support the body’s natural healing process, whereas cold constricts blood vessels and reduces circulation. Ice should always be applied as soon as possible following an accident. It is not required to use ice for longer than 48 hours, however, unless your doctor advises you to do so to minimize active swelling or relieve discomfort. If you continue to feel pain and swelling after this time, talk with your doctor about other treatment options.

Strengthening Exercises

Restoring exercises can significantly improve your overall strength and health when recovering from an injury. However, starting slowly and gradually progressing to more strenuous activities is essential.

Ideally, you will go through a progressive treatment plan with several rehab options, such as mobility, flexibility, and strengthening exercises. Depending on the severity of your injury, it may be best to consult with your doctor or a physical therapist before you begin any exercise programs. 

One of the most common mistakes people make when returning to exercise is starting too quickly and doing too much too soon. Producing at a slower pace can build confidence and prevent a recurrence of your injury. This will help you to achieve your fitness goals faster and healthier.

Flexibility Exercises

Flexibility exercises are vital to a healthy and active lifestyle. They help alleviate chronic pain, reduce the risk of injury, and improve muscle and joint health.

The most common type of flexibility exercise is static stretching, which stretches your muscles without engaging them with muscle work. This is done using blocks, yoga belts, weight, or gravity.

Another type of flexibility exercise is passive stretching, which stretches your muscles without using any other force. This includes stretches that are performed while lying on your back.

Ballistic stretching, on the other hand, uses small bouncing movements to push your range of motion beyond its normal limits. This is often used as a pre-workout stretch to warm your muscles and prepare them for the next activity.

Regardless of the stretching you choose, always stick to a safe regimen and be mindful of your body’s limits. Avoiding rapid or sudden extension, which may lead to injuries, is essential.