The fastest way to recover from a sports injury

There is no one-size-fits-all fastest formula for sports injury recovery. What can really help you return to the sports field as quickly as possible is "accurately matched intervention plans during the injury stage + avoiding common pitfalls." Mismatched methods, no matter how many people recommend them, will prolong the recovery cycle.

Xiao Zhou, who was born after 2000 and met while playing basketball last month, is the most typical counterexample. His foot sprained after landing while grabbing a rebound. It swelled like a steamed bun on the spot. He refused to listen to our advice and insisted on going to the massage parlor in the alley to rub it in. He also applied half a bottle of safflower oil himself. Originally, the MRI was just a grade 1 ligament strain. The swelling lasted for almost a week. He returned to the field half a month later than other golfers with the same degree of injury. It’s funny to say that at the time, he plausibly said that “revitalizing blood circulation will help you recover faster.” He completely failed to understand that the core need during the acute injury period is to reduce exudation, not accelerate circulation.

Speaking of this, it is inevitable to mention the two principles that have been arguing in the sports rehabilitation circle for many years. The old-school RICE principle (rest, ice, compression, elevation) has been popular for decades. In recent years, the POLICE principle (protection, appropriate weight-bearing, ice, compression, elevation) has emerged. Many ordinary sports enthusiasts are confused. Who do they listen to? In fact, there is no right or wrong at all, it all depends on what stage you are at. Within 72 hours of an acute injury, any rehabilitation therapist from any school will advise you not to mess around. If you insist on doing any early weight-bearing or active massage at this time, you will simply make trouble for yourself. But if you persist in "lying down until there is no pain at all and then move" after the acute stage, it will actually get better more slowly - I used to know a girl who ran a marathon. She lay down at home for two weeks when she got iliotibial band syndrome. It was originally just frictional inflammation, and the muscles atrophied from lying down, but the pain was so bad that she couldn't even walk. Later, she went to see a rehabilitation practitioner to practice hip abduction twice a week, combined with a low-intensity elliptical machine for 20 minutes a day, and she was basically able to jog normally within a week.

Oh, by the way, there is another premise that many people deliberately ignore: the degree of damage is different, and the ceiling of recovery speed is inherently different. It’s the same sprained foot. People with grade 1 (slight ligament strain but no tear) are lucky enough to be able to return to the court in two weeks. Those with grade 3 (complete ligament tear) may need surgery. It’s good to be able to resume contact sports in half a year. This gap cannot be smoothed by any “magic rehabilitation method”. Anyone who pats his chest and tells you that “regardless of the severity of the injury, the pain will subside in 7 days and return to sports” is all IQ tax. Do you dare to believe promises that are not in line with pathological laws?

The controversy over ice application has been particularly great in the past two years. Some European and American scholars say that ice application will inhibit local blood circulation and slow down tissue repair. Many people simply do not use ice application during the acute stage and endure the pain. I specifically asked the team's rehabilitation therapist who was accompanying the provincial team. They said that there is no need for diodes at all. If you have a high pain threshold and the swelling is not severe after the injury, it is completely unnecessary. ； But if the pain is so severe that you can't even walk, and the skin is so swollen that it becomes shiny, applying it for 10 to 15 minutes each time (not more than 20 minutes to avoid frostbite) can quickly relieve the pain and reduce the leakage of tissue fluid. It is more cost-effective than carrying it on.

Many people tend to equate "no pain" with "complete recovery", and I have fallen into this trap myself. I sprained my ankle while skiing two years ago, and the pain disappeared in about 10 days. I thought I was feeling better and went straight to run 5 kilometers. However, I sprained my ankle again after running less than two kilometers. Later I learned that in addition to tissue repair after injury, the recovery of proprioception is the core to avoid secondary injuries. Later, I practiced standing on one leg for three weeks, increasing each time from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. I only dared to resume running after confirming that the single leg was stable. In fact, the recovery time was twice as long as the originally planned recovery time.

It’s also interesting to say that the rehabilitation practitioners I’ve been in contact with all complained privately that 80% of the slow recovery of ordinary people is not a problem with the program, but is caused by themselves. Either they go back to play ball and run early before the injury is fully healed, or they spend three days fishing and two days drying nets during rehabilitation training. Some people stay up until two or three o'clock every day, eating junk food high in oil and sugar. Their protein intake does not even meet the minimum standard. The body does not even have the raw materials and time to repair, so no matter how good the recovery plan is, it is useless.

In fact, after all is said and done, the fastest method is actually the most "stupid": first go to a regular orthopedic department or sports rehabilitation department to take a film and grade it. Don't go to Baidu to find out the symptoms and then find a reliable rehabilitation practitioner to follow the plan. Don't always try to take shortcuts and find folk remedies. I have seen too many people messing around just to get a few days faster, but in the end it takes several times more time. The nature of exercise is that sometimes slowness is the fastest.