How to Take Care of Yourself When Treating an Injury

Right after you are hurt, you need to take care of the part of your body that is injured. If it is a muscle, you need to wrap it tightly in an elastic wrap to keep it stable. You will want to raise it over your heart and prop it up so you can rest it with little effort. You will want to also put ice on it to keep the swelling down.

Avoid applying heat since it will increase swelling instead of decrease it. Take ibuprofen to reduce swelling and minimize pain. Ask for help getting around if you have trouble walking until you get settled at home. If you have a laceration, something is broken, or have hit your head and feel dizzy, get to the emergency room immediately.

When you are recuperating, you will want to increase your caloric intake per day. Your body will expend extra energy while it heals itself. Adding some sort of isolate protein will help rebuild your muscles if they are damaged. It also will keep the muscle already built up in place instead of you losing it while you are recovering.

However, you will want to add healthy food to your diet instead of junk food, concentrating specifically on protein. Eating unhealthy will make it difficult to lose any excess weight you might gain and make resuming your training harder for you.

After a few days when the pain dissipates and the swelling goes away, you can remove the wrap. You may still want to take pain relievers if it bothers you. You can begin using a heating pad if it makes you feel better. Heat will allow the blood and nutrients you need to heal to get to your injury quicker.

You can start working out with it a little bit but be cautious that you keep from overdoing it. You will want to prevent from reinjuring it. If your symptoms are the same as when you initially hurt yourself after more than three days, you should make an appointment to see your doctor.

Although your injury might still be a bit sensitive after a month, you can increase your exercise until things are back to normal. Be sure to stretch out the affected area well before you begin to train and continue to do so for a few months.

However, if you feel any pain you will want to wait. You can utilize the items you had while you recovered to help eliminate any discomfort and also add topical sports creams to the mix. You can also stretch out the injured area to loosen it.

While many injuries are minor and will take care of themselves, there are times you will need to seek medical help. If there is an unusual lump where you hurt yourself, you are unable to put any weight on the limb, there is an unusual formation or sound when you move it, or you have issues breathing or are dizzy, you need to see a doctor immediately.

Tests will most likely be ordered and a more complex treatment given. The physician may even send you to physical therapy so your rehabilitation can be overseen by a professional. Therapy will include massage, exercises, and possibly tools that will alleviate pain.

Treating an injury needs to be done carefully so that you begin to heal properly. However, if it is started shortly after it happens, you will be back to normal very soon.