When you have chronic wounds, it can challenge you both on a physical level and mental level, feeling like you’re wrapped up in a never-ending battle. But what if sports (yes, sports) can help you with your healing process? You might think that this approach can be counterintuitive, but when you do it right, it can have a more symbiotic connection than you think. In this blog, we will look at this “sweet spot” where your love of sports can help with your wound management.
Understanding Chronic Wounds
What Exactly Is a Chronic Wound?
Just like you have that relative that can’t take a hint to pack and leave, these injuries just don’t follow the normal healing stages. They make things difficult by lingering for weeks, months or even years. The most common culprits that are out to put a damper on your quality of life are pressure sores, diabetic ulcers, and venous leg ulcers. Why these types of wounds don’t want to play ball like their acute wound cousins that heals-up and go, can be because of other factors like infections, underlying medical conditions, or even poor circulation.
Why Are Chronic Wounds Hard to Treat?
When you look at the normal healing process, it needs a combination of cells, proteins, and regenerations (pretty straightforward). But with chronic wounds, they trip and stumble on this process. If you have diabetes, obesity, or vascular disease, it can cause a perfect storm on your wound healing because it can hinder the blood flow and cellular repairs. And when you throw in external factors such as repeated trauma to the injury or even poor hygiene into the mix, you are only stuck with an exacerbated problem.
Can You Really Tackle Chronic Wounds with Sports?
The Science Behind Movement and Healing
When you do physical activity (but you do it mindfully), you can reduce inflammation, improve circulation and even regulate your blood sugar levels. These are all the missing pieces in your wound healing puzzle. Your body makes sure that it pumps those oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood where it’s needed (your wound site) when you take care of your cardiovascular health.
The Emotional Boost of Staying Active
Your chronic wound is not only taking it out on you physically, but emotionally too. You will feel like you’re on a merry-go-round of frustration, anxiety and even depression. But when you are doing light exercises or sports, it releases those addictive endorphins (the same ones that got you hooked on sports), which can help give you some emotional relief – got to love hormones. And it doesn’t hurt that the social aspect of group sports helps fight off those isolation feelings too.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Sports with Chronic Wounds
Do Run It Past Your Doctor or Specialist
This one is a hard non-negotiable. They are experts in the field and know what sports, exercises or activities can do more harm than good to your wound.
Don’t Ignore Proper Wound Care
All the endorphins in the world would mean nothing if your activities make your wound worse. So make sure that you take care of your wound properly. Cleaning, dressing changes, monitoring for any signs of infection – don’t miss a step! Make sure that you have specialized medical-grade wound dressing supplies or protective gear for that extra layer of protection during your sporting hour.
Do Prioritize Low-Impact Exercises
We are not saying you should go and do high-intensity workouts to sign-up for the wrestling team. Take it easy and do low-impact stuff like a brisk walk, swimming, or even yoga. These can all improve your circulation without putting your wound through the ringer.
Don’t Push Through the Pain
Tear-off that motivational quote on your wall that says “no pain, no gain”, it’s not applicable here. You need to respect your limits when your body (especially around your wound site) is screaming for you to take it easy. Don’t damage it further, you can modify your activity or switch to something else.
Sports are Prevention: A Long-Term Advantage
Ready for the cherry on top of your wound healing sunday? Doing regular physical activities not only helps you with your current chronic wound management, but it also drops the risk of developing new ones too! When you are working on your muscle strength and improving your circulation, you are also boosting your overall mobility. Which means that you are reducing your risk of falling or injuring yourself that led to your chronic wounds in the first place. Plus, you also get some control back into your life, which is great especially if you have felt powerless since walking on this chronic wound road.
Conclusion
Mixing sports with your chronic wound management can be the game changer in your healing process. When you take back control of your active lifestyle with the help of medical advice and proper wound care, you can swim those laps in the pool and grow the hope in your heart. Your body is designed to heal, it just needs that little extra help to get here. So, get moving.
