The Do’s and Don’ts Of Dealing With Injuries (Part 1: Physical)

Snap, crackle and pop.

Aches, pains, and reasons to complain.

Bruised, battered, and broken.

So you’ve sustained an injury. 

Maybe it's one that has been coming on gradually, one that you thought you could train through but has now started to become a prolonged issue. 

Or perhaps you took a funny step, pushed too hard on a run and “pulled a hammy.”

Whatever it is, your next step is crucial in the road to recovery, and maintaining your training progress.

As a runner who has dealt with multiple rolled ankles, stress fractures, and falls on a trail (the list goes on), I’ve had my fair share of injuries, but I’ve learned how to bounce back quickly. 

When it comes to the physical aspect of injury recovery, I follow this framework to help me get back on track. 

How to handle any injury

If you encounter an injury, the first thing you want to do is stop what you are doing and regulate yourself, because you will be in a heightened state of emotion. 

Notice how you are feeling and breathing. 

Are you in a stunned or panicked state? 

Do you feel like you are in danger? 

Depending on how you feel, either excessively elevated or in a state of shock (think frozen) you will either want to calm or elevate yourself. 

This is important to help avoid any excessive emotional response that may lead to irrational actions that may cause further harm.

• Calm yourself down by using some long exhale breathing while sitting yourself in a comfortable position;
  
  OR

• Elevate yourself through body shaking, SCREAMING, or forceful breathing.

Once you feel regulated, it’s time to assess the damage, which will determine what you do thereafter. 

Look for swelling or deformity.

Touch to feel any warmth, pain or abnormalities.

With caution, gently try to move and gauge the level of pain and function. 

If there is significant swelling, deformity, loss of function and pain, cease activity and seek medical attention immediately. 

If the touchpoints are more moderate, still cease the activity, and try to avoid any movements that aggravate it for at least 24 to 48 hours. If it worsens, seek medical attention. If it starts to feel better, we progress a little further. 

Where the touchpoints are minor, cease the activity, but immediately start to explore what movements you can do and can’t do without pain or discomfort. 

Dealing with an ankle sprain

You want to start with a low-level movement like ankle circles - low effort and low skill.

If you can do this comfortably, gradually build into mid-level and high-level movements - increasing effort and skill. 

So you might try calf raises, then build to single leg calf raises, then if that all feels ok, try pogo hops, or single-leg balancing exercises. 

It can be anything, but the key is that there needs to be little to no discomfort. So if you can do a variation of a movement that relieves any discomfort that starts to creep in, like turning your toes outward in a calf raise, or holding the top of a calf raise instead of smashing out high-reps, these are simple variations that can give you the benefit without the pain.

The goal is to find the low, mid, and high-level movements that closely resemble the activity you are training for, and understand your limitations, so we can progress to the next stage. 

The path to a speedy recovery 

Now that you’ve gauged the low, mid and high level activities you can do and can’t do, you want to shift your focus to promoting a speedy recovery, as well as maintaining fitness and your sense of competency. 

This means doing as much of the “can do” activities as possible each and every day, without aggravating the injury.

So you want to perform 1 to 3 low-level movements 3 to 5 times a day, achieving the highest volume without discomfort. 

Additionally, 1 to 2 mid-level movements, once or twice a day, up to what you can tolerate without aggravating the injury.

If all goes well, include 1 or 2 high-level movements every day or so - again, without discomfort. 

As your pain threshold becomes higher, you will be able to do more, and find that “can’t do” movements become “can do” movements. 

Through repetition and perseverance, your injury will gradually dissipate, and you can return to your regular training routine.

Setbacks can become comebacks. 

Oftentimes, injuries will uncover weak points that you didn’t know you had, and by building back stronger, it’s very possible to pick back up where you left off. Of course, this will also depend on the significance of your injury.

This framework is a great starting point when dealing with an injury. In part 2, we are going to dive deeper into the element that can derail all of the physical efforts… 

…the mental. 

Yours in running and life,

Daniel Lucchini

P.S. Navigating the recovery process can be quite challenging on your own - sometimes you just aren’t sure what you should be doing, so you do the worst thing possible…

… nothing.

You don’t want that, you want to recover, and recover well. So if you need some guidance on your road to recovery, I coach my clients through this all the time. 

Let’s start with a conversation to figure out your current situation and I will come up with a personalised strategy for you to consider - no obligations, no pressure, no annoying sales tactics. 

Sound good to you? Then fill out this form:

P.P.S This is not strict health advice when it comes to injuries. It is up to your discretion whether you choose to follow this framework or not. You are encouraged to seek expert medical advice if you encounter any sort of serious injury.