Staying Healthy While Injured

It is a common notion that exercise is one of the

standard ways of keeping a person physically fit and

physiologically efficient. It is also an avenue of

gaining muscles or losing weight. A person who is

involved in the exercise is exposed to normal

stressors which activate a response from within the

body to cope up and meet the demands of such

activities. This raises the level of output of a

person to some extent and that is a good and

beneficial thing because the body is then able to

level off with the present. However, there are times

when we are injured due to an inappropriate method, or

because of an accident, or some other reason. Staying

healthy while injured is still possible while

exercising without risking the injured body part of

further damages or complications.



There is a simple mnemonic called RICE which could aid

us how to treat any injury that we have and stay

healthy without complicating our injuries further.

This stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevate.



Rest



With a body injury that we are conscious about, it may

be accompanied with pain and discomfort especially

with ambulation. Because of this, we may actually not

want to move it about and put any pressure on it with

activities or such. The only ways to stop these

feelings of discomfort and pain would be to take

painkillers or rest the injured part. Having to let

the injured body part rest is essential for that

specific part to efficiently speed up its healing

process. Staying healthy while injured may still be

accomplished by having the other body parts continue

with the exercise routines.



Ice



Right after an injury like a sprain or strain, the

affected joint or body part begins to swell as body

fluids starts to rush to the injury site. This would

prove a very uncomfortable feeling and a sensation of

numbness if the swelling would cause the impingement

of surrounding nerves as well.



This usually happens from several minutes to a few

hours after the injury. Healing also becomes a little

slower after a swell because the affected area if

already full with non-healing fluid. What is needed

after an injury that would probably cause a swelling

is to apply ice packs on the affected body part and

immediate area surrounding it. This is to prevent any

vascular vessel to openly allow the flow of fluid

towards it. Since the body is designed to normally

shut constrict vessels when cold stimuli is applied,

it would help in the slowdown and prevention of

unwanted swelling.



However, proper care should be observed as not to

totally numb the senses with the cold ice. Maintaining

a temperature of 10 to 15 degrees Celsius for not more

than 15 minutes should be safe. Any longer, and the

vascular vessels begin to take a Rebound Effect and

actually does the reverse effect for the intended

purpose.



Compress



Compression is simply the act of wrapping the injured

body part with a bandage and covering them securely

and snugly to add pressure to the injury. This is done

with a couple of hand towels or a bandage wrap. The

ice that is supposed to be applied previously could be

applied with a compressive method. Furthermore,

compression allows for the effect of the ice to be in

constant contact with the injured body part.



Elevate



Elevating the body part after securely fastening and

stabilizing the injured body part increases the level

of comfort for the person and also speeds up the

uninterrupted healing process.



Staying healthy when injured may impede a certain

level of maximum body activity efficiency, but still

allows continued exercise routine for other unaffected

body parts. Just make sure that priority on this would

be to securely prevent any other movements or

unnecessary pressure to be placed on the injury.