Well first of all injury is part of any sport and as I said before pain is protective its your body telling you that it needs some attention.
Every body knows RICE rest Ice Compresion and elevation ...
Well there is a new age way of looking at soft tissue injuries called PEACE and LOVE
According to an article published in The British journal of sports medicine by Dubois and esculiar 2019.
Protection
Elevation
Avoid anti inflammatories
Compression
Education
And
Loading
Optimism
Vascularisation
Exercise
So immediately after an injury it’s best to protect the part, by offloading it and resting it out to allow the part to heal, elevation helps to reduce the swelling, every injury goes through a perocess of healing , sometimes taking anti-inflammatory meds self-prescribed may hamper recovery as well as mask the seriousness of an injury. Compress the area with bandage or tape helps to reduce the swelling .
Educate yourself, ask a health professional about your injury , do not simply look up your symptoms on the internet, learn about the why of your injury ,unless you have a fall or an accident most running injuries are because of training errors or lack of recovery . Remember the beginning of the injury is months before it becomes a pain .
The best way to heal an injury is to optimise loading , getting back to your run by giving your body enough time to adapt and heal to accept the loads is very important. You may be pain fre but your tissues are still healing .
Optimism is very important ,our beliefs and knowledge can be limiting factors to our healing or expedite it. Our psychology about pain and healing has a direct impact
Vascularisation means an overall uplifting of health ,eg even if your knee is injured you can still swim or ride a bike or do some easy yoga to uplift your health and well being .
Exercise.
Engage in exercise specific to running which helps to make the tissues stronger .
Improving strength and mobility of your body and continually working on improving your running mechanics helps to recover from injury and prevent re injury .
Any pain staying for a longer time and not reducing with the PEACE components needs medical attention .
It’s always best to consult your doctor or physiotherapist before you manage your own injuries .
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