How to Speed Up Muscle Strain Recovery by Using Sleep-time as Treat-time | Kelly Starrett, DPT

September 8, 2021

Utilize Your Full 24-Hour Day Cycle to Maximize the Time Spent Decongesting Tissues

If you’ve ever had a sprained ankle or musculoskeletal injury, you know how quickly that area can become congested after it’s hurt. Since you don’t want to be sidelined or out-of-commission for too long, you might wonder how to speed up your muscle strain recovery time. As Kelly Starrett, DPT always recommends… you need to start moving as soon and as much as possible to stay ahead of the buildup and prevent massive swelling. If you can stay ahead of it, that’s a great way to speed up muscle strain recovery.

You need to ask yourself:

What are the best times during my day to decongest those strained tissues?
What’s the best technology to utilize for this?
How can I work this treatment or technology into my life?

What are the best times during your day to decongest tissues?

You might need to assess what daily behavior will have to change since you’ve already got a packed schedule. Where can you fit an effective intervention into your busy life? Kelly Starrett answers this question in the video below. He states that one of the best times to decongest your tissues is during SLEEP!

Yes – you read correctly, while you sleep. It’s one of the least utilized timeframes that can help athletes and those who are injured manage their physiology and stay ahead of massive tissue congestion. So how do you treat during sleep? Based on his personal experience and results of his athletes and clients, Kelly recommends using H-Wave.

What’s the best technology to utilize for long-term tissue decongestion?

He explains that H-Wave is specifically FDA cleared to help manage congestion either post-surgically or post-injury; unlike other NMES devices or TENS devices which are not FDA cleared for this. Additionally, H-Wave can be used on its Low Frequency setting for many hours of treatment. Other NMES and TENS devices cannot be used for hours-on-end as it will damage the tissues that you’re trying to treat.

How does this speed up muscle strain recovery?

The H-Wave creates activation of non-fatiguing muscle contractions for long periods of time without harming tissues. This increases local blood circulation and increases lymphatic drainage to help reduce tissue congestion. The longer you can activate these non-fatiguing muscle contractions, the more circulation benefits you’ll receive, and the more waste materials will be flushed out of your system.

H-Wave’s ability to keep tissue congestion down for long periods of time goes hand-in-hand with Kelly Starrett and The Ready State’s Post-Op Protocols that he used after total knee replacement surgery. They recommend decongesting tissues for 20 out of 24 hours a day after surgery to help the body recover. If it’s not possible to get that much movement during the day, you can easily get 7-9 hours of “movement without motion” during your sleep by using H-Wave.

How can I work this technology into my busy life?

So whether you’re recovering from surgery or trying to speed up muscle strain recovery, you need to ask yourself – how are you best utilizing your 24-hour daily cycle to maximize your ability to prevent swelling and buildup? How are you incorporating all of the tools and treatments available? Some treatments may help but may not be available 24/7. Other treatment may provide temporary relief but cannot be used for long periods of time. When looking at treatments and technology, TRS focuses on how useful it will be to the person treating and how it fits into their daily life.

That’s why Kelly recommends doing whatever you can to maximize your “down-time” during your 24-hour day cycle to decongest and stay ahead of swelling… because it’s a “win-win-win!” It can help lessen the muscle stiffness you feel when you wake up, help minimize the pain signal to your brain during the night, which helps improve your sleep quality, which in turn helps expedite your recovery.

Watch the full video here: