Picking up a sports injury is the last thing anyone wants to happen. But playing sports or working out frequently will put you at a greater risk of injury. From minor cuts, grazes and sprains to long term injuries such as broken bones, torn ligaments etc, any injury that stops you being as active as you like to be can be damaging to your body and your mental health.

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Knowing how to recover quickly to get you back on your feet without pushing your body to be ready before it is healed can be a fine line. Pushing too hard or not hard enough is relative to the individual and their specific injury. No one-time span fits all, instead of guidance and advice on what you should and shouldn’t do.

Focusing on your body and allowing yourself time to adapt to a new way of loving post-injury and utilising self-care to aid your recovery should be the top of your priority list. Making yourself and your injury one of your main focuses will work in your favour when it comes to reducing recovery times.

Get Expert Advice and Support

Following your doctors, advice on resting and healing times along with what you should and shouldn’t be doing will help you to give your body time to heal as well as knowing when to start building up your strength again and using your body to aid recovery. Try not to rush the healing process to avoid exacerbating the issue and potentially making it worse or even extending your recovery time.

Follow up with appointments, physiotherapy, check-ups and more to catch any potential issues and to aid your recovery in the best way.

Sleep

Getting a decent night’s sleep allows your body the downtime to be able to heal properly. Your body repairs itself during sleep and a lack of sleep disrupts this process. Try to get at least hours of sleep a day, avoid alcohol and try to get to bed and wake up at the same time each day and night.

Eat Well

A healthy balanced diet will give your body all the nutrients it needs to allow itself to stay in the best condition possible and to help aid the healing process. Diets rich in protein, omega-3, zinc and vitamins A and C will be beneficial to recovering from injury.

Accept Help

Accepting help when you are struggling to do tasks will help you mentally and physically when recovering from an accident. Set limits if it helps you but accept help to reduce expectations and responsibilities to allow you to rest and recuperate.

Rest

Resting is important after any injury. Especially those that are more severe and painful. Being able to process what has happened and allow your body time to identify the injury and work to repair itself in between treatments, appointments, surgeries etc.

In the initial period of time after the injury, you need to give yourself time to rest as much as possible before working actively to improve your recovery.