Staying hydrated reduces the risk of injury, this may be a new thing that you will know! Does hydration really lower the risk of injury? Most of you only may have heard that staying hydrated prevents you from dehydration or one of the answers for your question “How to keep your body healthy”? So, this blog is going to be interesting to all of you as this blog will explore something new to you and that is “How can Staying Hydrated Reduce the Risk of Injury?”.
Before proceeding on the main topic let us brief you on hydration. As we all know that water is a must for our survival, it is important not to keep our body water deficient. When your body has a sufficient amount of water, it works well. But it is not like that you drink more, benefit more and many such types of common hydration mistakes most of you make in your routine. So, it is important to get proper guidance on body hydration.
Hydration and Risk of Injury
You must have heard that for athletes and runners, staying hydrated is very important. Or if you are gym lovers or work vigorously, the same applies to you too. Or if you are having loose motions, it is advised you to take the ORS Drinks after regular intervals. The purpose for all is one and that is keeping your docy hydrated for its well-functioning.
There are many functions of water inside our body and smooth muscle functioning, blood pressure regulations, and lubrication of joints are some of them. When your body becomes water deficient, these all functions go imbalanced. So, it becomes very important to replace the lost water with new water. When nutrients get lost from your muscles with water, muscles become prone to injury and also results in the following:
- Joint wear and tear: Repairing scar tissue is not possible without water. If you are dehydrated, your recovery process would be more painful and longer. Your body would not be able to produce new cells.
- Inflammation: In the water deficient environment inside your body, muscles cannot clear away scar tissue. This would result in inflammation of that region and make it painful.
- Cramps: Your muscles require water and the nutrients to work efficiently. Cramps are among the frequent symptoms of dehydration caused by a deficiency of main electrolytes.
- Fatigue: After any physical activity water get lost from your body and if body will remain dehydrated, body would not get fuel needed to recover after physical activity, which results in feeling weak and exhausted.
- Joint friction: Water acts as a natural lubricant in your joints, since cartilage contains almost water entirely. Without it, your joints are not able to maintain the right amount of cushion to make a movement. The result is “sticky” and painful joints.
Stay Hydrated to Prevent Injury
As you read above, dehydration may weaken your muscles, make them fatigued, inflamed and cause pain. You must be careful in keeping your body hydrated so that your muscles get fuel for their proper functioning. This is the one of the ways to get out of injuries quickly and make the body function well.
Bonus Tips to Keep Your Body Hydrated
- Set a time to drink water after regular intervals, even if you are not thirsty. Make the use of your mobile phones here. There are many apps in Google Play Store, which provide you the facility of setting water drinking reminders.
- Make a habit of keeping water bottles with you whenever you are stepping out of your homes.
- Eat fruits/vegetables full of water like water, lemon, cucumber, kiwi etc.
