Americans are no strangers to sports injuries — in 2021, 3.2 million people were treated in emergency rooms for sports-related injuries. If you’re lucky, you’re only benched for a week or two and you can get back into the game fairly quickly.
If you’ve incurred a more serious sports injury, the rehab process can be considerably more complex — and lengthy. And when you’re finally ready to get back into the action, you’re not sure where to start.
You don’t have to wing it. As a sports medicine specialist, Dr. Moisés Irizarry-Román at No Mercy Sports Medicine in Miami, Florida, has a good deal of experience guiding patients through sports injuries and back into activity.
While no two people follow the exact same path, there are some great rules of thumb to keep in mind as you ease back into activity.
If we’ve treated your musculoskeletal injury from the start, we have a good idea about when you can gradually get back into a more active lifestyle, and we urge you to follow our instructions closely on this front.
When your tissues are rebuilding and healing, this is a vulnerable time, but it’s also a window during which we can guide recovery. Through regenerative medicine and physical therapy, we can support the healing process so you come out the other end strong and ready to go.
So, please adhere to our recommended timeline when it comes to getting back into the action, which means not jumping ahead, nor lagging behind.
As you become more active, it’s a good idea to bolster the injured area as best you can. This might come in the form of a brace, custom orthotics, better footwear, or some other technique for providing a little extra support.
We’re happy to help you find the right tools for your injury and your goals.
As you get back into your activity of choice, we want you to spend time warming up and stretching. All of the connective tissues surrounding your injury should be nice and flexible before you start asking them to perform. Plan on spending a good 10 minutes before your activity doing some simple stretches and activities that warm you up.
Sports enthusiasts love challenges, which sometimes means they fight through pain. There’s no glory in fighting through pain when you’re coming off of an injury. In fact, you can do far more harm than good.
As you ease back into activity, listen very closely to your body — you may push through tightness, but please stop the moment you feel pain. Pain is your body’s way of warning you about a problem. It's a good idea to heed this warning so you don’t end up right back where you started.
Ready to get back in the game? The above recommendations should help you ease back into activity, but if you have more questions about returning to sports after an injury, please contact No Mercy Sports Medicine in Miami, Florida, today by calling the office at 305-614-6757.
