Everyone wants to be healthy, which is why they exercise. Exercise is great for the cardiovascular system, plus it stops you from storing fat reserves that can lead to heart problems. Exercising is essential, right? Yes, of course it is essential, but there are issues with exercise, one being an injury. Injuries are an occupational hazard of exercising, and you will almost certainly experience one at some point. Because they are so common, it is important that you know how best to recover when you do get injured. If you don’t, you may not be able to exercise comfortably again.
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Ice
Ice is incredibly effective, as long as the injury is an impact injury that involves bone or a substance just as hard. When bone knocks, it starts to swell up and makes a lump in the injured area. The swelling is potentially very painful if it is left unattended, which is when you turn to ice. The cold from the ice starts to reduce the swelling and allows the bone to start to heal. Also, if you want you can apply the RICE theory, RICE standing for rest, ice, compression and elevation. Follow these four rules, and the swelling will disappear in no time.
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Heat
Alternatively, there is heat. Heat works best on muscle injuries because it gets deep into the muscle to help repair the damage. For starters, deep heat makes the muscle more flexible, which gives you a wider range of movement. That allows you to move around more freely without pain while the muscle recuperates. Also, the heat opens up the muscle to more blood flow. The increase in blood flow to the muscle means more oxygen, oxygen that is essential to the recovery process. However, heat does not do much good other than with muscle injuries.
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Stretch
Sometimes, you will only need to prepare properly to fix the problem. Lots of injuries are minor, and only require extensive stretching to solve the issue. Again, stretching increases the blood flow to the area, which in turn increases the oxygen intake and flexibility. Before you start any exercise program, make sure you stretch properly to help out your body. Plus, you can prevent further injury, too.
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Surgery
There are injuries that cannot be repaired without the help of a surgeon, such as an ACL tear. An ACL tear is when you tear the anterior cruciate ligament, and the ligament needs reattaching. Without the surgery, you won’t be able to walk again as the body cannot heal itself without the ligament being reattached to the area. However, the surgery is not a walk in the park, so you might want to do your research first. You can learn more about ACL tear and reconstruction, and surgery in general, by clicking on the link.
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Rest
Regardless of the severity of the injury, you will need to rest. Rest is when the body gets to recuperate and regenerate as you are not working hard. Without lying down and taking the edge off, your body will continue to work the area and cause more damage.
When it comes to injuries, rest and recuperation are key.