On my last post, I showed you how to avoid an injury while working out. What if you didn’t manage to avoid an injury? I researched common workout injuries and found three important things you need to know: The cause of the injury, how to identify the injury and the best way to go about healing the injury.

Keep in mind that I’m not a doctor. I’m just a fitness lover that wants to collect helpful tips in one place.

A Pulled or Sprained Muscle

Pulled muscles are normally caused by overstretching or tearing a muscle. This happens when you haven’t properly warmed up your muscles. Overworking your muscles can also lead to a sprained muscle. If you are experiencing a tight, “knot” like feeling along with loss in flexibility, you probably have a pulled muscle. It’s not necessary to see a doctor for this, but if you want to be sure it’s not something more serious make an appointment.

Be sure to apply ice as soon as possible if you are having symptoms of a muscle sprain. This will help to stop inflammation and that is very important.  It’s not a good idea to jump right back into working out a sprained muscle. Let it rest! A mild pull could take a few weeks to heal and a more severe one could take months. Listen to your body. If you’re still experiencing tightness the muscle still needs time to heal. Try light stretching and apply heat to increase circulation to the muscle.

Tendinitis

You may know of tendinitis by its other names such as tennis elbow or pitcher’s shoulder. Tendinitis happens when a tendon becomes inflamed from repetitive movements. Sufferers normally experience pain, swelling, and warmth in the affected area. This is an injury that you have to see a doctor for. MRI or x-ray is used to make the diagnosis.

 R.I.C.E, or Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation, is the common treatment for tendinitis. Pain relievers can be used to help with pain and inflammation of the tendon. If the tendinitis becomes too severe, surgery may be needed.

A Sprained Ankle

Sprained ankles are the result of turning or twisting the ankle too far or at a bad angle. This causes tearing or overstretching of the ligaments in the ankle. Common signs are swelling and pain. And in some cases, there can be bruising. Once again it’s not necessary to see a doctor, but I would suggest you do. A doctor can let you know the severity of your injury. This will help achieve proper healing.

A doctor will normally use x-ray to see the severity of the sprained ankle. They will let you know how long you need to rest. If the doctor sees fit, they will also give you a splint to hold your ankle in place and crutches. It’s important to keep the sprained ankle iced.

Shin Splints

This is a very common injury among runners. Shin Splints are small stress fractures of the shin. These fractures are normally caused by a sudden change in training or wearing improper shoes while training. Shin Splints make themselves known by causing a dull ache in the shins. If you think you have shin splints apply the R.I.C.E. technique. Anti-inflammatory medications could help with any pain. It’s important to also get better shoes. If you aren’t sure what shoes you need for the type of training you do talk to a sales person or do some research online.

Remember to always listen to your body. If your injury isn’t healed properly before you try to resume training you’re causing more harm than good. An injury is just an unfortunate bump in the road of your fitness journey. Not the end of the road.