Active Recovery
Passive modalities such as massage, manipulation, and needling can help get your rehab/recovery journey facilitated by decreasing acute pain levels but for lasting results it can not be the only piece of the puzzle. The reality is if we want to be able to get back to our activities or daily tasks that we are limited in, we need to get better at performing those activities through appropriate exposure and a progressive return to handling the demands of the activity. No matter whether it is a sport, bending down to picking up the kids, carrying the groceries or doing the laundry, we can’t expect to return to those activities without limitation if we completely take time off and then try to perform the way we did prior to our injury. An active recovery ensures that we are at least maintaining our capacity to perform these tasks and can progress further when our pain lowers.
Early mobility and active recovery has been shown to improve our ability to recover quicker as well as getting back to the things that we want to get back to quicker as well. You need to start to build your capacity again with it being significantly lower after an injury. There is always a line of doing too much, but not doing enough is not beneficial either. Try to move as much as you can doing things that you can tolerate. Listen to your body. Rule of thumb: if your pain increases while doing something, it might be too much to start with. Modify your exercise by lowering your intensity, volume, or even range of motion before cutting it out.
Fear of not knowing what to do is one of the biggest reasons, it can be challenging to recover optimally and actively. Call 617-481-2000 or visit Quincy Physical Therapy to find out the right place to start and find out what you can be doing on your own to address the active piece of the puzzle.
Check out some popular methods of active recovery: Active Recovery Workouts