Doctors Advise To Resume Physical Training Gradually Post Covid-19 Recovery

Highlights

Covid-19 has been wreaking havoc in our lives for a year and pandemic experts and doctors are still updating us with ways to tackle the protocol of prevention, combating the virus, and post-recovery.

There has however been a rise in complications for people restarting their routine exercises, and doctors are of the opinion that patients should not start vigorous workouts and physical exercise and training for at least 3 months post a Covid-19 infection.

You know your own body better than anyone, how it normally feels when you walk up the stairs when you run when you bike so those things harder for you and you feel a change in your body then that should raise a red flag.

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Covid-19 has been wreaking havoc in our lives for a year and pandemic experts and doctors are still updating us with ways to tackle the protocol of prevention, combating the virus and post-recovery. There has however been a rise in complications for people restarting their routine exercises, and doctors are of the opinion that patients should not start vigorous workouts and physical exercise and training for at least 3 months post a Covid-19 infection.

According to a report in The Times of India, “Intense physical activity of any kind is not recommended immediately after the patient recovers from Covid-19. The lungs that are recovering from the infection cannot keep pace if you immediately start intense physical activity. If the patient was suffering from severe Covid-19, there are chances that they might go into lung fibrosis and suffer complications,” said Dr. Vinay Shekar, head of general medicine at Gandhi Hospital.

Patients have weakened organs after the infection and any stress can affect the quick recovery of the same because the lung damage needs time to restore back to health. Basic breathing exercises, low-intensity walking, and stretches are recommended but any physical training should be started in phases and under professional or expert guidance after approval from the physician, cardiologist or pulmonologist.

Doctors and scientists are still learning the long-term effects of COVID-19. The virus damages the heart, brain, lungs, and kidneys in some and while many are quick to recover for many others recovery is not so fast. Fatigue, dehydration, loss of energy, body pain are some symptoms that linger long after the infection has subsided.

For people who are particularly active and sportspersons, getting back to their old routine should be a slow process and monitored to avoid any serious complications or damage to the body. Even with that proper nutrition and hydration should be followed to make sure overall health is maintained.

How to restart your fitness journey according to Dr. Schaefer, Cleveland clinic

Listen to your body. If you’re experiencing symptoms like chest pain or heart palpitations, stop exercising immediately and consult with your healthcare provider.
Take it easy. Don’t try to “power through” like you used to. Athletes of all ages should follow a gradual progression to get back into exercise. You’ll need to build up the time and intensity of your workouts.
Be patient. Even if you were training for a marathon prior to becoming infected, you’ll likely discover that your body has changed a bit, which warrants extra caution. Don’t push too hard on a body that is still trying to recover.

Health complications that can arise post Covid -19 recovery

Myocarditis is an inflammatory response of the heart due to a viral infection, such as COVID-19. It can cause swelling in the heart muscle making rigorous activity more difficult and sometimes, even deadly.

Student athletes (and any active adult) should complete a supervised, graduated return to sports progression as they head back to practice, training or exercise. This progression is often referred to as Return to Play (RTP) and involves seven stages.

Symptoms to look out for while working out

Chest pain or heart palpitations.
Nauseous.
Headache.
High heart rate not proportional to exertion level or prolonged heart rate recovery.
Feeling lightheaded or dizzy.
Shortness of breath, difficulty catching breath or abnormal, rapid breathing.
Excessive level of fatigue.
Swelling in the extremities
Syncope (passing out).
Experiencing tunnel vision or loss of vision.

You know your own body better than anyone, how it normally feel when you walk up the stairs when you run when you bike so those things harder for you and you feel a change in your body then that should raise a red flag.

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Stretch marks! There isn’t a single person on this planet who doesn’t have them somewhere on their body. But unfortunately, most of us are still not aware of what stretch marks are. What we only know is that we need to hide these marks and feel ashamed for having them ― as if they are shameful on our bodies. But, unfortunately, this is all our so-called today’s society teaches us.

Stretch marks occur when our skin does expand or undergo changes rapidly. They appear on our skin as our bodies change and grow ― be it pregnancy, puberty, or growth spurts. Instead of seeing them as shameful marks, they should be celebrated. Those marks prove that we are growing and living the way we should be!

These marks are more common on female bodies as they tend to go through more bodily changes compared to males. Changes like pregnancies, breast growth during puberty, and multiple of them, are seen in women all because their bodies grow with age, and their skin adapts to this natural growth. We need to accept the fact that stretch marks are completely normal and out of our control.

We witness so many products and YouTube tutorials claiming to reduce/ remove stretch marks; it is no wonder why women look at them with embarrassment and shame. We consider it as if we have committed some nasty crime, and the proof of the same has been planted on us in the form of stretch marks.

Not anymore! It’s high time that we start normalising them because, well, they are normal!!

How can we cut the shame and start to show more love to our stretch marks?

Women who make a point publicly and share their views & experiences with stretch marks are an important reminder of this. These body positivity people commonly celebrate their marks. From finding people stereotyping it to ‘you’ accepting it and your body, here are some of my favourite women who are normalising stretch marks. #LinesAreWorthy

Sohini Ghaie

_{“We appreciate seeing tattoos on other people’s bodies, and they are imprinted in a person’s skin deliberately. But stretch marks are beautiful innate tattoos that are signs of a struggle of the phase of our life that has made us who we are today! We are in the year 2022, and we need to get over the reel beauty and focus on the aspect of real beauty. I lost a huge amount of weight during the lockdown. I can still see the stretch marks on my waist. But that’s okay. I take it positively and just remind myself how beautifully I have transformed and how this is an evident scar that shows me what I am today. These are beautiful imperfections that aren’t shown in movies because they are supposedly ugly.}

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A post shared by Sohini Ghaie (@pandathinksof)

But on the contrary, it shows how raw you are. How real you are! It’s there… we need to accept it instead of visiting dermatologists and burning our wallets. Stretch marks used to bother me when I was in my early 20s. But today, I am 29, and I have come a long way. And I defined beauty for myself. I work on myself mentally and physically. When we give our definition of beauty, then it doesn’t matter what society tells us. We need to tell ourselves that we are beautiful no matter what and don’t think what the society says because Kuch Toh Log Kahenge, Logo Ka Kaam Hai Kehna,” says the Mumbai based digital creator.

Brynta

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A post shared by brynta (@bryntstagram)

Self-love and plus-size fashion influencer Brynta shares things like stretch marks and discolouration from her specific perspective as a South Asian woman. As she writes in one post, “As a woman (from the South Asian community), I was shamed for every little imperfection, which included textured/discoloured skin, of which I’ve had for most of my life…Fair and lovely, turmeric masks that burned our faces, cellulite gel, and so many other things were given to us as ‘remedies’ for what the world deemed as a problem.”

Dhruti Shah

“Most women often consider stretch marks a result of carelessness and find them ugly. They aren’t aware that these marks are as natural as any other body part. With each passing day, we should open up and discuss body scars and size more often. We should accept and love our bodies the way they are. Stretch marks shouldn’t be undermined or seen as a flaw in one’s beauty. Scars might not look nice on one’s body, but that doesn’t invalidate a person’s beauty. Women should take pride in one’s bodies, especially in such intimate areas. Also, having stretch marks doesn’t make you any less beautiful, so don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise,” shares the Gujarat based girl.

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Olivia Muenter

“The first time I noticed my own stretch marks was when a friend noticed them. As I got older, my stretch marks became my most dreaded physical benchmarks when it came to what would be a decade-long obsession with losing and gaining weight. As I started college and no longer had weekly hours-long sports practices, stretch marks started to appear on my breasts and higher up on my hips. It wasn’t until a couple of years after I graduated college that I discovered things like body neutrality and health at any size, both concepts that I was mainly introduced to by, surprisingly, influencers.
These were people who proudly posted on Instagram about their bodies and their insecurities. They taught me that I could be happy at any size—that I deserved to be. They also reminded me that I wasn’t the only person in the world who was a size 14 or had stretch marks.”
Olivia

The best way you can normalise stretch marks is to walk with confidence and show them more. People are more likely to start doing something when they see other people doing it, especially when they’ve been afraid to do so.

The first step is the most important but is the hardest one. Put on your favourite bikini regardless of your marks. Wear whatever you want to wear this summer, and get ready to flaunt them. Post a picture without getting it edited and let the stretch marks shine. Share body positive posts and pictures on Instagram that show off stretch marks in all their glory. Together we can do this!

If you have been stretch mark-shamed, do write to us. Share your thoughts and inspire the world! #LinesAreWorthy