In response to a certain journaler's account of a recent ankle tweak, I began to write this semi-coherent rant. And then I decided that it actually applies to a bunch of people around here, including me. So instead of singling out said journaler, here's a new thread:
The most important thing when recovering from a connective tissue injury is to
REST THE FUCKING TISSUE THAT GOT INJURED.
Even Andrew "Rest is for pussies" Darqui is resting his toe now, kind of. Tendons and ligaments heal slowly and take time to recover their former strength (if they recover it fully at all) once they're healed. So if you sprain your knee or your ankle or your wrist: Stop playing basketball! Stop shooting jumpers! Stop doing anything that makes you plant on it or rely on it for reactive movements! Slowly reintegrate strengthening and balancing exercises once pain begins to subside! But don't push them too hard too fast!
DO NOT FUCKING RUSH, YOU WILL ONLY FUCK YOURSELF HARDER IN THE LONG TERM.
Trust me, I have years of first-hand experience of rushing back into playing after a sprain. This always, IME, ends with another sprain. You're not a pro athlete, you're not on scholarship somewhere to play sports. You're a recreational athlete. Just like me and almost everyone else on this forum. Therefore, you have absolutely no excuse to rush. And if/when you do rush, and you re-injure yourself, there are only two possible outcomes:
- Your recovery takes even longer than it would have otherwise, or
- You end up injuring yourself badly enough to cause long-term pain/damage.
It may sound a twinge hypocritical of me to say this after such a post, but relax. Let your body heal itself. You can always get back to playing basketball or jumping or sprinting or lifting later. The gym isn't going anywhere, the track isn't going anywhere, the hoop isn't going anywhere.
NOTE TO POTENTIAL HATERS: I'm not saying you should never play hurt, especially when you're in organized competition. You get bruised up? If you even complain about it, you're a pansy. Friction burn? Same thing. Jam your thumb? You'll be fine. But if you have an injury that disables you, like an ankle sprain, you're not being awesome by pushing through it. You're being an idiot.
