Yesterday was beautiful here in the DC area—it was the kind of day that makes you want to get outside and do something physical. My wife and I took an hour walk in the morning. Then she went for long a swim and topped off the day with a trip to the driving range. She was so happy being outside. But this morning, she was feeling it…her shoulders were stiff and her muscles ached.

Every year, 3.5 to 4 million people end up in the emergency room due to sports-induced injury (source: American Sports Data). The same study showed that less serious sports injuries (those like my wife is experiencing today that hurt, but don’t send you to the ER) were five times as frequent—that’s 20 million people a year who hurt themselves relaxing and having fun.

So be careful out there. It’s easy to overdo it, especially when you’re having fun. Be sure to stretch your muscles so you don’t strain them. And if you do overdo it and the ibuprofen and ice don’t take care of the problem, treat yourself to a therapeutic massage…your body will thank you!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 11:08 am and is filed under Health Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.