Sports injury recovery methods

In the acute phase, the damage should be controlled to prevent it from expanding, in the subacute phase, tissue repair should be activated, and in the functional reconstruction phase, movement ability can be restored. There is no universal solution that applies to all injuries. The specific operation should be based on the type and severity of the injury, and should be adjusted flexibly with reference to the practical plans of different schools of medicine and rehabilitation.

Let me tell you something that just happened last week: A golfer stepped on someone else's foot during a half-basket rebound. His ankle was swollen like a steamed bun. The courtside was instantly divided into two groups - the old golfer said he should quickly apply safflower oil and rub it to loosen the blood stasis, while the young man who had just passed the rehabilitation certificate shouted not to touch and immediately applied ice to raise his foot. This is actually the most intuitive collision of different intervention logics.

The traditional RICE principle of Western sports medicine (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) has always been the mainstream of acute treatment. It requires avoiding hot compress, massage, and strenuous activities within 48 hours to prevent continued bleeding, expansion, and swelling of ruptured capillaries.； The PEACE&LOVE principle that has emerged in recent years also proposes that as long as it is not a severe injury such as a fracture or complete ligament rupture, and no complete braking is required, you can do light activities without weight bearing such as ankle pumps after 24 hours, which can speed up the reduction of swelling. Most of the orthopedic surgeons I have contacted recommend strictly following RICE for serious injuries to avoid secondary injuries. Rehabilitation doctors generally support small-scale activities as early as possible for mild to moderate injuries. In fact, the two are not conflicting. The core is to control the scope of the injury first. A horse racing student I taught before had an acute attack of iliotibial band syndrome. I rubbed it at home for half an hour, and the pain was so bad that I couldn't even walk. Later, I applied ice for 15 minutes at a time, once every 2 hours as required. The swelling subsided in 3 days, and I could walk slowly.

When the swelling has subsided by 70 to 80%, and there is only slight soreness and swelling when pressing, and there is no pit when you press it, it is the sub-acute stage. At this stage, most people step on the pit. Many people either continue to lie down because they feel they are not feeling better yet, or they feel they are fine and go back to exercise immediately. The former will slow down the recovery process while lying down until the muscles atrophy, while the latter will most likely cause secondary injuries. At this stage of traditional Chinese medicine, it is recommended to use plasters that promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and moxibustion on the painful area to promote local blood circulation and speed up repair. ； The idea of ​​​​modern rehabilitation is to do more isometric contractions - for example, people with mild meniscus injuries can do straight leg raises to exercise the quadriceps muscles without bending the knees, which can reduce the load on the joints and avoid muscle atrophy. My mother broke her knee while doing square dancing, and was found to have a first-degree meniscus injury. The orthopedic surgeon originally asked her to lie down for 3 months. Later, we consulted with a rehabilitation specialist and did 200 straight leg raises every day, combined with moxibustion on the knee. After one and a half months, she went back to square dancing, and no muscle atrophy was found during the reexamination.

At this stage, many people feel that the pain will be gone, but as soon as they go back to play ball and race horses, they get injured again soon, even more seriously than last time. The problem lies in the functional reconstruction period, which is most easily ignored. For example, people who often sprain their feet will find that after they have sprained their feet once, it is easy to sprain their feet again. It is not because the bones have not grown well, but because the balance of the ankle and the strength of the surrounding muscles have not kept up. There are also different schools of training for this stage: the strength school advocates building muscle mass first. If your ankle is injured, you can practice heel raises and standing on one foot. If your shoulder is injured, you can practice rotator cuff strength. To make up for the weak muscles, it will not be easy to get injured again. ； The functional training school believes that it is useless to just train dead muscles. You need to return to special movements to adjust the force generation mode. Basketball players must practice changing directions, jumping and landing postures, and marathon runners must practice landing cushioning. Otherwise, no matter how strong you are, you will still get injured if you use the wrong force. I once had a fitness friend who strained his shoulder when he was benching. After 2 months of pain relief, he was injured again when he pushed heavy weights. Later I found out that his scapula stability was poor and his shoulders always poked forward when he was benching. I practiced YTWL flyes and wall slides for 4 weeks, and then started to adjust the movement pattern from light weights, and it never happened again.

Let me tell you a real lesson. Last year, a friend who was running a group suffered a lumbar flash. He didn’t think it was a big deal. The massage parlor downstairs said that he would just reset it. After a massage, he couldn’t stand up immediately. He went to the hospital to find out that it was an acute lumbar disc herniation, and he had to lie down for half a month before it healed. Really, if you have severe pain and limited movement after an injury, go to the hospital first to take a X-ray to rule out serious problems such as fractures and ligament ruptures. Don’t just rub it in and apply plaster, and don’t just take painkillers and carry it around - pain is your body’s alarm. If you press the alarm, the injury will continue, and you will be the one who suffers in the end.

I have been doing sports rehabilitation related work for almost 6 years, and I have seen too many people either overdo it or practice too hastily. In fact, there is really no unified timetable for recovery. Some people can run away from sprained ankles in two weeks, and some people are still swollen in two months. Don’t compare your progress with others, stop when it hurts, and take your time when you feel comfortable. It’s really hard to find a reliable rehabilitation practitioner that will be more useful than searching for ten folk remedies online. After all, we exercise for the sake of good health. Don’t turn a minor injury into an old problem just to catch up on progress. It’s not worth the loss.