Injury Prevention and Management

April 19, 2021

Injury Prevention and Management

weight trainor and patient

As spring sports are now underway, we have nearly reached the mid-point of spring sports such as track and soccer, among others. It is about the mid-point of a sport that injuries can start to linger and inhibit daily practices and games. While daily practices and workouts are necessary to stay in good shape and strengthen your skill, it also can result in “wear and tear” injuries because of the potential aggravations and stress it can put on your body. Let’s be clear, though, sports are great! There are so many benefits to sports such as exercise, heart health, camaraderie, teamwork, and many others. This blog is going to cover how you can stay healthy and remain in your best shape for those respective sports!

First, I’ll cover some elements of injury prevention and how to keep your body prepared for the daily wear and tear of practices and games. The first one, and most obvious one, is stretching. Stretches such as the piriformis stretch, straight leg reaches, the “sleeping swan”, supine twist, legs up on the wall, triceps stretching, deltoid stretching, and many others. What do these stretches accomplish? They help keep your muscles flexible, strong, and give your muscles the necessary range of motion in our joints. Without stretching, our muscles become tight and weak which puts at risk for injury. Essentially, without stretching, our bodies aren’t as prepared for daily workouts which means higher risk for injury.

Another way to prevent injuries is to actually stay consistently active. When you are consistently active and keeping your body in good shape, it isn’t as big of a shock on your body when you do an unusually intense workout. If you’re active, your body gradually strengthens and works up to be able to withstand the hardest of workouts! However, with activity also comes the importance of rest. If you don’t give your body the proper rest it needs, it can be over-exerted and overused which can lead to not only injuries but also fatigue, decreased immunity, and struggles with sleep (among others).

This brings us to our last point, which is to get proper rest! Rest doesn’t just mean relaxing after a workout and giving the body time to recover, it also means getting good sleep, eating nutritious foods, and rejuvenating your body for the next challenging workout. Rest is vital for injury prevention, as it allows the body to fully recover and get the energy it needs.

The second portion I’ll cover is injury management. Injury management is your how you manage an injury after sustaining one. What do you do? Well, there are lots of options of course. Do you have a minor injury that keeps getting aggravated over and over? Do you have an injury that doesn’t seem to go away with time? Do your best to manage it with appropriate measures such as continued stretching, rest, and decreased workload. What if it’s more than a minor injury? Depending on the severity of an injury, utilizing an Athletic Trainer or Physical Therapist can work wonders for your body in its fight back from injury.

After all, being healthy, preventing injury, and managing injury is an extremely important staple in our daily life and especially our quality of life. It is important to stay on top of injuries and explore all options to make sure your body is able to do what’s necessary in your everyday activity. Here at Hegg, we want to help you!  Interested in learning about healthy exercise and stretching? Call me at 712-476-8081 or email me at jordyn.kleinwolterink@hegghc.org. Are you looking to rehabilitate from an injury and come back stronger? We have a wonderful team of therapists who would love to help you in your journey back to health. You can call at 712-476-8080 or get a doctor’s order for physical therapy. We would love to help you!

Jordyn Kleinwolterink