| By: Julie Eibensteiner PT, DPT, CSCS I’m guessing Goldilocks would have made a great sports physical therapist. ——————————- When it comes to returning from most injuries and especially muscle injuries (groin pulls, calf strains, hamstring strains, quad pulls, etc.)… Often the worst thing you can do is: Push right through extreme pain & ignore your body. And the next worst thing you can do is: Complete and total rest. Especially if you are trying to get back to competitive sport, you are digging a much bigger hole that you will need to get out of. The most frustrating thing you can do is: Bounce back and forth between the two extremes mentioned above. You are asking your body to perform at high levels, while also making it less prepared for the demands of performing at high levels. ——————————- Who typically deals with an injury the longest? It’s a toss-up between: 1. The Full Send – the person who does nothing most of the week, but plays on game day (or tries to.) This the equivalent of a dog chasing it’s tail. Lots of energy (often mostly emotional) being used and accomplishing nothing useful in the long run. You eventually end up right back where you started. 2. The Impatient One – the person who completes 70-80% of their rehab plan & then then abandons it when things are “good enough.” This is the equivalent of walking across a lake in Minnesota the last week of November. It may work, but strong odds that the ice isn’t thick enough an you fall in. If you want to get to the other side, you’ll have to start all over again and with better preparation. ——————————- So what should a person do? Stay away from extremes – try to find your “just right” from early on. Light activity with mild discomfort is a good starting point. Adjust from there and respect tissue healing times. Self-assess your decisions – if you are constantly getting re-injured or can’t see much real improvement getting back to the activities you love, see if you fall into one of the patterns above. If so, try to find the middle ground. Get help – often an objective outside opinion can see your blind spots. Even better, find a rehab professional that knows tissue healing times, the demands of your sport, and and has tackled these situations before successfully – they know the most efficient path up the mountain ….and no rollercoasters involved.  |
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