The importance of starting your rehab early after having a muscular injury

Over their lifetime everyone is bound to have injured themselves one way or another. In particular, the muscles of the body seem to be a very common area that people suffer injuries. These can range from complete tears to more mild strains. In either instance, it is important to begin your rehab early on in the recovery process to get you back to full function. Here are some reasons why:

Early movement has been shown to speed up recovery

It would be fairly safe to say that once you injure yourself, you want to recover as quickly as you can. Starting rehab early has been shown to speed up the healing process and get you back to doing what you love sooner. Research has shown that starting rehab early in the healing process can encourage quicker healing of the muscle fibers, increase blood flow to the area and prevent further decline in muscle function. It is important that you begin movement exercises early on in the rehab journey.

It stops further decline in muscle function

A very common side effect of an injury is a decline in muscle and joint function. I bet you have heard the old saying of use it or lose it, well this principle applies to injured muscles. The longer you wait to begin using your muscles again, the more time they have to lose strength and mobility. Think of it like your cardiovascular fitness, you start a running program and after a few weeks you build your fitness, then for whatever reason you stop running, you then decide to start running again a few months later and realised you have lost all of this fitness. This happens with your muscles too. They get stronger and more mobile from being used, but as soon as you stop using them, they lose what they have gained. Moral of the story, the longer you wait to use the muscles, the further their strength, and mobility decline.

It helps reduce pain and swelling

Unfortunately, most injuries are accompanied by pain and swelling, and this can make normal daily activities very uncomfortable to do. Starting your rehab exercises early can encourage the muscles to loosen and relax, which helps reduce the strain on joints and bones, and also promote circulation of blood and nutrients to the injured area. This increase in circulation can help speed up healing and reduce the swelling around the affected area.

It should be noted, however, that with all the above it is important to get an appropriate and effective rehab program suited to your needs. With most injuries, you won’t be able to move and do what you could before, so it is important that you begin with exercises that are individual to your situation. Look, to begin with, some mobility and range of motion exercises, and as your pain reduces you can start building up your strength again.

If you need help with your recovery from a muscular injury please don’t hesitate to contact us and make an appointment.