In sports practice, we often have the privilege of caring for a large array of athlete types. Their activity of choice may differ, but there are some innate truths to those kinds of patients. they’re often motivated, driven folks that enjoy life within the game – not from the sidelines. Another fact about them: from professionals to amateurs to weekend warriors, none are proof against injury. and particularly for those that consider sports or fitness an integral part of who they’re, being unable to interact in active daily living can leave them reeling with a significantly reduced quality of life than the one they were accustomed to pre-injury.
So it’s with no surprise that one among the foremost commonly asked questions we hear is: when am I able to go back to (insert name of sport, activity, or fitness regimen here)? Though the solution varies greatly from patient to patient and depends upon the injury sustained, there are some general recovery timeframes for the foremost common sports injuries which will help active people feel less just like the healing process will take for-to-the-ever.
Sprains and Strains
The most common sports-related injury categories are sprains and strains – with ankle sprains, groin pulls and strained hamstrings the foremost common specific injuries within these categories. Often brought up as “muscle pulls” these styles of injury involve suddenly stretching ligaments or tendons beyond their limits. With proper at-home treatment, minor strains and sprains can take per week around to heal before you’re back within the game. How does one know which you’ve sustained? Did you ice the injured area, restrict activity on that, apply compression to cut back swelling, and elevate it within the acute period immediately after it happened?
Ligament Tears
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament is that the connective band of tissue that’s answerable for stability within the knee. Unlike the at-home treatment for sprains and strains, if you think that you will have injured your ACL, especially if you heard a “popping” sound during the activity you were engaging in, it’s time to work out a doctor instantly. Although these injuries are common, they’re among the foremost severe. The more severe an injury is, the longer it’ll likely go for heal completely, and can potentially have to be surgically repaired. When the ACL is partially torn, the prognosis after recovery and rehab is sometimes within the vicinity of three months.
Fractures
As hard to believe because it may well be, sometimes broken bones (fractures) take less time to heal than severe sprains, strains, or muscle tears. A broken finger, for instance, can have you ever back out on the sector, court, or course in an exceedingly matter of three to 4 weeks. But a broken arm? It all depends on which bone was fractured and the way severe that fracture was.
While it should be enticing for you to “rub some dirt on it” and jump back to the sport after suffering an injury – don’t do it! provides it time to heal. Musculoskeletal injuries that haven’t been given enough time to heal can have some way of returning to haunt you hours, days, weeks, or maybe months down the road. So hear it. And in fact, see a medical specialty physician if the pain is severe or hasn’t subsided within some days.