Injury Prevention Tips and Muscle Pain Relief for Golfers
Golf is a solitary sport; when you are on the links, there is no one else to blame for your own success or failure.
Dealing with the pain that comes from playing golf can be an equally solitary endeavor. From sore hips to tightness in the arms, golf can bring about a number of painful conditions, especially for true disciples of the game who hit the links regularly.
Luckily, if you are looking for pain treatments for golf or ways to stop yourself from dealing with this pain in the first place, there are several things that you can do.
Use a Splint or Brace
This type of treatment is good for a variety of painful conditions that can come about as a result of golfing, including golfer’s elbow, which is an overuse injury similar to tennis elbow. Golfer’s elbow can cause pain, soreness, and stiffness in the arms and elbows, especially when you do things like swing a club or grab onto something.
According to WebMD, using a strap or brace will help you keep a rigid wrist position during any and all lifting activities, which may help you recover from golfer’s elbow. You may also want to keep your elbow in a brace during your off days so that you can make sure it recovers properly. This treatment can also be applied to other areas of the body where you are suffering from overuse injuries, like the feet or knees.
Take Time Off
Although it’s probably the last thing a golf nut wants to hear, taking an extra day or two of rest can do wonders for pain treatment. This is especially true if you golf often. Sometimes your muscles simply need one extra day to recover, especially after a particularly hard session. During your resting period try to put special emphasis on resting the bones and muscle groups that you use when you golf.
Stretch to Promote Flexibility
Golfers rely on having a large amount of flexibility and strength all throughout their bodies, from their legs to their hands. If the tendons and muscles are not flexible enough, it can lead to pain and soreness. One of the most common problems that golfers face because of a lack of flexibility is low back pain.
Physical therapist Melissa Boger writes that stretching is important for low back pain because it helps in three key ways: mobility, stability, and strength. Some of the key stretches that are valuable for helping low back pain include the kneeling hip flexor stretch, hamstring stretch, planks, and hip hikes. Stretching regularly will not only help you prevent pain, it might even allow you to improve your performance since it strengthens your muscles.
Whether you have been a serious golfer for years or have only recently been captivated by this historic sport, it will pay off to look at injury prevention and pain treatments. Incorporating some of these techniques may help you reduce pain and make sure that every shot on the links is your best one possible.