The Mental Effect

Injuries leave you less than 100%. Even after a full physical recovery, the mental recovery may still lag behind. Throughout this blog, I have taken a look at several different injuries, tips, and rules on basic recovery. However, what about the real psychological effect of it all? How do you get past it? What does it really mean?

As I mentioned in my very first post, an injury first and foremost instills a sense of fear. As athletes, we know pain to be a frightening thing. It is not due to the aching, throbbing, or discomfort of it all, but because of the lack of knowledge. Every single person’s body is different and therefore, their injuries are as well. While doctors can provide a diagnoses or perhaps an estimated timeline, nothing is truly and absolutely guaranteed. Will our bodies make a full recovery back to normal? Will we be able to play to the fullest of our potential? The questions continuously and unwillingly circulate in our head.

This leads us to the big, important question of it all. How do we begin a mental recovery? We have been taken off the field maybe for a few weeks or maybe for many months. We lose the ability to do the one thing we know and love. We feel lazy and anxious sitting around day after day, so how do we fix it?

Well, honestly it cannot be fixed. A sport on the surface may seem like simply a group of people playing games for recreational purposes. However, it goes much further. Growing up playing a sport shapes the type of person and attitude you have in life. We are natural competitors at the core, and this causes us great difficulty in dealing with injuries. None of us want to let a minor bump in the road take us out of the addictive nature of competition. It puts everything around us to a halt, and we get stir crazy. We watch with envy as our teammates suit up for the big game and we lose our minds sitting there helpless during a competition.

When you add it all up, the mental toll of an injury, especially for athletes, is unavoidable. However, after being sidelined for various types of injuries, I learned a few important rules to help stay mentally involved and engaged.

• Be sad/frustrated/annoyed. Understand the situation and allow yourself to get angry or sad. Take a few days to regroup and process the situation. It is better to get it over with now than let it hit you in the upcoming weeks.
• Rehab, rehab, rehab. Even if you can only do a few simply rehab exercises, never skip them. If you ever have some free time, get more treatment and keep icing. There is always something that can be done. It cannot hurt and it will keep you busy and distracted.
• Concentrate on what you can do. Even after a serious ankle sprain, you still have the ability to gain muscle strength in your arms so go to the weight room. Try swimming laps or jogging in the water during your recovery process. By doing some type of exercise like this even if it isn’t running, you remain active and obtain some sense of accomplishment. 
• Avoid excessive self-pity. You are not the first person to ever get injured, so try to avoid wallowing in the corner. While it is okay to get upset, do not let it affect your day to day activities or the overall attitude of the team. Encourage the players on the field and try not to think about yourself the whole time.
• Utilize injury as motivation. Yes, an injury will take you off of the field. However, as you recover, a fresh start develops for you. Come back in better shape with a stronger mindset than before. Take it as motivation to get better and exceed any expectations people may have for you when you get back.

Of course, things are always easier said than done. People can write dozens of lists, tips, or steps, but it can never prepare you completely for the real thing. Just take things as they go and think of the bigger picture. When the day comes and the doctor clears you for all physical activity in your sport, all of your hard work will pay off. The journey will end before you know it, and you will be back on the field doing what you love.

The Wonderfully Awful World of Broken Noses

It has only happened to a select few of us. The immediate shock followed by a terrifying realization. That thing in the middle of your face has broken. How do you know? You can literally see the shift of your nose in your peripheral vision. Without a mirror or any type of reflection for that matter, you have confirmed a break in your face.

Compared to ACL or UCL tears, this injury seems minute and trivial. If it's a simple break, the doctor will tell you to wait a few days for the swelling to do down. Then, you go back to the office in a matter of minutes, the doctor breaks it back into place and all goes back to normal, or so we are lead to believe.

Out of all the injuries, why write a post about a broken nose? The answer is simple; two words, cast and mask. As you walk out of the doctor’s office with a newly straightened nose, you are accompanied with a fresh cast literally glued to your face. Not to mention, the black eyes will continue to worsen within the next few days. Get ready for stares wherever you go as well as an endless stream of pity-filled questions from strangers.

Finally, the cast is off and you are cleared back into physical activity. Except, there is a catch. After a nose break and realignment, the bone and cartilage need extra time to fully set in place. A bump or hit to the area risks a re-break, so when returning back to a physical contact sport you need protective gear.

This brings me to the introduction of the mask. We might have noticed them on professional basketball players like Richard Hamilton or Kobe Bryant. However, those specially made transparent mask are not the typical, generic kind given to patients. Instead, the masks we receive include large white foam pieces, massive black adjustable straps, and an overall huge acrylic frame. It traps in the heat and sweat and blocks off part of your vision making playing quite miserable. However, as much as you hate the thing, listen to the doctor’s orders and keep it on when playing. Unfortunately, I refused to use this awful mask and it resulted in 4 more breaks, 4 more casts, and many black eyes.  

This unique recovery proves to be one of the worst and probably the most embarrassing. However, if you are one of the few to have experienced the cast and mask routine, you know the awful journey. Next time you see someone walking on the street with a piece of plastic glued to their face or playing with the unavoidably noticeable mask, understand the pain and try not to stare for too long.

Treating a Pulled Muscle

Injuries come in many shapes and sizes. Sports force your body to make quick, sudden movements. While your mind may allow you to do so, your body sometimes fails to follow through accordingly. Even with proper preparation and stretching, exhaustion and overuse may cause a glitch in the perfect machine that is your body.

A pulled muscle might be the most annoying and irritating glitch to occur. This type of injury can happen anytime and anywhere. It may be on the field, in the gym, on the court, or even at home. However, once it does, every little movement is made 5 times more difficult and 10 times more painful. While proper warm ups and stretching can help prevent pulling a muscle, like any other injury, it can never be completely avoided. Therefore, proper knowledge of this kind of treatment is necessary.

Last week, one of my entries focused on the use of cold therapy and in particular, Game Ready. I came across the Game Ready Blog discussing various injuries as well as the benefits of cold therapy during rehabilitation. One particular blog entry, What the Pros Recommend for Pulled Muscle Treatment, accurately lists recommendations for this specific type of injury.

People tend to pull the hamstring and groin more than other muscles. However, the treatment of any type of pulled muscle remains the same.

Compression, ice, and rest.

As much as we would like to shrug off a simple pulled muscle, the annoying pain will not go away without those treatments. By taking a few days off to elevate, ice, and compress the injured area, your body can recover back to its normal functioning state in no time.  

Getting "Game Ready"

Walk into any physical therapy office, training room, or sports rehabilitation center and you will find patients and athletes lined up on the table attached to a Game Ready. Get comfortable because post-injury this little machine will be attached to you possibly on a daily basis for at least 15 minutes at a time. Game Ready perfectly combines cold and compression therapy to reduce swelling, enhance natural healing, and reduce pain.

Game Ready was made for athletes with their individual concerns in mind.

 Whether you are a surgery patient in post-op rehab or an elite athlete with a sports injury, you want to get back into action as quickly as possible. For you, passively treating symptoms isn’t enough. You want to proactively accelerate your recovery.  

Whether its an ankle, elbow, shoulder, back, head, or wrist injury, Game Ready can supply a quick and easy solution. The device pumps cold water through a long, black tube into a removable wrap around the injured area. With different levels on compression and the ability to adjust the time, this miracle-working machine allows for aided, personalized care.

The Game Ready machine

However, the company supplies much more than just therapeutic benefits. In addition, on its website you’ll find another injury-prone athlete inspired blog. The Game Ready Blog offers tips on getting back in the game faster as well as specific injury guidelines. It may be a pulled groin, sprained ankle, or shoulder surgery. This blog has all the answers to your questions.

The next time you're hooked up to this machine waiting around trying to kill time, check out this blog. It is guaranteed to have details on not only your injury, but your concerns and questions as well.

Why Do We Keep Coming Back?

People sometimes ask, why do you keep coming back?

You’ve broken bones, pulled muscles, and even had to undergo surgery.

Is it even worth it in the long-run?

Will you regret it in 10 years when your injuries come back worse than before?

Why put yourself through the pain and frustration?

It’s just a sport, right?

Yes, it is just a sport. Of course there are days when practice drags on, the sun burns hot, every muscle in your body screams for a break, and we question why we do it to ourselves. We put our bodies through hell and back and we ask, what is it all really for?

We only question this for a brief moment until game day arrives. We wake up on the satisfying morning with a specific and all too familiar feeling of anxiousness. We count down the hours until the first pitch or the first whistle of kick-off. The anxiousness is not one stemming from nervousness. Rather, it is an anxiousness to obtain our reward and what we truly believe is ours.

We drag ourselves to 6 am practices, push through our depleting lifts, and train fitness all for this day. We do it for the moment of complete gratification and fulfillment in our sport, team, and most importantly, ourselves.

It may be a moment of making it to the championship game…

   

Or striking out the best hitter…

Regardless, in that exact instant, we are reminded of why we push past our injuries and undoubtedly get back on the field.

So, when people ask why do you keep coming back? The answer is simple. We do it for these moments.

Concussion: A Sport's Horror Film

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) sounds like a bunch of medical jargon foreign to many of us. Perhaps that’s why the recent Will Smith movie was named Concussion instead. Concussions have been the talk of the sports industry partially due to the release of this movie as it exposes the horrors concerning CTE in former NFL players.

Last Christmas, Smith expertly embodied the character of Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-born forensic pathologist as he discovers a degenerative brain disease. More specifically, a brain disease connected to concussions in NFL players. His character fights against the powerful NFL corporation to voice his concerns and instigate change. Smith perfectly portrays a humble man standing up for his beliefs in order to protect future players.

The movie opened eyes all over the world, but the message may be slightly misleading. While the movie was labeled a drama, parents, players, and coaches walked out of the theater horrified and frightened of concussions. The movie failed to accurately make the distinction between concussions and CTE. While they may be related, the two should not be viewed as one in the same. Not all concussions lead to CTE. In fact, many other factors may come into play. 

Regardless, the truth of the matter is that we do not have all the answers. We do not know all of the whys, hows, and what ifs about concussions. So, while the film may have been too negative on the NFL and football in general, it scared people into thinking. It made them think about the risks, prevention, and precautions, and in that sense the movie succeeded.

Do We Eliminate the Game We Love?

Everyone loves staying up to watch Monday Night Football, stuffing their face with wings on Super Bowl Sunday, and tailgating with friends before the big game. We love the sport and we love the thrill and entertainment it provides. Now imagine losing the sport altogether.

Recently, football receives major criticism and backlash for its heavy violence and more importantly, head injuries. With medical advancements, researchers discovered the alarming short-term and long-term effects from concussions. Concussions can go unrecognized and misdiagnosed. Currently, football serves as the number one male sport to cause head injuries. Therefore, the question raised today is whether or not football should be banned altogether.

This question has outraged some and provided a solution for others. In my honest opinion, football should not have been a sport at all. Putting individuals' lives at risk for entertainment and recreational purposes is irresponsible and selfish. However, since its start, we have fallen in love with the sport and I do not believe we can turn back now.

Football serves as part of our culture and even provides a foundation for underprivileged youth. Children grow up loving and admiring the sport with dreams of one day playing in college or making it to the NFL. From the player’s perspective, football has given some an opportunity to receive a college education or even make a living to provide for their family.

So what is the answer to this controversial question? While banning football may seem like the responsible and simple solution to these problems, it diminishes a large part of our country’s culture and athlete's pride. Athletes play their sport because of pure passion and love. As a football player steps onto the field, he knows the risks involved. Taking the sport away may be impossible at this point. 

Thus, perhaps the solution is one of increased prevention and research. Instead of ripping the sport away from players, implement rules protecting the youth from this high level of contact. Enforce precautionary steps after head trauma on any amateur or professional level. Instead of leaving it to the trainer’s discretion, force the player to get off the field to see a doctor or specialist. 

It’s an important question with complicated answers.

Do we eliminate the game we love?