Preventing and Healing Sports Injuries

6/2/2021

Sports injuries can be an unfortunate reality of exercise or athletic performance. They are commonly caused by overusing muscles or joints, or receiving more force to a body part than it can withstand. This article will provide various approaches to prevention or healing of injuries that one can experience at Carisma spa, ranging from targeted massages to the benefits of using spa facilities.

Targeted massages can address your particular injury's needs

The Science Behind Sports Injuries

Sports injuries can range from cuts and scrapes, to swelling, muscle damage, pain and stiffness, amongst other symptoms. These injuries can be grouped into two categories, chronic and acute, depending on how they occurred. Chronic injuries happen when you repeatedly overuse muscles or joints, especially if you have poor technique while exercising. These injuries can remain hidden for some time until they get worse, or may even seem to be less severe than they actually are, so it's important to take them seriously and consult a doctor instead of ignoring them. Acute injuries occur suddenly when you use too much force, like landing improperly on a joint or sprain a muscle.

Your risks of sustaining an injury are highest if you haven’t exercised in some time or don’t warm up properly before beginning your workout, so take the time to prepare yourself. Prevention is always better!

Sports Injuries can vary in severity

Preventing Sports Injuries

Warm Up and Cool Off
Regardless of how often you exercise or how experienced you are, never skip stretching and warming up. This will warm up your muscles and make them more flexible, preparing them for the routine ahead. Cold muscles will be more likely to overstretch and tear, while warm muscles can absorb more impact, movements and bending. You may also try a session in a hot tub for 10 to 20 minutes, as this helps loosen up your muscles as well.

Be attentive to your body as you work out, and know when it’s time to stop. It’s important not to keep pushing once muscle fatigue sets in as you will have an increased risk of injury if you push your body further. However, don’t quit exercising abruptly. After each workout, wind down with gentle stretches.

Warm up and cool off with stretching exercises

Gradually Increase Exercise Intensity
If you haven’t exercised in a while, are coming back after an injury or this is your first time exercising, be sure to start off with gentle exercises before you increase the intensity of your workouts. Your body needs time to adapt after all!

If you’re just starting out, have joint pain/damage or are getting older, you can opt for swimming as your exercise routine. Swimming in a pool allows you to exercise most of the muscles in your body while being gentler on your joints.

Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is always important for your health, and this is especially the case during exercise routines. Hydration will support your body while sweating, and will also be exceptionally important if you use the hot tub warming up method mentioned above.

Stay hydrated throughout your workout

Injury-Preventing Massages
Since sport & deep tissue massages increase circulation and apply expert pressure movements to your muscles and connective tissues, muscle tension is eased and waste is removed from your tissues, making it less likely that you will sustain an injury.

While specialised sports massages are specifically designed for the prevention and treatment of injuries, other massages can also ease muscle tension and boost circulation, in addition to their own special treatment goals. For example, you can enjoy a bamboo massage that eases muscle tension through the use of a bamboo rod.

A Bamboo massage takes its name from the bamboo rod used to perform the massage

Healing Sports Injuries

Luckily, most sports injuries are minor strains or damage, and these are far easier to treat. You should always follow a medical professional’s advice on how to treat your injury, but the following are viable ways to help your injury heal unless a professional recommends otherwise. It is always recommended to inform the spa therapist who will be performing any massages on you about your injury. They will take special care not to use certain movements or levels of pressure.

Massages
Various massages can be useful in healing your injury, depending on what your specific needs are. Sports massages, for instance, are good at breaking down scar tissue that forms after an injury heals. This scar tissue is inflexible which makes it more likely that you will injure yourself again, so it’s important to restore your muscles flexibility.

The Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage will also be very helpful in improving your lymphatic drainage, clearing away waste from your muscles that will aid in the healing process. Meanwhile, a Balinese massage relaxes your body and will restore your energy after the potentially tiring experience of healing from an injury or having an intense workout.

The motions of a massage target your muscles to break down scar tissue

Spa Facilities
Sports injuries often come with swelling, pain and stiffness, and a spa day can allow you to remedy these symptoms through the use of various spa facilities. Saunas and jacuzzis, for example, have been proven to aid the healing process thanks to the increase in body temperature.

The same can be said for a session in the heated marble room of the Turkish Hammam. The heat will also ease soreness and calm down inflammation, making it a good option if you want to ease your aches and pains for a while. Your joint pain and muscle tension will also be released, leaving you relaxed and relieved.

The warmth of the Hammam calms and sooths injuries

Concluding

Though accidents happen and not all injuries are preventable, keeping the advice provided here in mind can help you prevent needless damage to your body. When an injury does happen, you should now have some tips in mind that can hopefully be helpful!

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