Finish what you started. Why injuries can come back!
So, you have had some physio treatment and the pain has gone! Time to stop doing your exercises and have a rest, right? NO
This is what a lot of patients think when they start their treatment plan but this can seriously affect your long term outcome. It is important to remember that having no pain does not equal that your problem has gone.
Many soft tissue injuries will take at least 6 weeks for them to heal to a suitable level to enable heavy loading again. Pain however can be gone within days of an injury.
A common example is a simple sprained ankle. Pain and swelling can often dissipate within a week or two of the injury but that does not mean you should return to running, jumping or sport with a bit of tape applied and a dose of neurofen. You could run the risk of turning a sprained ligament into a ruptured ligament – this could mean the end of that activity for you. Your Physiotherapist or Exercise Physiologist will ensure you are able to manage the precise movements and skills required to return to your chosen activities to minimise further injury. That can sometimes take several weeks, months or even years in some cases.
Elective surgery clients can also fall well short of reaching their full potential as they do not complete a suitable rehab period. This can result in an increased risk of falls or developing faulty movement patterns that can aggravate other body parts over time.
Tips for preventing injury recurrence
Having no pain does not mean the problem has healed.
Aim to strengthen and improve to a level that will help prevent the problem happening again.
Ask yourself: Have I regained my strength, agility, speed, balance, flexibility, power…..if not, you’ve still got work to do.
Engage fully in your programme as directed and discuss with your therapist when you are OK to return to your normal activities again.
Just because your Care Plan gives you only 2-3 sessions does not mean that is all you might need to recover fully.
Follow the advice of your physiotherapist regarding when and how often you should attend your sessions – it’s better to complete your rehab rather than ‘keeping one up your sleeve’ waiting for something to go wrong 3 months from now.
At Embody Movement we aim to get you back to better than you were pre-injury / condition so that not only can you recover quicker but also minimise the risk of further problems.