ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the timeline of injury rehabilitation and the nutrition considerations at each time point of the rehabilitation timeline, and nutrition support for assisting the athlete in ‘return to train and then play’. The term ‘fracture’ encompasses any injury in which a bone becomes cracked or broken, and fractures are the most common type of sports injury requiring hospitalisation. While nutrition support plays an important role in injury rehabilitation, it is also important to consider that adequate nutrition plays a critical role in the prevention of injuries. Evidence to support the use of anti-inflammatory nutrients to suppress inflammation, and hence improve injury rehabilitation, is lacking. After the initial phase of disuse is completed and athletes are able to use and train the injured muscles or limb, nutrition focus should shift. Nutrition in this phase of injury rehabilitation will focus on maximally supporting the training stimulus to rebuild muscle and connective tissue to pre-injury levels.
