Knee sprain: how to resume sport smoothly after such a disabling injury
Focus on the types of sports activities recommended after a knee injury
A knee injury is not trivial, it is important to take it easy and calmly resume your sports activities. So today we are going to go over the tips and on the contrary, the bad ideas for getting back to sport well after a knee injury.
The knee, a complex traumatic area
The knee is a collection of joints, tendons, cartilage and ligaments that are extremely sensitive to shock, which can cause your athletic training to suddenly stop following a fall.
Without going into technical and medical details, the knee is a complex area requiring rehabilitation by a physiotherapist and a slow recovery before returning to sport.
Knee trauma: sports activity made impossible?
Mild sprain of the knee or a real rupture of the ligament, the intensity of the trauma determines the degree of damage and gives an indication of your recovery time before returning to sport as before.
Medial, lateral or cruciate ligament sprain: what is it?
Internal ligament sprain: This usually occurs when the knee suddenly moves inward.
Outer ligament sprain: This usually occurs when the knee is subjected to a sudden outward shock.
Cruciate ligament sprain, the most common pathology of footballers: the cruciate ligaments can be affected in addition to one of the two lateral ligaments. It could be a simple sprain or a real rupture of the cruciate ligaments, a ligament trauma that will keep you bedridden for weeks.
What are the other common injuries to your knee?
Other common injuries: dislocation of the patella, meniscus / meniscus injury… traumatic shocks which often require surgery.
Our advice for returning to sports after a knee injury
A knee trauma is a real obstacle to getting back to sport, even after months of being pampered by your physiotherapist. What to do about this pain that reappears after running, even slow when walking had become possible again without any problem? How to treat a knee injury and get back in shape without risking hurt again?
Make sure you are completely healed before resuming exercise
Sports advice that may seem like a boat to you, but which remains essential: avoid skipping steps, at the risk of relapse and having to resume an appointment with your physiotherapist. To know if the wound is really healed ... there is not a multitude of choices! You often have to try and see what happens ... Not necessarily ideal in this kind of situation, but there are no other solutions.
A word of advice: analyze your pain. If your knee is sore before you even start to resume sports, don't dream, you are not ready yet. If it comes back when you resume your sports training, stop immediately so as not to make the situation worse.
Return to sport and knee injury: listen to your body and resume sport gradually
The best program to get back into shape after a knee injury is to resume gradually, without straining. Smooth recovery is essential, rather than testing how well it holds. In this second case it passes or it breaks… and there, it is already too late!
Depending on how long you stop practicing sports and the severity of your knee injury, returning to sports following a knee injury is a gradual process. Slowly resume sport: only five minutes on D-day and gradually more and more intensely. Do you think it's very short? Caution is the mother of safety ! Plan, among other things, three short sessions of exercise as of your week of recovery, resuming a very slow pace and gradually increasing the duration and intensity to accustom your knee to the physical exertion again.
To avoid additional injuries: pay attention to the first 4 weeks
Four weeks is the time it takes to resume sporting activity after a knee injury, for those who do not want to take the risk of relapse. In short, a hyper progressive sports training program so as not to stress your muscles, tendons and joints. With Featness, the app goes at your own pace, you decide the direction and pace of your sports training.
During this delicate period, you can use prevention methods of treating injuries. Notably, an ice pack on a tendon that has been inflamed to prevent a return. It can also mean wearing a protective accessory on the affected area: knee brace, harness ... A gentle return from sports activity so as not to strain your knee. As soon as you return to normal training, you don't want to keep any artifice, unless your doctor or physiotherapist advises you, of course!
What sports to practice for the rehabilitation of your knee?
Embrace water sports and recover your knee with the power of water
Aquatic gymnastics and its many derivatives (aquabike, aqua fitness, aqua stretching, etc.) work and maintain the muscle tone of your knee, which has been greatly affected following your injury. This type of sports practice is often used during a sports rehabilitation program.
Swimming: walking in water, pedaling in water to work on the joints ... water is beneficial for re-educating your knee after a sports injury or following an operation. It also helps you relax, let go of an injury that has been plaguing you for weeks. To be able to enjoy it, you just need to be able to "lock" your knee, that is to say to be able to walk with a stiff leg, without a crutch, in complete confidence, from the locker room to the pool ladder.
Yoga, to take back your knee
Yoga: A gentle gymnastic practice, yoga will help you reclaim your body after several weeks of not being able to move without suffering. Coupled with breathing exercises, yoga helps you regain muscle tone in your knees after several weeks of not working it.
Cycling: an essential sport to build up your legs
Cycling: particularly recommended for re-athletic training following a sprained knee, this physical activity allows you to strengthen your legs, while keeping the knee in line. The bike works in particular your cardio and your endurance.
2 mistakes to avoid when returning to sport after a knee injury
Taking anti-inflammatory drugs will mask the pain in your knee and may cause you to overexert it.
It may sound strange, but the first step in fighting knee pain is to avoid masking the pain. Painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs shouldn't make you feel so easy that you put too much strain on your still fragile knee. The use of anti-inflammatory drugs was judicious during the period of acute pain following the accident. Once the rehabilitation period is over thanks to physiotherapy, your body's warning signals are valuable clues to analyze and remove by changing the method and not with chemical aid.
Equipment supposedly overprotective
The 2nd mistake is to think that your sports equipment will protect you from new knee sprains. Sports shoe dealers are riding this legend that it is necessary to protect the ankle and knee joints by wearing high-top shoes with thick soles. Quite the contrary! This is the best way to scramble all the sensory information so precious to muscles and ligaments to truly adapt to movement. Rather, it is better to wear low shoes with thin soles instead.
4 tips to avoid knee pain after returning to sport
Guards as a benchmark that each session must end without difficulty felt on the knee. Don't overexert yourself, at the risk of regretting it. So you have to spare your knee as if it were the apple of your eye.
Some slight pain may appear after you resume sports. Don't worry: your knee is working. It is normal to feel a bit sore when you recover from months of being off. Our advice: apply ice to your knee with a cloth for at least 15 minutes to relieve pain.
Walking for at least an hour a day allows the thighs to build up gradually.
Hydrate regularly: We can never repeat it enough, but hydration promotes recovery.
Last tip: the weight loss food plan, your ally for your recovering knee
Weight gain is an aggravating factor in a sprained knee. Featness offers you, in addition to a training program adapted to your sports recovery following an injury, a weight loss-oriented diet plan.
Just out of your convalescence after a knee injury, you want to be coached wherever you are to practice sport at
Publié le 23/11/2021