Dealing with injuries can be both frustrating and disappointing and sometimes it prevents us from living an ordinary life. Depending on the type of injury, it may seem like you can’t handle the pain and discomfort your injury causes or you feel like you are not getting better. Injury Rehabilitation might not be an easy process and it requires hard work with a professional therapist or, in rare cases, physiotherapist.

Getting your strength back though is easy if you consider the following six dos and don’ts of injury rehabilitation. They will give you a better understanding of successful rehabilitation and point you out in the right direction to restore your body fast – regardless of whether you’re engaged in rehabbing a sports-related injury or a post-op treatment. 

1. Do: Be honest with your therapist

We often hide our true symptoms just to recover faster. This results in a wrong rehabilitation treatment that might lead to deplorable consequences. Before your physical therapist starts creating a rehab program for you, have an honest conversation. Let your therapist know about your lifestyle, bad habits, workout regime, and any medications or supplements you’re taking. Describe your pain in details and the reason why you get injured. The more details your therapist will know, the better rehab program they’ll suggest. This is a key step to successful injury rehabilitation. 

2. Don’t: Think that your therapist isn’t a wizard

Just because you’ve turned to a professional physical therapist doesn’t mean that they’ll help you restore without you being engaged in your treatment sessions. Your therapist isn’t a wizard and all they can do is guide you and provide you with valuable advice. They’ll create essential adjustments based on your injury and restore progress.

During your treatment session, stay absolutely engaged, paying attention to the exercises and movements your therapist is suggesting you. If your injury isn’t that serious and you have the opportunity to stay at home, ensure to keep performing a rehab treatment at home. Be sure you visit your therapist, though, so that they could spot the difference. 

3. Do: Stay patient

Generally, the initial stage of injury rehab treatment involves alleviating the pain and speeding up healing. The recovery process may take a few weeks or months to fully recover.  Stay patient. You should be absolutely committed to getting back to your ordinary life and recovering from your injury. Feel free to ask your therapist questions about the recovery process and the types of workouts you’re allowed to perform in the future.

Learn as many information about your injury as possible to reduce your risk of getting injured again during exercise in the future. If you’re undergoing a post-op treatment, be prepared that it can take several months if not years to recover, so learn how to patiently get your body ready for a prolonged process. 

4. Don’t: Concentrate on your pain

Since injury rehabilitation is usually a painful and complicated process, it’s critically important to think positively. Otherwise, if you just concentrate on the discomfort, pain, and your unsuccessful progress, you might not get the most out of the entire injury rehab process. Studies after studies have shown that the power of positive thinking during any rehab process is enormous and positive thoughts can even ease the pain without painkillers. Don’t focus on your pain; focus on your recovery. Visualize how you return back to your normal life and achieve your goals. In fact, it doesn’t matter what you concentrate on during injury rehabilitation. What matters most is positivity. 

5. Do: Try resistance bands

Also known as exercise bands or workout bands, resistance bands are the ultimate tools for recovering from a painful injury as well as getting in shape fast. These bands are cheap, portable, and effective in rehabilitating injuries on almost any part of the body. The perk of using workout bands is being able to recover at home. There are up to 100 easy and safe workouts involving resistance bands that target the trouble spots of the body and help to recover safely and quickly.

Depending on the types of resistance bands, you can use this tool for any injury rehab as it adds resistance in various directions and it’s easy to adjust and lightweight. Besides helping you to get your strength back, resistance bands help to alleviate the pain and even transform painful muscles. When choosing your resistance bands, ensure you buy the bands designed specifically for physical therapy. Physical therapists use exercise bands to make sure that each muscle group is regaining strength. 

6. Don’t: Opt for a passive treatment

Just because you get injured doesn’t mean you should spend all day long in your bed. The passive treatment like this can do more harm than good. Your injury rehabilitation should consist of an active treatment that involves soft tissue work, regular massage, joint mobilizations, resistance bands, and chiropractic and acupuncture treatments. It’s important to not overdo it, though.

If you’re suffering from the pain, it’s okay to embrace a passive treatment for a short while. In other cases, active treatment is crucial for fast and full recovery. When you combine both active and passive injury rehabilitation treatments, this is an excellent way to significantly boost your recovery timeline and begin to see and feel the positive results much faster than if you stick to a single treatment type. Again, talk to your therapist before trying both treatments or their combination. Moderation and safety are two important factors to remember.

Injury rehabilitation requires tons of patience, effort, and time in order to reduce disability and improve participation in daily activities in the office or school or at home. Remember that injury is actually more than just a mild or intense physical pain. Get psychologically ready for a rehabilitation process and work towards your goals. Remember, each disease starts in your head and it can die within a few hours if you try the healing power of positive thinking.