Welcome to Readers’ Workouts, the weekly event where book lovers share workout stories, goals, successes, and challenges.

After bragging in my post just last week that I hadn’t injured myself in over a year, I turned my ankle while working in the garden yesterday. Argh!

So  this week, I can write about my proven recovery technique for turned ankles, wrenched knees, and pulled back muscles. My first priority is to keep the swelling down. I use RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) plus Naproxen for that purpose.

My second priority, which counteracts the first a little, is to keep going. I recover more quickly with a combination of rest and movement. I employ a kind of Midwestern callousness. We’ll tell a child with a scraped knee to rub dirt in it. Which is not taken literally. It’s a reminder that small unsolvable problems are best handled by a refusal to whine and a determination to get on with things.

So, I’ll be doing a lot RICE and Naproxen today. My exercise session will be stretching and dumb bells. But, I’ll rub some dirt in it and do a little walking, too. So far, the evidence is that my ankle feels a little better after five minutes of slow walking than it did before. I hope by this time next week, I’ll report that I’m walking for exercise again.

How do you handle minor injuries?

For Readers’ Workouts, talk about your fitness activities on your blog (feel free to grab the logo) and link to your post below or join us in the comments! Be sure to visit the other participants to see how we all did.