4 At-Home Injury Care Tips to Get You Back on Your Feet

Say, you’ve been working out at home. You’ve been doing great so far. You’ve been keeping in shape. But doing workouts without supervision might sometimes lead to accidents if you aren’t careful. You could get into an accident or overextend a muscle. You could end up with a strained or sprained foot. If you do, here are some helpful tips on how to deal with the problem and how to recover as soon as possible. 

Know the Different Injuries 

Before you proceed to care tips, you’ll need to have a good idea of what you’re dealing with. Knowledge of common foot injuries will be a lot of help to you. Take a look: 

• Shin splints. These are one of the most common injuries you get from running. If you put too much pressure on your leg muscles, tendons, or the bone in your shin, then you’ll end up getting small tears in those muscles. Athletes often have this problem, as a result of too much training. Common symptoms of the condition include achiness or tenderness along the shin. There might be throbbing as well. Once the muscles loosen up, the pain should ease as well. If the pain doesn’t improve, get in touch with an expert. Look for a private hospital in Adelaide for advice and treatment. 

• Rotator cuff strain. These are often found in athletes, too, as a result of overuse of the muscles during training. Improper form, or excessive weight can be huge factors of the condition, too. 

• Hip pain. If you’ve been doing too much running uphill, or the volume of your training has been excessive, this might be the source of your discomfort. If you’re an active Zumba enthusiast, you’ll need to cut back as that activity puts your hip flexors under strain. As a result, you might get muscle spasms. Swelling or bruising around your hip area might occur as well along with stiffness. 

• Sprained ankle. This can easily happen when you’ve been running, walking, exercising or hiking. It could also happen when you fall off somewhere and land wrong by twisting your ankle. It’s a common injury but a particularly painful one. You might need to hobble along for weeks or use a crutch to get around to limit movement of your ankle while you recover. 

Take a Lot of Rest 

The key is to let your body heal. That isn’t going to happen if you’re still active and about. Take it easy. Rest plenty. Let sleep replenish your energies. Your muscle is weak after an injury. It’s best not to do anything to aggravate the condition. Don’t overextend or overuse the affected muscles or parts. That also means moving slowly. No sudden movements for now. 

Apply Ice on the Area

A bag of frozen veggies will help relieve the pain as well as keep the area from swelling. That’s because the cold decreases the blood flow to the affected site. You might also try an ice pack or iced crush. Just make sure you don’t place the ice directly on your skin. That will give you frostbite instead. Wrapping the ice in a thin cloth or towel will do. Let the ice pack stay on the site for about 15 to 20 minutes. You can do this for about three to four times a day. That will help.   

Compress

Don’t forget to wrap the area with an elastic bandage. That will cut down on the swelling as it allows the fluid to drain from the injured site. The bandage, too, serves as support and restricts your movement. That matters. It’s all too easy to forget that you’re injured sometimes. You might, without a thought, take a step without being careful, putting on your full weight on the injured foot. A bandage, though, is a fast reminder for you to be careful. That way, you don’t aggravate your condition any further. 

Elevate 

You need to position the injury at heart level or above your heart. That minimizes the swelling. If you have a hip injury, then you can try to ease the discomfort by laying down with a pillow wedged under your lower back. That should provide further support to elevate the area. 

R.I.C.E. is most effective for the first 48 to 72 hours after the injury occurs. Take an over-the-counter medicine for now. Talk to your doctor to find out which options are good for you. Some pain relief medications affect those with a heart condition negatively. If you have any other medical problem, consult with a doctor first before you take anything.