Return to Activity After an Injury/Pain
Most people coming back from an injury and beginning to engage or re-engage in their activity/sport do so too quickly at too high of a level.
What I am really saying is that people jump back into it too quickly and therefore increase their risk of re-injury and reduced performance.
If you want to get back to health properly I use the 2 week rule of thumb/guideline. That is after you get injured and you want to get back to 100%, you must be at 100% for two weeks without any reoccurrence, pain, dysfunction!!!!
Example, you like to run but you have an ankle or knee injury. After some treatment, rest, rehab or whatever you are doing you decided to get back to running and if you are able to run for two weeks without any problems then you can return to full activity!
If on the other hand you make it into week 2 but there is a flare-up, exacerbation, and pain in the area then you must and should go back to day 1, week 1 and start all over. This method is a great way to know if you are truly 100% to compete at the level you need to and will mentally take away the “what if” from your mind!