Tips for Mentally Recovering After an Injury
Although we believe exercise is our best medicine, sometimes you need to take it easy – mentally recover – and then focus on physically healing.
When you suffer an injury, you may quickly realize how much you took the damaged body part for granted. Injury due to a sport or activity you’re passionate about can be particularly discouraging and often leads to severe episodes of depression or anxiety. You may be convinced that you will never again be able to enjoy your favorite forms of movement again.
Don’t quit what you love; let’s face it, that’s not an option. In many cases, people who suffer from injuries come back to their sport of choice stronger than ever with a newfound appreciation for their body and its powerful healing abilities. The worst part of an injury is often the mental turmoil that can result, which if left unmanaged can slow down or even prevent the healing process.
Instead of giving up and succumbing to emotional pain, follow these steps from Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation to mentally recover after an injury.
1. Understand Your Frustration
When struggling with an injury, you are either stuck resting with a temporarily sedentary lifestyle or you may have a very limited range of rehabilitation exercises. Both circumstances can make you feel trapped, unmotivated, frustrated, and downright depressed.
When you shift from someone who works out daily to a couch potato, you experience a substantial dip in endorphins. This change can make it hard to manage negative emotions, such as stress and anxiety. Additionally, you likely will face some level of social separation since you can’t participate in your normal activities.
While there is no easy way around this change in brain and body chemistry, acknowledging that what you’re feeling is expected and normal can make it easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If you’re feeling hopeless, it might be a good time to reach out to a professional counselor or mindset coach.
2. Share Your Story
If you’re visibly injured with crutches, a wheelchair, a cast, or an obvious limp, people will ask what happened. And even though it’s most likely the last thing you want, people may show pity. Preparing for this reality will help you from feeling irritated or re-traumatized when someone brings up your injury.
Think about how you want to share your story and your experience by journaling about what’s wrong and how it happened. Most importantly, try to shine a positive light on your situation. A positive mindset is key to mentally recovering from an injury.
3. Develop a Support System
While it’s important to acquire support from doctors and various medical practitioners who can help you with your physiological condition, it is equally important to build your team of moral support. Whether this includes family, friends, or emotional therapists, your support system should be a shoulder to lean on when you are experiencing:
Anxiety that you’ll never overcome your injury
Disappointment
Hopelessness
Depression
Once again, journaling about your mental and physical experience can help you healthily process your feelings and lead you to different, optimistic perspectives on your injury.
Whether you are in need of physical or emotional support, our team at Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation can help you work through the blockages preventing you from healing. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
4. Manage Stress
One of the cruel jokes of injury is the more you stress, the harder it is to heal. This is because stress hormones interfere with the body’s ability to purge damaged tissue and move healing immune cells to the site of damage.
We know this fact might make you feel more stressed, but there are many ways to turn down cortisol, such as:
Breathwork – breathe in for 4 then out for 8
Visualization & Meditation
A hot bath (if your doctor gives you the OK) or a heating pad / hot water bottle
Gentle stretching (depending on the location of your injury)
Self-massage
An icepack on your chest or a cold shower
Soaking up the sunshine
Journaling
Practicing gratitude
5. Reevaluate Your Goals
Revisiting your intentions for your future can relieve you of pressure during your injury. When you are able to train again, it’s important to accept that you will not be in the same shape as you were when you were injured. It will take time and work to get back to where you want to be, but by readjusting your goals and being patient, you allow yourself room to heal and reactivate your body's potential.
Instead of focusing on goals you set pre-injury, our friends at Open Heart Holistic Therapy suggest you give yourself permission to focus all of your energy on healing. By setting an intention to heal rather than concentrating on performance, you can feel motivated by progress instead of disappointed by how far behind you’ve fallen from previous, currently unrealistic goals.
6. Recognize Opportunities
Use this as a time to work on your mental strength; you can train your mind to appreciate what you can do instead of what you can’t. This is important if you’ve just been released from physical therapy and may be itching to get back into doing what you were before, but you have to work your muscles differently or risk reinjury. (And the mental ups and downs that go with that.)
Again, a positive mindset gives you a sense of purpose while you’re away from physical activity and you can keep it up when you are back in action.
7. Fall Down and Stand Up Again
‘Fall down 7 times, get up 8.’
Returning to activity after what seemed like a never-ending period of stagnancy can be very exciting. However, don’t get ahead of yourself. This will be a tough uphill battle at first and you may “relapse” into previous steps of the healing process.
You will need relentless confidence, patience, and bravery to know that you have the power to get through this frustrating time and to return to the activity you love. Holding onto all of these qualities is no easy feat, so remember to take breaks when you need them and don’t beat yourself up when you do.
Activate Your Mind & Body’s True Potential
While recovering from an injury, you will need both physical and emotional support. At Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation, we provide both. Our health partners will help you get through the challenges of physical healing while infusing you with an attitude of optimism. We have seen countless individuals recover from the worst of circumstances, so we know you can get through this too.
Whether you’re facing a long road ahead of recovery or are dealing with chronic irritation and dysfunction, Dynamic Fitness & Rehabilitation is on your team. Call us today - (813) 422-5671.