If you do end up injured...

Due to competition or an unpredicted situation you end up injured - What to do?

The ideal is to not create a situation where this will happen as noted in yesterdays blog - but since I know some of you will end up in a contact situation where getting injured is not "preventable" and others of you will not stop pushing to the limit - so here is my advice.

Stop before things get bad!
In kettlebell training for example you can tear your hands during extended sets of snatches. And having a callous tear can put your KB training on hold for a while. But if you feel your hand starting to tingle or feel that blister coming on you have the opportunity to stop and prevent the injury. Don't waste it and wish later that you had - if this means not hitting the "goal" for the day - so be it. You will at least live to train another day.

If it happens during competition or training - stop what you are doing. As an athletic trainer I spent a great deal of time evaluating and rehabbing injuries and a good percentage of the time it was something that started small and then "pop" ended up serious. Whether the athlete or individual felt it coming on gradually over a few days or whether is came on gradually over the course of a workout - there were warning signs that were ignored (see above). Then when the injury occurs you must stop and take yourself out of training or competition.

Get evaluated by an Athletic Trainer, Sports Physical Therapist, Doctor, or Chiropractor - basically - get checked out by your Dr. or another allied health care professional. This is like making sure you get your car looked at by a mechanic. You want the right person for the job.

Some form of Ice, Compression and elevation should be applied - other things like gentle stretching and "keeping the area moving" are to be used with professional advice - but if it hurts - don't do it in the initial stages of an injury.

Let's say that again - in the initial stages of an injury - if it hurts don't do it.

Once you know what the injury is and have been evaluated and followed the professional advice - and applied your treatment (ice etc...) - How do you know how and when to come back into training and competition?

That is next weeks blog...

But the huge take home message here is to prevent when possible, listen to your body and Stop when you can to prevent or lessen an injury, Get a professional evaluation and apply the appropriate treatment.

People make the biggest mistakes by not stopping, not getting evaluated and not treating the area injured - so don't be like that. Do what you need to to get taken care of - it will speed your recovery time and get you back in action.