A sports injury can sideline an active person. And it’s not easy dealing with the stress that often comes with an injury. That stress can impact both your physical and mental health. Recovery can also be slow. You may be longing to get back to your sport or workout routine, but you also want to avoid setbacks. The goal is to fully and properly recover and return to activity—as quickly as you safely and realistically can—while minimizing the risk of reinjury. This is not always an easy road.
Just ask Dr. Jaynie Bjornaraa, PhD, MPH, PT, LAT, ATC, CSCS, CSPS—Senior Vice President of Clinical Quality Evaluation and Digital Self-Care Solutions at American Specialty Health and a licensed physical therapist and expert on exercise. Dr. Bjornaraa is both a certified athletic trainer and strength and conditioning specialist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy, a master’s degree in physical therapy, athletic training, and public health, as well as a PhD in rehabilitation science.
She has vast, firsthand experience with all that it takes to fully recover from an injury.
“I know how frustrating it can be when you are sidelined from your favorite sports or activities. I have had numerous shoulder injuries and two surgeries. I’ve experienced discomfort and sadness. I’m still unable to do what I love to do due to restrictions from the surgical procedure. This is never easy.”
Dr. Bjornaraa’s offers this advice in a nutshell:
“Both as a physical therapist and as a patient, I know how vital it is to participate in physical therapy and to also pay attention to your mental health.”
Dr. Bjornaraa believes that working with a medical team—a doctor and a physical therapist is vital. They can tell you what you can and cannot do after an injury to keep you on the path to recovery. A PT can also help you rehabilitate after an injury, by restoring range of motion and muscle strength. A PT can also help teach you how to modify your activities and help prevent future injuries.
Injuries in general result from all kinds of physical activity—not just sports. Sports injuries, specifically, are often due to overtraining, falling, and collisions. Sports injuries can affect muscles, bones, or soft tissues.
Common sports injuries usually heal within weeks or months. But some injuries can cause longer-lasting symptoms and problems, as with, for example, tendon injuries. Some other common types of injuries are:
Each type of injury above calls for specialized medical care and/or physical therapy for the best healing outcome.
While strains, sprains, and fractures are linked to sports, one of the most common cause of injury is overuse, leading to tendinopathies. One example is “tennis elbow ,” which causes pain in the elbow due to a combination of overuse and other factors. And it can happen with other activities besides tennis, as well.
There’s also a specific type of injury that sometimes can’t be tied to a certain sport or activity but appears over time and may seem out of the blue. This may be due to joint wear and tear over time.
PT will help immensely after an injury. It is a cornerstone of sports injury recovery. PT entails careful instruction and guidance along with a combination of exercises and movement techniques to increase your strength, flexibility, and mobility. The goal is to restore the function of the injured part of your body, as well as all surrounding joints, and to help you move safely and confidently into the future. Your therapist can also advise you on how to avoid reinjury.
Dr. Bjornaraa points out that the education you receive in PT is always important, no matter the type of injury:
“The education you get in PT is key for how to manage the pain, move appropriately, and reframe the pain and what it means. And you will learn which exercises to do and how often. This progression is crucial.”
In PT, you will receive:
A PT will tailor a program specific to your unique needs. This can include:
To be successful, PT depends on consistency. Go to your scheduled sessions and follow your therapist’s directions. Do the home exercises as instructed. Use self-care methods recommended by your PT, such as heat, ice, or analgesics. These are all ways to feel better and also speed up your recovery.
When you go to therapy sessions, you may experience some discomfort. This is not the same as pain that hampers healing. It’s part of the recovery process.
Dr. Bjornaraa points out that “pain” is not a word she likes to use with patients:
“It is discomfort, but it is tolerable. Sometimes it is necessary to push the range of motion and manual work a bit, so there is some discomfort. But the discomfort does not linger. It ultimately aids in recovery.”
So how can you know if you overdid it in PT? Dr. Bjornaraa explains:
“If soreness persists longer than a day, the PT or exercise was too much.”
Talk with your therapist about your discomfort or lingering pain, if you have any, and together you can work to adjust the therapy so that you don’t get to the point of pain.
When you are recovering from a sports injury, pay attention to lifestyle factors as well as activity modification and PT. Focus on:
Injuries can affect your mental health. Self-esteem may suffer. If your identity was deeply tied to your sport or activity, that can be painful to navigate, too. If your social bonds revolve mainly around your sport or workout routine, those relationships may be put on hold. Physical stress from an injury can lead to anxiety and fear. And fear may negatively influence your ability to move and exercise. Your thoughts may also become stuck in a negative loop.
“Stress and poor mental health impact healing, in part by increasing inflammation,” says Dr. Bjornaraa.
The emotions brought on by fear and memory of your injury can also keep you from moving forward. You may continue to avoid putting weight on your foot—even once it’s healed. Or you may not want to return to soccer practice out of fear of reinjury.
First, it’s important to know that these emotions are normal when you are injured. Second, you can take steps to deal with them.
“PTs can help reframe how pain is viewed by providing pain neuroscience education. And meditation and breathing can reset those stress hormones that increase inflammation and slow healing down,” says Dr. Bjornaraa.
Other ways to combat negative thoughts include keeping a journal of your recovery, reaching out to friends for support, and perhaps talking with a therapist about your emotions if negative thoughts are impacting your daily life and activities.
It’s crucial to trust your PT and/or doctor to let you know if and when it’s safe to get back to exercise—and what kind and how much of it will be safe for you. Don’t go it alone and dive back into your workouts without specific guidance from your PT and/or doctor.
For example, your PT or doctor may release you back to working out but with strict instructions to modify the workouts you do. And there is no one-size-fits-all recommendation for such modifications. Safely returning to training depends on the patient (you) and the specific injury or surgery—and this is why you should carefully follow their advice about if, when, and how to return to working out.
Your PT may advise using lighter weights, reducing range of motion, or doing fewer reps during strength training. Or they may recommend that certain patients avoid a return to running or jumping, and consider swimming or cycling, instead.
Ask your PT to be sure. They will let you know what kinds of exercises are safe, when to return to them, how to modify them if necessary, and how often and hard you should workout.
Also, depending on the injury or surgery, and your personal recovery process, your PT may suggest you not return to your old sport or exercise or to the level you were doing it before the injury. You may have to accept that you won’t be able return to your pre-injury physical abilities. You may need to adapt the activities that you used to do. You may also need to accept that, at least for now, you’ll have to put your previous sports interests on hold and find another way to be active.
For example, a long-distance runner with a badly injured knee may be advised to take up cycling, hiking, walking, or swimming rather than going back to running. Again, follow the guidance provided by your PT.
What if it turns out you can’t return to your former sport? That does not mean you have to stop all forms of exercise. This is critically important to keep in mind. Yes, it can feel like an emotionally painful loss if you have to give up a sport you love. But you can find other ways to move and workout that will be equally enjoyable and beneficial—ones that won’t put you at risk for further injury.
Keep in mind that getting back to where you were before your sports injury or turning to different activities instead will take time, work, and patience—and help from your PT. If you are feeling frustrated, remember that you are on your way back to your fitness goals, even if the pace seems slow.
“I could not even walk my dog after surgery because of the potential to fall or even jar the biceps tendon repair,” says Dr. Bjornaraa. “But as you stick with the plan, you will be back doing what you love.”
Dr. Bjornaraa added, “I am on my way. I am now walking my dog, though I still can’t swim. That is a few months off. But I will get there with rehab and patience—and so will you!”
If you’re injured, talk with your doctor and PT about any concerns you have. Work closely with your PT and carefully follow their advice and guidance. Attend all your PT sessions. Follow your in-home exercises and PT’s self-care suggestions, as instructed. Practice patience and acceptance. Stay hopeful and adapt if you need to. Know that all of your hard work with rehabilitation will pay off.
The information in this and other Active&Fit® blog articles is not intended to take the place of regular medical care or advice. Please check with your doctor before using this information or beginning any fitness or self-care program. Images used for this article do not depict any members of the Active&Fit Direct program or persons referred to in the article.
References
Broward Health. (2024, June 28). Recovery and beyond: Building strength after an injury. https://www.browardhealth.org/blogs/building-strength-after-an-orthopedic-injury
Cleveland Clinic. (2024, March 7). Physical therapy (physiotherapy). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/physical-therapy
Cleveland Clinic. (2025, July 21). Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/7049-tennis-elbow-lateral-epicondylitis
Cleveland Clinic. (2024, December 12). Sports injuries. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22093-sports-injuries
Cleveland Clinic. (2023, September 25). Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/15840-transcutaneous-electrical-nerve-stimulation-tens
Hospital for Special Surgery. (2025, May 13). Returning to sports after injury: How to overcome your fear. https://www.hss.edu/health-library/move-better/fear-of-reinjury
Mayo Clinic. (2022, November 11). Tendinitis. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tendinitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378243
Memorial Regional Health. (n.d.). How to bounce back after an injury. https://memorialregionalhealth.com/news/how-to-bounce-back-after-an-injury/
RWJ Barnabas Health. (2023, October 24). How to exercise when recovering from an injury. https://www.rwjbh.org/blog/2023/october/how-to-exercise-when-recovering-from-an-injury/
South Carolina Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center. (2024, September 10). Bouncing back stronger: Your guide to recovering from injuries and leading a fuller life with sports medicine. https://scsportsmedicine.com/blog/bouncing-back-stronger-your-guide-to-recovering-from-injuries-and-leading-a-fuller-life-with-sports-medicine
Wojtys, E. M. (2016). Bouncing back. Sports Health, 8(4), 311–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738116653392
This article was written by Sharon Odegaard, edited by Gail Olson, and clinically reviewed by Jaynie Bjornaraa, PhD, MPH, PT, LAT, ATC, CSCS, CSPS, on June 18, 2026.