Once physical therapy comes to an end, many people stop working out or doing their assigned movements or stretches. This should not be the case! You shouldn’t stop working on your movements or stretching even if you are pain free. This is because some people’s bodies revert to what it was preinjury, if they’re not continuously strengthening or being pushed. Here are some of the things you should be doing if you want to stay pain free and prevent any further injuries from happening;
Do your homework!
Lots of the times physical therapists send you home with movements or workouts that you should be doing when you’re not in physical therapy. This should also be continued when discharged as well. Make it a habit and treat it like a routine. This will help you stay strong, balanced, and eventually can permanently lock in your progress and strength gains to support your body and the injured area.
Keep moving!
It is advised that you keep moving and progressively work towards being as mobile and pain free as you were prior to your injury. Don’t completely return to regular workouts of movements if still feeling pain or uneasy about it. Instead, you should gradually ease your body into doing the workouts and movements 10% at a time. So, if a workout is feeling too hard or is painful to do, don’t use as heavy of a weight or try to adjust the workout where it is not paining you and putting you at risk to injury yourself again.
Manage recovery accordingly!
True recovery happens during times of rest and rehabilitation. The key things that you should focus on are sleeping, listening to your body, and treating it with what it needs accordingly like icing, wrapping, or heating. Following these recover guidelines will allow for a better and smoother recovery process.
Eat well!
Nutrition provides us with the building blocks that we need to repair tissue and fuel our daily movement. Eating things that are high in protein and staying hydrated are 2 key things that we should focus on when healing and recovering. Drinking enough water helps keep your body functioning properly and protein helps muscle tissues, tendons, and ligaments to heal and grow.