sports injury recovery

First, the injury grade and type are clarified through medical evaluation, and then the corresponding conservative/surgical intervention methods are matched, and functional rehabilitation training is carried out throughout the recovery cycle. At the same time, the plan is dynamically adjusted based on one's own sports foundation and daily movement habits.

I suffered from iliotibial band syndrome when I ran the Hangzhou Half Marathon last year. At first, I thought it was just a little soreness and pain on the outside of my knee. I could go back and take LSD after two weeks of rest. But by the third week, I was still lame when I walked downstairs. It was difficult to even put on socks and lift my legs. I panicked and found a familiar rehabilitation practitioner, and then I realized how wrong my previous perception was.

There have been two factions in the circle that have been quarreling for many years: one is the "rest faction" of traditional orthopedics, which believes that if you are injured, you have to immobilize, and you can only move after the callus has grown and the soft tissue swelling has subsided, otherwise it will be easy to cause secondary injuries.； The other school is the "animal support school" that has become popular in recent years. It is said that lying completely flat will cause muscle atrophy, joint adhesions, and a longer recovery period. In fact, both sides are right, but the injuries involved are completely different. For example, if you have a third-degree ligament rupture, avulsion fracture, or third-degree meniscus tear, then you should honestly follow the doctor's instructions to immobilize or even undergo surgery. At this time, if you move around, something will really happen. ； However, if it is just a minor muscle strain, patellar tendonitis, or first-degree ligament sprain, it may cause problems if you lie down for more than 3 days. In the past few years, everyone believed in the RICE principle. If you are injured, rest, apply ice, apply pressure bandage, and elevate the affected limb. In recent years, the field of sports medicine has even more respected the POLICE principle, replacing complete rest with appropriate protective weight-bearing. To put it bluntly, don’t be completely immobile. Putting a little gentle stress on the injured area can stimulate the soft tissue to repair faster.

I met a badminton player before. His sprained foot was swollen and turned into a lump. He was sprayed with Yunnan Baiyao and managed to finish three games. He went home in pain all night to take a X-ray. He suffered a second-degree injury to the anterior talofibular ligament. He heard from the elderly at home that he had been injured for a hundred days and had to lie down for two seconds. I haven't been on the ground for a month, and when I was able to walk, my ankles shook as if they were equipped with universal wheels. It took me another three months to practice balance before I dared to return to the court. In total, I didn't touch the racket for half a year. If I had consulted a rehabilitation practitioner early on to do ankle pumps and practice proprioception, I would have been able to go back to playing health ball in two months.

As for what methods to use during recovery, there are even more differences: some people think that traditional methods such as acupuncture, hot compress, and muscle management are the most effective, while some think that evidence-based modern physical therapies such as shock waves, ultrasound, and muscle effect tape are the most reliable. Some people think that nothing is needed and just rely on self-healing. When the pain in my iliotibial band was at its worst, the rehabilitation therapist gave me two electroacupunctures, and 70% of the pain disappeared in the same day. When the adhesions could not be healed in the later stage, I received two shock waves, combined with foam rolling for 10 minutes every day, and I went back to running in less than three weeks. To be honest, no method is omnipotent. In the acute stage, you should first relieve pain and reduce swelling, and in the middle and later stages, remove adhesions and practice strength. Only the right method is used at different stages. There is no need to use one method over another.

The most common mistake many people make is to mistake "no pain" for "well". There was a young man in a running group who had just recovered from an avulsion and fracture of his ankle for four weeks. He pressed the injured area and it stopped hurting, so he secretly followed him for a 10-kilometer run. After running less than 3 kilometers, he squatted on the ground in pain. When he went back to take a picture, the old injury avulsed again. He had to recuperate for two months, which was not worth the loss. In fact, pain is just an alarm sent by your body. When the alarm goes away, it does not mean that the injured area has completely healed, nor does it mean that your muscle strength, joint mobility, and proprioception have returned to the level before the injury. If you resume high-intensity exercise hastily at this time, the probability of secondary injury can soar to more than 60%.

To put it bluntly, damaged soft tissue is like the collar of a sweater that has been pulled out of shape. If you pull it hard, it will definitely come off the thread. If you fold it and throw it aside, it will wrinkle into a ball and make it impossible to put it on. You have to slowly smooth it out and adjust it while stretching it, so that it can return to the original shape.

I have come into contact with so many injured sports enthusiasts, and they really recover quickly and well. They are never people who blindly look for home remedies and carry on, nor are they people who lie completely flat and dare not move. They are people who are willing to take a film first, find professionals for evaluation, follow the plan honestly, and occasionally get lazy but do not stray from the general direction. After all, sports are meant to be fun. If you get injured, you need to recover slowly. Only when you recover can you continue to play, right?