We often underestimate the importance of water, but it is as vital to our lives as oxygen and food. It is one of the cornerstones in your body and it is essential for the prevention of injuries and it can greatly improve the recovery time of damaged tissues and injured muscles.
The most common injury that can be prevented by simply drinking enough water and staying hydrated is cramps. Cramps are simply formed when a muscle tightens up or contracts on its own, or involuntarily. The reasons for most muscles cramps are dehydration and over use. You will find that in the warmer months you might experience cramps more often than in winter. The reason for this is that your hydration levels are better controlled in winter as your body doesn’t have to cool itself down and loose water. In summer we sweat more and we do not always drink enough water to replace those lost fluids. Keep a bottle of water with you during summer and fill it from your water cooler to ensure that it is clean, fresh and safe. This is the best way to eliminate and reduce cramping.
Another common injury is a stiff neck or a pulled neck muscle. Again this can be caused by a wide range of different activities, sleeping wrong or an accident. The most important thing to remember is to protect that injured neck muscles by resting and avoiding further injuring it. Apply ice to the injured area four to five times per day for around 10min each time. This will help to reduce the swelling of the muscles and it helps to reduce the amount of toxins released. Injured muscles release chemicals, or toxins, in the surrounding tissues and muscles and this often leads to more pain and discomfort.
Drinking lots of water will help reduce the swelling and it aids greatly in flushing out all the toxins in the surrounding tissues. Make sure that if you have a stiff neck, or any other injury for that matter, that you stay correctly hydrated. It will reduce the pain and reduce the length of the injury.
