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eLearning Series:
Your Most Popular Exercise & Fitness Questions
Learn the right way to get into
shape...
( 50 articles
in this series )
Treating
Your Exercise Related Injury
You’re moving along, having a great time getting
fit, when all of a sudden you twist your ankle or heft the
weight the wrong way. What do you do when you receive an injury
from exercise? The first rule is, don’t panic! The vast majority
of exercise injuries turn out to be simple and fast healing,
so the odds are on your side. There are some specific steps
to take for different injuries, so it’s important to read through
the following and be prepared for any accidents or injuries
that may decide to come your way. Take steps to make yourself
aware of appropriate treatment and you just may prevent a serious
injury.
By far one of the most common injuries of all exercises is
the twisted ankle. Whether you are walking, running, or rollerblading,
sometimes it just takes a moment of slipped concentration or
stepping on an unexpected object that throws your balance off,
even if just for a second. Unfortunately that second is enough
to soundly wrench your ankle and send you stumbling to the
ground. While your pride may be wounded, it’s probably your
ankle that hurts more. If you are in a safe area, remain seated
on the ground and assess the situation. DO NOT REMOVE YOUR
SHOE! The number one rule for twisted and sprained
ankles is to never remove your shoe until you are in a place
that you
can stay for several hours. If you take your shoe off and the
foot swells up, you may be forced to walk over some unpleasant
ground before reaching a place to rest. Leaving the shoe on
also offers a small measure of support for walking. Gently
probe your ankle with your fingers, making sure that nothing
is broken. If you are confident that the injury is nothing
more than a twist, get to your feet and try to walk a few steps.
If you are unable to do so, locate someone to help you. On
the other hand, if your foot is able to bear some weight, head
back to your home to take some preventative action. Even if
you think your ankle is fine, you should take at least a few
hours to recover.
Once
you are home, follow the R.I.C.E. plan: Rest, Ice, Compression,
and Elevation. Find yourself a comfy place to spend the next
few hours, then have a seat and place your foot on several
stacked pillows to minimize the amount of blood flowing to
the foot. If swelling occurs, it will trap blood in the vessels
in the foot and create more pain for you. Whether or not you
see swelling, place an ice pack on the ankle for approximately
15 minutes. The ice will help constrict the blood vessels to
lessen the pain. You may want to use a compress during the
icing to force swelling down. Allow yourself at least two days
of rest to provide maximum recovery time to your ankle. Rushing
back out to exercise is only paving the way to future injury.
Another common exercise injury is tendonitis
in the elbows or wrists, brought on by weight lifting. You
may be perfectly fine one day and feeling shooting pains
the next, because tendonitis
can be subtle and remain fairly hidden until the moment you
pick up an object the wrong way. If you notice some pain but
exercise anyway, you’re only aggravating the situation. Your
first move to treat tendonitis should be to cut back on your
weight training. Go down to a lower weight or, if the
pain is severe, stop training altogether. Allow your body several
days to make a healing attempt on the injured tendons. If needed,
use ibuprofen for pain and try to keep track of when you feel
pain and what brought it on. After several days of rest, your
pain may subside. When that happens, don’t immediately go back
to your previous weight. Instead, begin with a much lower weight
to test your arm strength. If no pain appears, then gradually
increase over the next several weeks. If the pain returns,
try another few days of rest. Some people do eventually have
to resort to surgery to correct tendonitis but that should
be used only as a final option. Many former weightlifters now
use other methods of strengthening like Pilates, resistance
bands, and others. You can maintain physical strength without
the use of weights.
One final common injury that occurs during exercise is a dog
bite. This is a serious wound and should not be taken lightly.
If you are following your exercise route and encounter an unfriendly
dog, take some simple steps to defuse the situation. Avoid
looking him in the eyes since dogs consider that a threat. Turn sideways and slowly move away, getting some kind of object
between you and the dog if possible. Do not make fast movements
that might agitate the dog. If you see that the animal is going
to attack, drop to the ground, roll yourself into a ball and
cover your head with your arms. In most situations help arrives
within minutes. Fast-moving exercisers like runners, joggers,
rollerblader’s, and bicyclists are far too frequently targets
of dogs, so keep an appropriate distance between you and any
dogs as you go about your workout.
Knowing a few simple steps to preventing and treating injuries
may save you hours of pain and distress later on, but don’t
let the fear of injury deter you from fitness! The best way
to avoid injury is to have a strong, healthy body and that
requires exercise!
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SolveYourProblem.com : 2005
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