The Other Side of Rehab: Managing Stress, Sleep, & Emotions
It doesn’t matter how much you exercise, if you don’t manage your emotions, stress, or get enough sleep, you will prolong your injury recovery. Health is more than what is visible to the naked eye. And when you’re dealing with an injury, keeping stress at a minimum and getting more sleep than normal is even more important. Let’s dive deeper into these three topics.
1. Managing stress
Without having an injury, stress itself can cause aches and pain. Let alone when you already have an injury. Some of the physical symptoms of stress include body aches, headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure, fatigue, and much more.
Your immune system play’s a central role in healing your wounds and injuries but “stress alters your immune system’s ability.” With stress, your body is less able to control the inflammation in your body, making recovery more challenging. The injured area remains inflamed, and recovery is much slower.
Your body and mind are connected. Controlling your thoughts and understanding that rehab takes time and patience, can help you manage your stress. Gentle exercises that cause blood flow and meditation go a long way too!
2. Getting sleep
Athletes need 9-10 hours of sleep. You heard that right, 9-10 hours. Sleep is vital to cell and tissue repair which helps your body recover after intense physical activity. And it allows your heart to rest, increasing your cardiovascular health. It also improves your cognitive ability and mood. Going back to point number 1, more sleep will help you manage your stress.
Sleep helps your body retain muscle memory, increases your mental sharpness, and athletic ability. And when you’re injured, this is even more important to prevent a second and worse injury—which is common. When you have an injury, your body compensates to protect the initial injured area by putting more pressure on other areas.
3. Controlling Emotions
This can be the toughest part of dealing with an injury. What you were able to once do so easily, you can’t anymore. Simple tasks become burdens. And you’re unable to run, jump, and dance like you used to. Sounds depressing. It can be. But understanding how the body works and how stress will prolong your recovery, can help you make better decisions. The only way through recovery is through it. Trying to shortcut the process will only make things worse. So be honest with yourself, and don’t jump back into your athletic activities until your pain is gone.
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