photo credit: Martin Kingsley

Sometimes you just don’t move like you should and you pull or tweak a joint or muscle. Sometimes a mild pain in the shoulder turns into a big pain in the neck the longer you run. Being able to recover quickly from injury gets you back to your fitness routine without too much down time, but you have to know how to properly treat your type of injury.

Pain that happens during or just after a workout, usually because of something traumatic during your workout, is called an acute injury. Think of a sprain, strain, or pulled muscle. I bet you don’t think the pain is so cute, har! These types of injuries benefit from immediate icing because it helps slow the body’s healing response. WHAT? Why does that sound like the wrong advice? In essence your body often overreacts to your injury; accumulating fluids in the injured area (inflammation), and increasing blood flow. In a way that is good, because that is what tells you that you have an injury – the increased blood flow makes the area feel ‘hot’, and the inflammation makes the area feel sore or stiff. The problem is that the blood flow and inflammation also cause less oxygen at the injury site, which can suffocate the tissues and actually create more damage. Applying ice reduces the circulation and inflammation and results in faster healing.

Waiting too long and then sitting in front of the TV with an ice pack draped loosely over the injury site is a half-assed attempt to get well. Icing should happen as soon as possible – the minute you even think you might have pulled something. Placing an ice pack on the injury is adequate, but you’re more than adequate, you’re elite, so you are going to massage your injury with ice. Put a few ice cubes in a ziploc bag and rub circles all over the sore spots. If your girly hands can’t take the cold then put on some gloves. Five minutes of ice massage is going to give you the benefits of twenty minutes of normal ice-pack application. Don’t ice once and go about your day either, shoot for five ice massage sessions in a 24-hour period. 48 hours after the injury occurs you can lessen the frequency, and 72 hours after injury you’re hopefully well on your way to a full recovery.

DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) is a bit of a different beast. It’s kind of not an injury, but it is. It’s usually your body reacting to micro-tears in your muscle fibres. The pain might not come on strong until a day or two after an intense workout, but it is still caused by inflammation so the treatment is still ice. If you know you’ve just done a killer lower-body workout and you expect to be sore tomorrow, try plunging into a tub full of ice water for 30-seconds. Your quads will thank you when you stop shivering. If you’re not that much of a masochist then you could try some ice massage or basic ice application.

Though heat often seems like it would be the best treatment for an injury, it is recommended only for chronic pain. Chronic pain often exists before a workout, and is usually a dull ache or stiffness. Heat will promote blood flow to the area, relaxing muscles and increasing the elasticity of connective tissues. Regular pain in an area can indicate a more serious injury or condition. Heat can limber you up and get you through a workout, but if the pain continues after several days you should see a doctor.