There’s no doubt that an athlete can suffer an injury during their sports season. Especially with high-contact sports like wrestling, lacrosse, and football, it’s most likely an athlete will get hurt. An athlete can go into the sport prepared and trained in order to prevent an injury from occurring, but injuries are bound to happen. What should be taken into consideration is the response and action taken after the injury.

Pentucket’s wrestling captain Jackson Neumann suffered from a torn pectoral in the first meet of the wrestling season, and is currently around halfway into the healing process of his injury. Jackson remained with his teammates through his injury as the season went on, doing as much as he can to help the team. When asked about how it has affected him as an athlete, his response was resilient.

“My first thought was, ‘how long am I going to be out for?’ and ‘what are the limitations?’. Once I found out it was mostly just disappointment because it was my senior year.” said Neumann.

“I’ve been injured during sports seasons three times,” said Neumann. “It definitely is tough watching your entire team practice and not being able to do anything about it. You just have to focus on yourself and try to think about what you can do to improve.”

Neumann added, “You gotta do what you gotta do to get back as soon as possible.”

Neumann raises an important point. The effects of being injured are physical but can take a toll on one’s mental health, leading to a much slower recovery. An athlete might fear their performance will never be as good after recovery, or that they let their team down.

These fears lead to the temptation of rushing to recover and to get back on the field. This will only slow down the healing process more, potentially worsening the injury. Like what Jackson said, taking the necessary precautions is the fastest way to get back up on your feet.

How to Help With Recovery

How fast an athlete can recover depends on the response taken after the injury. This means to just let the affected area rest and stay off of it. Minor injuries can usually be treated at home, while major injuries may require surgery, for example an ACL (Anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction surgery is usually taken after a torn ACL injury.

For minor injuries, icing, using compression, elevating, and protecting the affected area can speed recovery. Major injuries can require immobilization, which is using slings, splints and casts. This can prevent further damage to the injury.

The most important thing to a fast recovery is to stay motivated. Staying motivated can help the athlete physically and mentally, as well as help them be prepared when returning to the field. Recovery can take a long time, but what is most important is to stay focused on the healing aspect. In conclusion, injury recovery can be a psychological battle for an athlete, but the action taken after the injury is vital to recovering fully.