Injury prevention: ‘Leave your ego at the door’

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Abbey Whittaker
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Team Aviano members suffering from minor injuries can now go to the new sports injury walk-in clinic offered by the Health and Wellness Center.

The clinic is open Mondays from 9 to 11 a.m. and treats non-emergency injuries that do not inflict severe pain to the patient.

"This clinic was created to relieve time from doctors at the medical group, [and] make sure our Airmen and families are not dissuaded from care," said Maj. Joseph Williams, 31st Aerospace Medicine Squadron health promotion flight commander.

For sports related injuries, the HAWC can help on the road to recovery. However, to avoid injuries altogether, Williams recommends frequent gym-goers use progression. Progression is the slight shifting in weight meant to reduce the risk of injury and maximize workout efficiency.

"Let's face it, if you train hard and are serious about form and competitiveness, injuries are inevitable," says Williams. "If you are going to work out and be competitive and train, you are going to have an injury."

Along with progression, form also prevents injuries.

"Form is huge," exclaims Senior Airman Roger Garcia, 31st Force Support Squadron personal trainer. "If you don't have the form right then there's no point in doing the exercise."
Proper form and progression does not guarantee complete injury prevention; so when an injury occurs, immediate care is recommended.

"You can't put an injury on the backburner because it will turn into something that'll set you back longer," says Williams. "If a minor injury is [neglected], it could grow into something more severe and could affect how you complete your job."

Rather than quitting altogether, Williams recommends injured members modify their workout to lessen the impact to injured muscles and joints, instead of stopping altogether.

According to Garcia, another way to prevent injuries is to work out for the right reasons.

"Leave your ego at the door before you come inside the gym," said Garcia. "You are not here to impress anybody but yourself and make yourself look better. Nobody is going to look at and judge you.

"Ego is one of the most detrimental reasons to frequent a gym," added Garcia. "Ego is what makes you add too much weight to impress. This is what leads to injuries: temporary or permanent."

Form, progression, egos, can be corrected to avoid injury. If an injury does occur, the HAWC staff is available to assist in the recovery process.