Injured and anxious? I got you.
Dec 17, 2022 12:01 pm
Hi,
Unfortunately I've seen a rise in injuries and surgeries on my caseload. I hope you are healthy, but if not I have two ideas for you to help you on your rehabilitation journey.
Be well,
Dr. Eddie
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Imagery During Rehab
There is a lot to be anxious about after an injury with an unknown future, hypothetical prognosis and the responsibility to perform well in your rehabilitation.
One of the biggest concerns athletes have is a loss of sport skills while they focus on rehabilitation and recovery. Imagery is one way to maintain and improve these skills.
Research has consistently shown motor learning can occur with imagery practice, both to learn new skills when healthy and to minimize the loss of skills when injured.
Functional equivalence theory suggests that similar parts of the brain are activated during both physical and imagined movements. The more imagery can activate the brain in the same way that physical movement can, the more effective the image will be.
The PETTLEP model of imagery best activates the brain for effectiveness. Include all of these facets in your imagery practice (but P & E may be particularly important):
- P - Physical (move rather than sit or lay down relaxed)
- E - Environment (be in the performance environment, or at least imagine the surroundings with all senses)
- T - Task (have a specific goal for the imagery)
- T - Timing (imagine in real time, but slow down if task is intricate and learning is needed)
- L - Learning (images should evolve over time as you improve)
- E - Emotion (feel the emotions of the situation, and imagine best performances with them even if unpleasant. For example, focus with anxiety, or feeling doubt and changing to confidence)
- P - Perspective (imagine in either 1st or 3rd person)
Imagery not only helps with maintaining sport skills, but can also be used to promote healing, for pain management, and improve performance in rehabilitation.
** I work with athletes 1:1 to help them get back on the field safely and with confidence. Reply to this e-mail and let's work together.
[Sarker, Sudip. (2015). Imagery in Sports Injury Rehabilitation.]
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Anxiety after Injury
Unfortunately the answer here is "yes." Falling behind your teammates when injured is a reality that we have to accept. How we respond to that reality, however, is what determines how fast we catch back up.
You can ignore the injury and try to do what your teammates are doing. Or come back before you get medical clearance to minimize the time away from training. Both are likely to delay your healing and leave you vulnerable to re-injury (causing you to fall even further behind your teammates).
Or you can accept that the injury has happened and your training is now focused on rehabilitation. You can approach your rehab with the same athletic intensity. Only the exercises themselves need to be different.
Injury is not time off. It is just time spent differently. You are still an athlete and you still have training to do.
When you work within this reality you maximize your healing and speed recovery.
Once you return to sport you will find that your rate of improvement and skill recovery is faster than when first learning them. In time you will be back on the same level with your teammates.
In some cases, you can come back even better than before you got injured! This happens when you address the physical, technical, tactical and psychological weaknesses that you didn't have time to address while healthy during the season.
Let me know if I can help you come back better than you were before.
Go to: https://dreddieoconnor.com/telehealth-services/
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Dr. Eddie O’Connor
