How to keep sane when you have a rehab injury set-back
Anyone that’s had a serious injury knows the rehabilitation journey is a long one. So how do you keep it together when you have a set-back during your rehab? Here’s five ways I’ve managed to keep sane when it’s happened to me.
On the 29 January, I joined the ACL club, an unofficial community of literally thousands of people that have had the misfortune of rupturing their anterior cruciate ligament.
I’m a grade 3 tear (complete rupture – the holy grail) and have also gone against the grain. I’ve opted for the no surgery route (non-operative ACL management) confident that I know my body and prepared to do the hard yards.
And I made my physios proud. I meticulously followed my rehab program and nailed my routine tests that let you know whether you can progress to the all important strengthening phase before return to sport.
Until one morning, 4 weeks ago, when I woke up and struggled to go down the stairs. I couldn’t push off one leg to stand from a chair, and I couldn’t hop on one leg. I was devastated. I’d gone from box jumps only a fortnight ago to what felt like a 12 week setback. I was back to wearing a compression sleeve, icing and elevating my knee each night and downing Advil to curb the inflammation. Needless to say my rehab routine was also scaled back.
It was enough to make me punch a wall. But I didn’t (I visualized it instead though, and it felt good!). Instead, I did the following and I hope it gives some comfort to those that are also on their rehab journey.
Here are my five tips to keep sane when dealing with a set-back during your rehab:
- Take the time to grieve. If it means taking time off work, or having a good cry, or visualizing punching a wall, do it. The rehab journey is a long, and hard one, and when you’ve worked so hard to see your gains disappear, you’re entitled to rage. I had a good cry and binged on chocolate (the 75% cocoa kind).
- Reflect on what you achieved. While I felt like a complete failure, I knew the effort I had put in before the setback was solid. And this gave me hope that I could do it again. My physio had told me in our first session the rehab process would be like the Toblerone chocolate bar. Up and down, but well worth it in the end.
- Control what you can. We can’t control the set-back but we can control our behavior. After grieving and reflecting, pull together a little plan of what to do next. It can be as simple as make a phone call to your GP, and focus on getting 8 hours of sleep each night.
- Seek support. Part of my plan was getting help. I booked in to see my physios and set an appointment up with my GP and will be getting an MRI done this week.
- Up your inspiration dose. For me, that meant following #aclinjury and #aclrecovery posts on Instagram. Reading and watching everyone else’s triumphs and despairs lessens the pain and reminds you that you’re not alone on the rehab train.
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Until next time,
Maryanne K
