"You probably won't need Physical Therapy"

Above is an interesting pic from a previous session. This individual suffered a grade 2 gastroc or calf strain while playing basketball. He was told that if he just took it easy a few days he would be good. A few days turned into a few weeks and even though his pain isn’t what it used to be, he still had a good amount of discomfort, weakness, and a noticeable limp while walking so he finally decided to do PT. He had no idea how quickly his calf atrophied until I showed him this picture.

Unfortunately this happens way too often, people just think that after an injury if they just rest and take it easy then they’ll be back to normal. Rest absolutely is important when rehabbing an injury but often times it is overdone with no corrective treatment or movement to follow it up during the appropriate time frame. That can often result in significant asymmetries like the one above which occurred in such a short amount of time! Not only has it limited his function but it also puts him at risk for further injuries the next time he tries to exercise or play basketball.

Thankfully he came in for his first session and we got him on a good strengthening program.

Big takeaway: don’t think that just resting an injury or painful part of the body will fix the issue. It is amazing how quickly the body can lose muscle, don't focus so much on just "rest and ice" and assume you will be able to jump back into your routine right after. Take the time to make sure that you're allowing your body to not only heal but you're preparing it for the activities and stress you're going to put on it so that injuries do not keep happening.