Making Recovery a Long Term Success

Here is a great guest post by Philip Reed on recovering from sports injuries.

Regardless of you activity level- extreme or gentle- caring for your body after an injury is essential, especially for those over 40. Sports medicine professionals will all agree that though injury prevention is the number one priority, proper after care and rehabilitation can mean the difference between long term problems and long term recovery.

What most people don’t realize is that sports medicine treatment after an injury is extremely multi faceted. It can include physical therapy, nutritional direction, or orthopedic surgical options. The sole purpose of these professionals is to ensure the safe return to regular activity and the long term success of recovery.

Should you ever find yourself the unfortunate victim of an injury, perhaps even one serious enough to require treatment at a sports medicine hospital, making sure that you are supported and under the care of someone who specializes in sports injuries will be very important, particularly if you intend to return to your sport or activity of choice. A regular doctor may have a perfectly reasonable plan for recovery; however a sports medicine practitioner will be focused on far more than just the specific source of pain. Keeping the broader picture front and center gives you a far better chance of a full return to normal activity because more than just the injury are being examined and treated. When you sustain a sports injury after the age of 40, this is a very important distinction in care models. Healing time can take far longer and the injury itself can be far more severe than the same issue in a younger person so it is incredibly important to give yourself every advantage to make sure you are back to 100% as quickly as possible. Obviously, some of the onus of recovery does rest on your shoulders- making sure you are following your health care professional’s instructions with regards to exercise, medication and appropriate activity level.

So though sports medicine professionals will always insist that prevention remains the most important goal for any athlete or sports enthusiast, but that of course doesn’t help much after you’ve already hurt yourself. Your best move is to make sure the right people are looking after you and helping you to get back on your feet.

Or back to the court, or rink, or track.