What To Do If You’ve Been Injured Playing Sports

Whether you’re out on the tennis court, running track, playing basketball or hitting a softball, things can go wrong, and you can suffer an injury. If this happens, you should follow a series of practical steps to minimize your injury and recover faster.

Stop Playing

If you feel the sudden pain of an injury, stop playing right away. Don’t hesitate. Just leave the playing area, and sit down. Winning the game is not important at this point, and continuing to play could worsen your injury. Have a coach or a fellow player drive you home or to the doctor’s office if necessary.

Pay Attention to Symptoms

If you elect to go home instead of straight to the doctor, pay close attention to your symptoms for the next few hours. If the pain increases even when you are resting and icing your injury, call your doctor, or consider making a trip to urgent care. If you have received a head injury, watch for any sign of a concussion like nausea, headache, dizziness, sensitivity to light or fogginess.

Get Medical Treatment

Don’t hesitate to get medical treatment for your injury, especially if you are in significant pain, the injury is swelling or bleeding badly, you can’t move well or you black out. It is better to be safe than sorry, and proper treatment can help you avoid permanent damage and get back to playing faster. If your injury is especially severe or not healing well, visit a specialist at a sports clinic Mississauga for further help.

Don’t Play Until You Heal

While you may be longing to get back into the game, don’t play or even practice until your injury is fully healed. Starting back too soon puts you at risk for re-injury or at least a slow down in the healing process. Cheer from the sidelines for now.

A sports injury can be a merely a nuisance or a life-changing event, but if you act practically at the first sign of injury, you may be able to limit it to the former.