What to Do and What Not to Do When You Have a Major Sprain or Strain
If you’ve ever experienced a major sprain or strain, you know how difficult they can be. Whether you sprained your ankle on a hike or strained your shoulder during a tennis game, these injuries are almost unassuming at first. After all, they’re not as ‘serious’ as a broken bone, so they should heal easily, right?
As it turns out, sprains and strains can be very slow to heal, especially when you don’t take the proper measures. Plus, continuing to use the injured body part can extend or even worsen the injury, making it even more important to take care of it properly. Let's have a look at some of the top things to do and what not to do when caring for a major sprain or strain.
How do Sprains and Strains Happen?
Though related, sprains and strains are actually a little different, and occur for different reasons. A sprain refers to an injury to the ligaments which surround a joint of the body, such as your ankle, wrist, knee, or elbow. A strain, on the other hand, refers to an injury to the tendons and muscles around the joint.
These injuries can occur in any number of ways, from twisting an ankle while running to swinging a tennis racket with poor form. Anything that jolts, twists, or suddenly contracts your soft tissues has the possibility to lead to a sprain or a strain. So what are the best ways to look after these injuries when they do occur, and what should you be avoiding completely?
What Not to Do When You Have a Major Sprain or Strain
1. Use Heat Right Away
Heat when applied immediately to your sprain or strain can actually increase swelling in the injured joint, leading to increased pain and potentially a longer healing time. Although a hot bath might seem like a good idea after straining a knee or spraining an ankle, it might lead to more discomfort than relief—particularly in the first couple of days. The same goes for hot packs, hot compresses, and heating pads.
2. Get a Massage
Though massage can be invaluable for minor sprains and strains and general body maintenance and relief, it’s usually not the right kind of physical treatment for major sprains and strains, especially at the beginning of the healing process. After a few days, massage can help to provide a bit of relief and improve mobility, but we recommend avoiding it at first.
3. Drink Alcohol
Alcohol is known to increase inflammation, and can actually lead to more pain and swelling when used after a major sprain or strain. While a cold drink after a tough day may sound appealing at first, it’s not recommended for those who have sustained a major soft tissue injury.
4. Push Through the Pain
Whatever you do, don’t try to ‘tough it out’ when it comes to a sprain or a strain. Sure, you might be still capable of running, jumping, or other actions, but you’re likely doing more damage (temporary or permanent) to your injured body and extending the length of recovery. Of course, if you have a sprained ankle, focusing on upper body strength for a few days can be a good way to stay active while supporting your injury at the same time.
What to Do When You Have a Major Sprain or Strain
1. Prioritize Active Rest
If you take nothing else away from reading this guide, remember this point. Rest is the single most important thing you can do to heal from sprains, strains, and other physical injuries.
When you continuously force your injured body to do its normal activities, the inflamed tissues can’t properly heal. At the same time, you don’t want to stop your usual activity altogether if you don’t have to. That’s why we always recommend active rest, which centers around the idea of modifying your usual activity to ensure you’re limiting the load and strain you put on your injury. This lets you keep up with your usual routine, continue to (gently) exercise the same muscle groups, and promote a good balance of recovery and activity.
Taking time off of your usual sports and training activities should be considered your last resort. Sometimes it’s necessary for severe injuries, but in many cases, a few adaptations are all that’s needed. Rest, and especially active rest, can mean the difference between your recovery taking days or taking months—so take it seriously!
2. Implement the Peace and Love Principle
This approach is gaining traction as the preferred way to get relief from pain and promote healing after a major sprain or strain. Here’s what this acronym stands for:
PEACE – For the initial days after a soft tissue injury:
Protect – This refers to unloading and/or restricting movement of the injured body part for 1-3 days. This helps reduce bleeding and swelling, promoting faster healing. The specifics can vary depending on the injury, from using crutches to walk to wearing a brace on an injured wrist. A physiotherapist can provide advice on protection equipment that will help your recovery.
Elevate – Be sure to rest with the injured body part elevated above the rest of the body, such as putting your foot up on a pillow for a strained ankle. This prevents too much blood from entering the area and causing swelling, helping to reduce pain and speed up healing.
Avoid Anti-Inflammatory Modalities – Inflammation can cause pain and swelling, but it’s actually your body’s way of healing the injury. Anti-inflammatory medications, for instance, may actually negatively affect the long-term healing process of your injury. It’s best to avoid these unless instructed otherwise by an expert.
Compress – Support your injured joint by tightly wrapping it with a bandage. This compresses the area, helps support the soft tissues, and can reduce swelling over time.
Educate – When seeking treatment for a sprain or strain, search for a physical therapy expert who is committed to educating you on their process and your body’s natural healing response. Look for physio experts that prioritize you getting better, rather than causing you to have an ongoing dependence on their services.
LOVE – A few days after a soft tissue injury:
Load – Once the initial pain and swelling have gone down, it’s time to get back into the swing of things. Gradually reload weight and pressure on the injured body part, starting slow and working your way back to your pre-injury abilities as your symptoms allow.
Optimism – Your brain has a bigger role in the injury-healing process than you may have realized. An optimistic attitude toward your recovery will help you continue to push and get better.
Vascularisation – Cardiovascular exercises such as running, cycling, or swimming are all great ways to boost your mood and your body’s blood flow at the same time—both of which help the healing process. Do your best to keep up with a form of cardio that doesn’t cause too much pain for your injury.
Exercise – Beyond cardio, it’s important to keep up with exercise as a whole. Evidence has shown that continuing to exercise a soft tissue injury helps restore mobility and any lost strength. Don’t push yourself into any serious pain while doing this—use it as a guide to determine your abilities as you go.
3. Gently Reintroduce Movement
When your injury begins to feel better, it’s a good idea to gently try to reincorporate movement into your routine. Depending on the severity of your injury, the timeframe can vary quite a bit, ranging from a few days after the injury to a few weeks later. For example, wait until your sprained ankle is no longer swollen and painful. Then, go on a short walk to see how you feel.
Reintroducing movement will help you heal more efficiently and restore your original range of motion. Start small, slow, and deliberately, taking care not to overexert yourself. If you begin to feel any new pain, stop the activity and take some more time to rest.
4. Work With a Physiotherapist
Last but certainly not least is getting a little help from the experts. Not all strains and sprains need professional intervention—many will heal within a few days (provided you follow the above advice). But in cases with more severe injuries, physiotherapy can be a useful or even vital way to reduce pain, limit inflammation, and begin the healing process.
If you’re searching for a trusted physio clinic with the tools, knowledge, and experience to guide you through the healing process, we’re here to help. Whether you just twisted a knee or have been dealing with the effects of an injury from long ago, we can help you rehabilitate your body and start moving better than ever.
Contact us today if you need help with recovery for your major sprain or strain!
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