Injured? Take some ‘active rest’

When we suffer from an injury, doctors usually advise rest. But now, a new school of thought is becoming increasingly popular — even if injured, don’t stop working out. Sports physiotherapist couple Dr Rohit Chhabria and his wife Dr Amee Rawal believe that the amount of exercise depends on the activity of the individual and the severity of the injury.

“When a muscle is injured and you rest it, there’s always a two to three per cent loss in muscle strength. When a person is put on rest for a week, more than 20 per cent of the strength in the muscle is lost. But if it’s a backache, we don’t advise complete bed rest, unless the person can’t get out of bed. After three-four sittings, we make sure that it becomes 60 to 70 per cent better,” Dr Rohit says.

Dr Amee, who works at The Secunderabad Club, says, “We have grades in ligament tear injuries. Grade one and two are not severe so we ask them to exercise in water. In case of an ankle injury, we ask them to exercise the ankle in water so there isn’t any pressure on the ligament and the joint. Due to water, 80 per cent of your body weight doesn’t fall on the injured joint. We emphasise on having a proper advice programme rather than complete rest. We call it active rest.”

Now, even orthopaedic surgeons are becoming quite favourable to this line of thought. Dr Mithin Aachi, senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Apollo Hospitals in Secunderabad, says, “It’s simple, the more elastic the body, the faster it heals or the lesser you get injured. The stiffer your body is — if you bend it, it will break. In orthopaedic practice, elasticity is the goal of health. However, it differs for different injuries. If a sports personality suffers from a knee ligament tear and still continues to walk, the injury can get worse. Some-times, even early arthritis can set in. Doing non-contact exercises where the concerned muscle or joint is not in use is mandatory.”

But Dr Gurava Reddy, managing director and chief joint replacement surgeon at Sunshine Hospital, says that there are some injuries, like an ankle ligament tear, which needs rest. “Stretching and exercising as early as possible is quite popular in Australia and England. But sometimes, physiotherapists go overboard and don’t understand the different kinds of muscle sprain, so one should always consult a doctor. Even ortho-paedic doctors should be aware of physiotherapy methods.”