What are some ways to recognize early signs of an impending injury and how can taking preventive actions at this stage help in avoiding serious damage?

While injuries are common for runners, most can be prevented. Warm up before running, and incorporate plenty of slow and sustained stretches into your cool-down routine. Aerobics injuries are usually caused by trauma and overuse, but can be prevented by using the right techniques and equipment. Asthma triggered by exercise can be prevented with medication and by preparing for exercise and physical activity. Exercise can reduce some of the symptoms of arthritis, and improve joint mobility and strength. If you injure yourself, ask your doctor, physiotherapist or other health professional for medical advice before returning to running.

For some injuries, like sprains and strains, you can recognize and acknowledge some warning signs that you have injured or are continuing to injure yourself, which can help you to limit your activity to avoid further damage. Symptoms that can indicate you have been injured in your sports or exercising activity include: Numbness. Tingling. Pain. Swelling. Weakness. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms while working out or playing a sport, it’s important that you stop, assess the severity of your symptoms, determine what next steps are needed (rest or a doctors appointment), and potentially schedule an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. The best way to prepare for sports or intense activity is to exercise and work out, allowing your body to adjust to quick and sudden movements. The best way to prevent an injury is to warm your body up to the activity you will be doing. Regular stretching can help loosen the tightness in your muscles and tendons that could potentially cause an injury. Strength training can also help prevent injuries. By building up your strength with physical conditioning, you will better prepare your body for sudden movements, impact, and overall exercise.

Good training and technique can help prevent injuries. Accidents can still happen, but the health benefits of an active lifestyle outweigh the risks. In general, it’s better for your body to challenge it than not to. The process of injury and recovery can help teach us greater respect for our bodies — their limits, as well as their amazing healing abilities.

When you have pain from a particular movement or activity, you should stop right away. Continuing the activity may cause further harm. You should see a health care provider if you have symptoms of a serious injury. These symptoms include: Severe pain, swelling, or bruising. Pain and swelling that do not go away after a few days. Being unable to tolerate any weight on the area. An obvious deformity. Learn how to spot injuries early on, and how to treat the minor ones at home. Take some simple steps to avoid injury, such as choosing an activity appropriate for your fitness level and gradually increasing the intensity, and using the proper equipment and technique.

The quality of protective equipment - padding, helmets, shoes, mouth guards - has helped to improve safety in sports. Causes of sports injuries may include: Improper or poor training practices Wearing improper sporting gear Being in poor health condition Improper warm-up or stretching practices before a sporting event or exercise. Develop a fitness plan that includes cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility. This will help decrease your chance of injury. Alternate exercising different muscle groups and exercise every other day. Cooldown properly after exercise or sports. It should take 2 times as long as your warm-ups. Stay hydrated. Drink water to prevent dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. Stretching exercises can improve the ability of muscles to contract and perform, reducing the risk of injury. Each stretch should start slowly until you reach a point of muscle tension. Rest when tired, Avoid exercise when you are tired or in pain. Always take your time during strength training and go through the full range of motion with each repetition. If you do sustain a sports injury, make sure you participate in adequate rehabilitation before resuming strenuous activity.

Pain during activity Aim to keep your pain within a rating of 0 to 5. If your pain gets above this level, you can change the level of activity by: reducing the number of times you do a movement reducing the pace of an activity increasing rest time between activities. Generally, the first few days are the worst with regards to pain and limitation of movement. Activity shouldn’t make your existing pain worse overall. Increasing activity can lead to increased discomfort as your body gets used to regaining your activity levels. This kind of pain should ease quickly and your pain should be no worse the morning after. It can be helpful to rate your pain out of 10 (0 being no pain 10 being the worst pain you have ever had), for example: 0 to 3 – minimal pain 4 to 5 – acceptable pain 6 to 10 – excessive pain. Too much rest can slow down your recovery so, as soon as you can, start moving and using the affected area. Remember a little activity is better than nothing. Aim to do a little bit more each day or every few days. Using ice or compression and elevation can be useful in controlling pain and swelling, for example, applying ice for up to 15 minutes and leaving a few hours between treatments can be helpful if swelling is a major problem. You should stop treating the area with ice and seek advice from a health professional if: you notice an increase in redness, discolouration or blistering of the skin the swelling continues to worsen the area becomes hot and red you are unable to weight bear or take any pressure on the area. If you have any issues with circulation or sensation, you shouldn’t use ice as a treatment for swelling. Compression and elevation are useful ways to control significant swelling. If using tape, bandages or a tubigrip, make sure it fits well but isn’t too tight. Following an injury As your symptoms start to settle over the next few days, weeks and months, gradually introduce movement, strength and functional activities into your routine. These things help to reduce stiffness, pain and swelling. More importantly, they provide your body with the vital information and stimulation it needs to repair, restore and renew itself. Walking aids/supports It can be helpful to use supports or walking aids like a walking boot or crutches in the early stages of an injury. This can make you more comfortable and help you get back to your usual activities. Unless you’re advised by healthcare professional to use these aids for a specific time period, try and become less reliant on them as time goes on.