Recurring injuries are common, and they can happen all the time especially in single sport athletes, and due to muscle overuse such as marathon runners and sprinters. When you utilize your muscles in merely one form of athletic activity, it can lead to repetitive muscle usage, and as a result, the muscles and tissues can get worn out and may need the attention of an orthopedic surgeon.
While recurrent injuries are common in the younger population, many middle age adults experience the same kind of injuries in the same region of the body especially those that specialize in one form of sports. The cause of these injuries can vary depending on the age and circumstances of the individual, learning to recover and prevent these injuries is very much attainable.
Here is a complete guide on the basics of recurring injuries, what are the causes and factors that lead to such injuries and ways you can recover from them is a smooth and effective way.
What Are Recurring Injuries?
Recurring injuries, also known as overuse or repetitive injuries, are the aftermath of muscle overuse involving a repeated athletic activity. They usually occur over and over again in the same location. Common examples include tendinitis, stress fractures, carpal tunnel syndrome and shin splints. The most commonly occurred overuse injuries are the hip joints, shoulders, ankles, and knee injuries.
What Are The Causes Of A Recurring Injury
To rule out the potential causes of a recurring injury, we must understand the physiology behind it. Recurring injuries happen when we keep engaging ourselves in repetitive activities without giving our bodies the proper time to recover. In simple terms, the most you use the damaged muscle, the more the likelihood of sustaining reinjury. Once you get twisted in the loop, it’s impossible to recover without resetting your exercise routine and shifting towards more safer techniques.
Another mistake many new timers make is the habit of overdoing a particular physical regime. At the start of a new exercise, it’s normal to have higher motivation levels which push people to test their limits. This can lead to overuse injuries without the individual even realizing.
How Can You Prevent Recurring Injuries?
Once you understand the causes, it’s quite obvious on how to avoid overuse injuries and provide your body with the necessary time it needs to recover. Here are some of our practical tips on preventing these injuries:
The Importance Of Rest And Recovery
The most important factor in keeping overuse injuries at bay involves prioritizing adequate resting and recovery intervals following an exercise regime. Along with taking a day off from your usual exercises, we highly recommend using health aids or other means to soothe your sore muscular pains. Apart from the usual over the counter anti-inflammatory medications, applying vibrating foam rollers, massagers or simply icing the affected area can greatly alleviate symptoms and improve recovery.
Another factor to take in account is ensuring adequate levels of sleep each night after a tiring training session. During sleep, our bodies naturally synthesize the growth hormone (GH) that acts as the body’s natural muscle building system. The hormone also promotes recovery and proliferation of existing weakened muscles.
Don’t Forget To Stretch
In most instances, taking a few minutes to adequately warm up and indulge in a few stretching postures warms up the body signaling the muscles to get a head start for the coming physical exertion. Stretching in the form of a few lighter drills, improves flexibility and increases blood flow. All of these actions raise the temperatures of the body to allow more heavy exertion to take place. This can very effectively prevent recurrent injuries.
Know Your Limits
If you’re a newbie or just starting out a newer physical regime, we highly encourage you to listen to your bodies and never overdo any step. At the start of a newer routine, motivation levels peak to an all-time high, which can cause some people to test their body’s limits, sustaining an injury as a consequence. It’s important to always take advice from a fitness expert and start out with a lesser intensity of the workout or sporting activity you intend to do.
While recurring injuries are ever so common, understanding where they come from and restructuring your current exercise routines through the help of physiotherapists and orthopedic doctors Woodbridge can certainly prevent an unpleasant situation from happening.
