You can exercise when you are injured – just be careful.
With more and more research and advancements into treatment of injuries, indicators are now pointing to the strategy of moving as best possible, to aid recovery from an injury. Below are some guides to assist and some key pointers to help you decide whether you should or should not exercise.
Firstly, talk to your treating health professional and heed their advice on what is best to do and what will aggravate the issue. The second point is to listen to their advice.
Thirdly, start slow and have a plan. Having structured exercise can allow you to control the return to full use after the injury and reduce the risk of exasperating the existing condition.
The fourth point is don’t try and undertake movements that are not the normal way the joint, limb or body moves. Examples of this are twisting the body to torn whilst keeping the foot planted. This can put torsion through joints that are not meant to move that way (for example the knee) which can aggravate injuries. This not only affects the joints, but will affect any muscles that may be recovering as well.
Lastly, use the traffic light guide to listen to what your body is telling you. These are:
- Green – no pain, maybe slight exercise discomfort, but it is okay to keep exercising.
- Orange – you may be feeling strain that is not getting worse but you are unsure of it. This means slow down
- Red – pain that is increasing – stop.
Now more than ever, it is just as important to exercise for maintaining health, as it is for recovering from injury.