How To: Recover From An Injury

As an extremely active athlete myself, I have been faced with many injuries that prevent me from participating in sports. I have had many sports induced injuries including, throwing my vertebrae and hips out of alignment, dislocating a bone in my foot, over using my knees, and rolling my ankles repeatedly. In this last week, I have been struggling with my left knee. It had been bothering me for a couple days but I started noticing that it was popping and swelling around my meniscus.

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It is extremely common for athletes (especially females) to have pain in the ligaments and tendons that hold their knee together. The meniscus is a cushion like part of the knee and is very painful when severely torn. As far as my knowledge goes, I do not think I have done any damage to my meniscus but it is a possibility that I have strained it or cause minor damage to it.

From my experience, I am going to advise what to be aware of when you believe you may be an injured athlete and what to do when you find yourself in the situation.

Step 1: Listen to your body. You know better than anyone else if you are hurt. Nobody else can feel your pain! If you do not inform a coach or another person nearby about it, they may not notice and continuing to play may increase the amount of pain and damage that is done to whatever body part. 

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Step 2: Don't be afraid to sit out! So many athletes think that playing while being injured makes them look "tough" but they aren't thinking about their future. They may or may not finish whatever activity they are doing in the moment but, for all they know, they could be making their injury worse. For all they know, the strenuous activity could hurt them more and cause them to sit out from playing longer than if they had taken the one day off. 

Step 3: If you find yourself having done something that causes minor damage that does not require professional attention then go home and RICE. RICE is an acronym meaning Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevate. The first thing anyone who is injured should do it take a break. Lay down on a couch or just sit down for a little while. Then, it is very important to ice the bothered area for 20 minutes on 20 minutes off. NEVER PUT ICE DIRECTLY ON SKIN. The ice will reduce swelling around the area and allow the body to do its job in healing. Next, compress the area as best you can. It is important to keep the area tight and steady so no other damage can occur. Finally, elevate the area to above heart level if possible. This also reduces swelling by making it harder for blood to flow to the area in vast amounts.

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Step 4: Do not rush your recovery! I have known plenty of people who were so eager to recover from their injuries and ended up playing too soon. This resulted in them no longer being physically able to participate in the sport because too much damage had been done. It is sad when these situations happen because the person will most likely feel that pain for the rest of their life. Make sure you listen to a physician and to your own body. As I said, you know better than anyone else if you are ready to be active again. 

Year 2

I am on to my second year of high school and sports have already begun! I am currently playing on the varsity volleyball team and we play 6 days a week which is incredibly time consuming. I have returned to the same honor core classes as last year and my other classes are challenging as well. Last year, I would say that I definitely struggled with managing my time. I had a hard time knowing when it was an appropriate time to do my homework and how I would manage to get it all complete in time for me to get enough sleep throughout the night. Looking back on my freshman year, I now know what works for my schedule and what does not. I try my best to get more homework finished as soon as I get home or at least get a head start on it so I don't have as much when I go back to finish. That way, I am less stressed and I am able to focus more on the one subject and put in my best effort. I have already observed that I feel more confident with the work that I am turning into my classes and my grades reflect the schedule adjustment I have made. As a result of all I have learned from freshman year, I feel I have more time to do the things I would like to in my free time and I am preforming at a higher level in whatever sport I am playing in. This last week we played in a game against Ukiah and I was put into the Windsor Times newspaper article. I thought it was a pretty exciting moment so I have included a picture of the article below!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Coming To An End

First Year Nearly Complete

As my first year of high school is coming to an end, I would like to look back and remember all that I have achieved and the struggles I have faced. I began my freshman year playing varsity volleyball. I must admit I had no idea what I was doing. I am in a high difficulty honors class that has many requirements and piles of homework I was not prepared for. I remember it was about my second week of being in school and managing volleyball. I did not know how to manage my time at all so I would come to school and try to cheat on the homework I did not complete the night before. Of course, I got caught and it really opened my eyes. I realized I would have to figure out how to manage everything by myself. Otherwise, I would be failing my classes or have to drop the sport. Neither sounded like a good option to me. I took my work to games with me and did my homework in the bleachers before games and on the bus ride home. Before I knew it, volleyball was over. At this time, basketball had already begun so the next day, I jumped in and joined the varsity basketball team. This was an even bigger change because basketball required a different kind of energy from me. There was tons of training and running that I was not in shape for so, by the time I got home I was exhausted. I told myself I had a small break to eat and rest. Then, it was time to do my homework. I usually went to bed about 12:30 a.m. then woke up around 6 to finish homework that I had not completed. I grew used to the lack of sleep and activities I had signed up for. In basketball, I excelled and had tons of fun.

I recieved the honorable mention award from the nbl.

My team was seeded 3rd in the league, we went on to playoffs. Once we lost our last game in San Jose, I text my swim coach to let her know I would be attending practice the next day. Since then, I have been swimming and competing on the JV swim team. Throughout this first year, I have learned how to adjust to the circumstances given and I am great at planning ahead for my immensely busy schedule. I am already preparing for the sports I will be playing over the summer. I can not wait for my sophomore year because I will have the experience I did not have my freshman year.   

New Year, New Goals!!

Hi guys!
I am here to write about a more personal topic with the new year having arrived. Playing sports and attending school often results in time becoming jumbled and it is difficult to fit in everything you want to get done, while still having enough rest. In the passed year of 2014, I finished up my first season of a varsity sport. Considering it was my first semester of high school I found myself becoming stressed and lacking sleep trying to keep up with homework while also preforming well on the court. As the semester was coming to its end, I noticed I was becoming lazy with my work. I had several missing assignments in classes and never made them up. One of my biggest problems was waiting to start my homework until around 9 or 10 P.M. which meant on homework filled nights I was not going to bed until about 1 in the morning. I would then begin my day at about 6 and restart the cycle. This new semester, I would like to manage my time better and procrastinate less. I am now playing varsity basketball which requires more energy from me and ends later at night. I want to keep up my high GPA, achieve my sport goals, while finding the time to sleep.

As some might have noticed, I never mentioned doing personal things or getting to do fun activities like hanging out with friends. Playing sports takes up a load of time during the day leaving you with minimal energy afterwards. I personally have some form of sports 6 days a week. Although it sounds hectic, it is not impossible to find time for the things I want to do. I often have to plan about a week ahead with my friends to set up a hang out time that fits around my school and sports schedule, along with their schedules. I do the best I can to cherish all the time I have with them at break and lunch at school. With everything going on, I sometimes forget the importance of hanging out with my best friends and that everyone needs to take time to spend with those dearest to us. Every spare second I have I try to call up a friend or get rest at home.

I hope this is beneficial to those out there who have a similar schedule to mine and who are also trying to set goals for the new year!