You’ve been injured, seen a doctor, and now have a rehab schedule. But then life gets in the way. You miss one day of your homework, then another, then another. You have a schedule coming up, but then suddenly have to cancel it, and then forget to book another one. While you were once on the road to recovery after your injury, you’re now struggling with pain and mobility issues. While you can still get back on track, it’s far better to stick to a rehab schedule and prevent any unnecessary hardships in the future.

Professionals know best

It may be your body, but professional sports rehab practitioners know rehab. Your rehab schedule was created after a variety of tests and observations. It was made with clear goals in mind and as an answer to your current problem. More importantly, your rehab schedule only works if you adhere to it.

Focus on your goal

What is your goal on your road to recovery? Instead of just thinking that you want to get back to your previous mobility, think about what that actually means. Do you want to be able to dunk a basketball? Swim across the lake? Compete in a marathon? The more specific goals that you have, the better you are able to work towards reaching them. Having goals can help keep you motivated, even when you want to skip your stretching homework.

You can’t fake practice

We’ve all been there. Whether it was your piano teacher or baseball coach, you would show up for your class or game, and your instructor or coach would ask if you had practiced that week. Sheepishly you would say yes, hoping by some miracle that you had improved on your own and that it wasn’t obvious that you had forgotten to practice.

While you might have thought that you were simply disappointing your coach, the reality is that you were just losing out on your potential. The same goes with your rehab schedule. While the exercises you do with your physiotherapist might be great and beneficial, they would work so much better if they were in conjunction with your practicing. Remember: the only one you are disappointing is yourself.

Keep those appointments

Yes, it can be hard to take time off work for a rehab appointment, or to find a babysitter again, but it’s vital to keep your appointments. Your medical team needs to check in with you to monitor your progress. For example, your rehab schedule may need to be amended, or new factors put in place. Your body is going through a lot and what was prescribed earlier might not work later.

If you need to miss an appointment, schedule a new one immediately. You can’t help others if you haven’t helped yourself.