What is the best advice here?
First of all, listen to your coach - they know the you the best and have helped many athletes through injuries before. They have a lot of insight and often a "rehab" program that will directly address that specific situation. Naturally they will recommend an x-ray or other tests that are needed to assess the extent of the problem.
I am thankful for my daughter's coach who consistently listens, evaluates and decides what is needed. She often brings in an expert who specializes in sports injuries for additional advice. So for the recent high ankle sprain that we are dealing with, I feel like my girl is in the right hands. :)
Secondly, for the parent it is important to not Panic, not Pamper and not Protect.
Panic: Let cooler heads prevail. Believe me, I get this one...I kind of lose it when one of my kids starts to bleed. As a nurse I can handle lots of un-pleasantries, so it seems that I would be the best resource for an injury - well - as long as its not MY kid! I am somewhat embarrassed to say that when one of my kids gets hurt, I sort of run around in circles not knowing what to do. My husband learned this early and just steps in for me - thank God. Now I also have a calm coaching staff to handle the initial situation, then they talk to me, and I try to act cool, but inside I'm a wreck.
Pamper: One of the tough parts is to trust in the healing process. Our bodies are designed to heal. We get a scrape and it scabs over and heals without any help from us. Yes, we should keep it clean, but the rest of the healing is directed by the wisdom of the body. AND you also need to stay active - it is not wise to stay away from exercise completely - for a number of reasons:
1. We lose up to 2% of muscle strength every day on bed rest, and as much as 10% decrease in blood volume! That's a hell of a lot to lose for the athlete who worked so hard to become strong. Stay active.
2. Exercise releases hormones that keep you balanced emotionally and physically. Any sudden change in exercise will have a negative effect on hormonal balance. Hormones regulate all our organs and are essential to maintaining balance.
3. Weight bear on the injured area as soon as allowed by your doctor. (I tend to be more independent and let my body decide when it can tolerate it.) With crutches my daughter could not weight bear, but with a special boot that cushions and cradles the foot she is walking already.
Protect: What do I mean, not protect? The faster the athlete is up and moving in a normal fashion, the faster they will heal. My daughter: Even with the swelling and bruising, she will be out of that boot faster than if she hobbled around on crutches forever. If you've ever been in the hospital you know that the nurses will push you to get up and out of bed the day after surgery. It has been proven that prolonged inactivity slows the recovery and also sets you up for complications. For athletes it is no different - so get it moving as soon as possible! Re-establishing a normal range of motion is very important. If this is done during the healing process, you will have optimal function. Consider the example of a person who neglects this to the point of not performing range of motion. The joint can form a contracture, which is scar tissue build-up that forms across the joint which prevents normal flexion/ extension - this would be devastating for an athlete. ROM exercises prevent contractures from even forming. If you over-protect you will end up with more complications, less range of motion and much weaker than you need to be.
Thirdly, there are steps we can take to support this healing process. Food. (C'mon - you know I was going there!)
Healing foods:
1. Fresh vegetable: A raw veggie is packed with enzymes. These enzymes assist with all cellular functions and play a big role in reducing inflammation. When you cook a food over ----- degrees, it destroys these beneficial enzymes. So bring on the carrot sticks, pea pods, red peppers and romaine salad! For kids it is best to allow a fun dip, like hummus or even Ranch dressing to sell those veggies.
2. Fresh fruit: Use these as snack (pair it with a protein like nuts) All fruit have enzymes; pineapple is notable for its powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Buy it and learn to cut it! See my blog: http://nutritionbyrose.blogspot.com/2011/11/nutrition-is-more-than-numbers-game.html
3. Fish: The oil in fish is another highly beneficial anti-inflammatory.
4. Protein: You will need extra protein in your diet to heal tissues. Protein provides the building materials for tissues. Snack on nuts, hard boiled eggs, even slices of deli meat! 4-5 protein meals a day is optimal.
Foods that inhibit healing:
1. Sugar. Processed Sugar triggers inflammation. The injury has caused enough inflammation for the immune system, so stay away from sweets unless they are natural fruits, and then combine them with protein.
2. Soda. Nutritionally worthless. AND it creates electrolyte imbalances. So what? You need electrolytes like sodium, potassium and magnesium to keep your body running, sweating and balanced. Learn to love fresh vegetable juice instead. (It is better than canned vegetable juices because to sell it requires many steps which render it worthless. A canned juice must be pasteurized which means it is heated to hundreds of degrees, and then preserved with sodium and extra additives so it will not spoil. Gross.)
3. Dairy! What? It is high in protein and calcium. How can that NOT be good?? Dairy is okay as an addition, not a main course. Dairy is mucus-forming. Mucus clogs up the lymph system, your sinuses and interferes with removal of toxins. Seek other proteins first, and if you must, just have a bit of dairy for flavor. That's right, save the grilled cheese and ice-cream for another day.
4. Hot dogs. High in nitrates, these are harmful to the heart and blood. They are also packed with so many additives, that is is more apt to call them Mystery-Meat dogs.
There is one final aspect to injuries that I want to address. That is the mental attitude of the athlete. If they learn to get attention for small injuries, then they will tend to be injury-prone. Everyone likes attention, and reinforcing the injury scenario with lots of fuss is doing them a disservice. Best to be matter of fact, then move on with praise for good effort and focusing on what is going well with practice. They will learn to accept injury as a temporary nuisance. Keep that positive feedback flowing for what you want to see. Think 10:1 People/ athletes respond to this ratio. So if you mention the injury 10 times more often than any other aspect of the sport, they will learn to focus on the injury. If you give praise 10 times more often than anything else, they will learn to focus on the good effort and seek the praise.
Once again, this has been fun! I hope it is helpful to you.
See you again soon!
Let me know how it goes!
~ Rose
