Last week, we looked at Injury Prevention. This week, we examine what you can do if, despite your best efforts, you can’t avoid that injury. We talk about the recovery process and the importance of rest to that process.

Patience is key. This is the first and most important thing to know and understand when recovering from an injury. Recovery is not instant — it is a process and sometimes a long one at that. Added to this is the fact that things like age, weight, gender, fitness level and diet can all, potentially, affect your recovery period. This means that you can’t rush to get back into the same level of activity that you were in before the injury. Trust the process as you work to get back in the game.

R.I.C.E. This is an acronym used in the health and fitness industry for Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate. It is literally what it says. For many injuries, the first step to recovery is to follow these four watchwords. Rest the affected body part(s). Use ice (wrapped in a towel, 15 minutes on, 15 off) to stimulate vasoconstriction and prevent inflammation. Compress to reduce any inflammation that has already occured as well as to offer some level of support to the affected muscle/joint. Elevate the injured area above the heart so as to make it harder for blood to pool in the area. Blood going to the injury is good since blood contains the raw materials needed for recovery, but too much pooling in the area causes more pain and can actually delay recovery.

Let’s re-iterate Rest. Resting is so important that it needs to be mentioned by itself. This may mean total rest (not using the injured area at all — things like casts aid you in this by completely immobilizing the injury) or it may not (just a simple reduction in the level of activity should suffice). What is required would be determined by the severity and location of the injury. Straining a lower back muscle may seem to require total rest, for example, but it is impractical as we all have to move around, so we may just need to lay off the gym for a bit while we recover. Not resting prolongs recovery time and may even prevent recovery completely. I know someone who refused to properly rest his arm after breaking it and then, when it finally healed, it was curved

Maintain Mobility. This means, primarily, to do light stretching to ensure that the muscle/connective tissue doesn’t heal tight, thereby reducing mobility. To aid this, one may even employ a massage therapist to remove knots and reduce scar tissue that can cause pain and stiffness (resulting in said loss of mobility) during the recovery period.

Seek Therapy. One part of this is, as stated above, getting a massage therapist to work with you. Sometimes you need more than that and a physiotherapist may be your best option. If you have enough knowledge of the injury and of your own anatomy and physiology, for mild injuries, you may be able to develop a routine of light exercises (coupled with stretches, as mentioned above) that will slowly rebuild strength in the injured area. I, myself, was able to do this to aid in the recovery from an ankle injury.

Overall, it is important to remember that recovery is a process and that rest is integral to this process. I have had the unfortunate experience of jumping back into intense exercise too early and ended up having to take two extra weeks of recovery. It is better to take the necessary time and come back stronger than to try to rush it (or use insufficient recovery methods) and end up coming back with lowered ability, or to have to take longer than originally necessary to recover.