How to deal with Yoga injuries
Dealing with an injury is never easy, especially if maintaining your lifestyle or job depends on you being able to move your body. The most difficult part is usually not the physical pain, it’s the mental stuff: the frustration, impatience and desperation. Not knowing when or if you will ever get back to your “normal” state, worrying about getting out of shape, losing the strength and flexibility you had been working so hard for, etc. If your social life is formed around a physical activity it can get even more tricky. But the reality is that you’ve got an injury and you’ve just gotta learn how to live with it. Here are a couple of things that I have found helpful while dealing with injuries:
PRICE. First thing first: PRICE stands for protect, rest, ice, compress and elevate. You can use this method to treat minor injuries such as sprains and strains during the first 1-3 days after getting injured. I won’t get into the details of all of this since I am not a medical professional but here is the link to the NHS website from where you can learn what to do right after an injury occurs.
Build yourself a team of experts. Surround yourself with knowledge and learn about your injury. Consult and get treatment from the best doctors, acupuncturists, physical therapists and nutritionists that you can find. Note that the best doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to break the bank. Extra plus if you can find professionals that are specialised in treating people with the same background as you ie. other Yogis and Yoga related injuries. These people will not only treat you but they will also support you throughout the recovery process. This will put your mind at ease and make it more likely for you to receive the correct treatment at all phases of the recovery.
Stay patient. This is a hard one! After you have done your PRICE and established a treatment plan it is time for you to rest. The body is very good at healing itself but often people make the mistake of getting back into the practice a bit too soon without allowing the body the time it needs to fully recover. Another important point is that when you are ready to get back into the practice, make sure to do it gradually. On your first day back, you cannot expect your body to handle the same amount of stress as it did prior to the injury. So, take your time, don’t rush, your patience will be rewarded!
Work around the injury. For example, if you injured your wrist joint and you are not able to put any weight on it some postures such as, down dogs, full planks and handstands are out of the question for now. But that doesn’t have to stop you from practising your warriors and lunges! And if your wrist can bear some weight without it getting aggravated, know that there are a ton of pose variations and modifications available. Talk to your teacher and learn about them. You could also consider taking a private Yoga class that will be structured around your specific needs such as, learning how to work around the injury.
Focus on a different aspect of the practice. Focus on your meditation and pranayama (Yogic breathing) practices, pick up a book, or listen to a podcast, or a Ted talk about Yoga philosophy, nutrition or anatomy. There is so much stuff out there that you can learn about in addition to the physical practice! And once you get back into your mat you will be able to take your practice to the next level by combining these aspects with the physical practice.
If you need recommendations on London based physiotherapists or acupuncturists who are specialised in Yoga related injuries drop me a message and I will forward you the details.