Rest And Ice Is Not a Solution – You Need Physical Therapy As Well

‘Rest and Ice’ is a phrase uttered many times by injured athletes and clinicians around the world when asked how they recover from injury.
If you are an active individual, chances are that you have sustained some form of injury in your history of physical training or playing sports. You have most probably been told to “Rest and ice that injury” by many.

However, it is necessary for one to know that following that simple mantra isn’t enough.
If you want to be completely able to participate in your physical activities and lower the chances of being hurt in the same place all over again, physical therapy is your best road out.

The benefits and advantages of physiotherapy over rest and ice are vast and include many positive features like the elimination and minimization of pain, the restoring of muscle flexibility and strength, the restoring of range-of-motion of your joint, increasing function and endurance during work and play, a guaranteed pain-free sleep, discontinuity of pain killers and the best part? You get to take up your favourite sport once you’re fully recovered!

However, a situation may arise where rest and ice isn’t the solution at all. It is in these situations that physical therapy is an absolute must. They are:

1. If the pain lingers, even after up to 7 days of resting and icing
2. If the pain resurfaces now and again, despite having subsided the last time
3. Despite the medication, you still are in pain
4. The pain is sharp and unbearable
5. If there are visible changes on your body like swellings or protrusions
6. A major, traumatic event.

Injury recovery is all about creating an environment in which physiological adaptations can occur. Modification of your activity is a good thing, while complete rest generally isn’t. By simply removing yourself from any sort of physical activity, you do no one a favor. Your body has been made to move and to adapt to the demands of the environment it is in. It would be great if this environment consisted of a healthy amount of activity.

Physiotherapy focuses on resolving pain while side by side stabilizing an injury or condition and keeping it from getting worse. Once those needs have been met, the focus is shifted on resorting strength, movement and function as much as possible. The ultimate goal of physiotherapy is to enable a patient to manage their own physical well being independently.