In Martial Arts, like any other sport, there will be an injury at some point; the key is to know what to do about it. The recovery time for many injuries including strained muscles, sprained ligaments, injured joints, and broken bones can be significantly reduced if ice, compression, and elevation are applied at the time of injury.
Ice causes the injured blood vessels to contract, in turn reducing the blood flow from them. Applying ice is crucial in treating an injury since the more blood that collects in the wound, the longer it will take to heal.
As soon as the injury occurs, place ice on the injured area for at least 10 – 20 minutes. You can apply ice cubes, crushed ice or even a bag of frozen peas to the area. Depending on how serious the injury is, you might need to repeat this procedure every 4 hours for the first 72 hours after the injury occurred.
Compression is also something that will speed up the healing process of the injured area, while reducing swelling, pain, and inflammation. Using a tensor bandage, apply pressure directly over the injury so that circulation is not limited to other portions of the limb.
Elevation also goes hand in hand with icing and compression. You must elevate the injured area above the level of the heart to decrease swelling caused from excess blood in the injured area.
Rest is definitely something that will play an important role in the healing process as well, but note that prolonged rest and inactivity can often delay recovery as it may cause generalized muscle weakness around the injured site. Some kind of rehabilitation will be necessary to strengthen the injured body part.
Resume back to your normal activity when you are physically ready to do so. The use of protective aids, such as taping, or wraps may be helpful in the early stages of activity after injury.
Have Fun - Train Smart - Train Hard - Fightwize
Sensei Malcolm Bale
www.jiu-jitsu-calgary.com
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Martial Arts.
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