All About Injuries: The Physical and The Mental Side
All About Injuries
A quick disclaimer before we get into this blog…
While I have a deep understanding of the human body through my education, I am NOT a physical therapist so I can not diagnose someone based on symptoms. I have a deep understanding of human movement and my job as a coach is to help individuals build their body in order to prevent these injuries. I can not diagnose or necessarily treat them as a physical therapist or other professionals can.
If you’ve ever dealt with an injury whether it be major or minor, or even a serious illness you will be able to relate to this blog. I go into detail about the different types of injures you can get from training & sports.
I also dive into how to deal with them and how to prevent them.
In addition, I share my own personal injury history, and my latest injury that had me out of lifting and most exercise for 6 months.
Before I get into the types of injuries…
Let’s get this straight…
Improper movement patterns will eventually cause injuries. When joints are not properly stabilized it’s only a matter of time until they begin to break down. It’s like trying to build a house on unstable/weak framework.
If an individual does not perform exercises properly, and take care of their muscles through conscious training, stretching, and mobility it’s only a matter of time until they are strained or torn.
The good news — I like to think of these types of injuries as preventable (for the most part).
Proper programming which includes stability, correcting imbalances, and mobility will lower the risk of injury by building a healthy, functioning and strong body.
3 Common Types of Injuries:
1) Muscle Strains
Otherwise known as a 'pulled muscle’ means that there was trauma to the actual muscle or attaching tendon.
Causes: Improper mechanics while lifting, overstretching, instant stimulus to the muscle (sprinting/quick movements), and an accumulation of overuse injuries. Of course sports can also increase the risk of any injuries.
Common Sites: Not limited to, but common strains include; hamstring, lower back, neck.
2) Muscle Sprains
Muscle strains are commonly referred to as ‘a twisted muscle’ but actually occur in the ligaments that connect bone to bone. There are different degrees of sprains which can range from a stretch all the way to a full ligament tear.
Causes: Twisting, falling, or impact to that specific joint. In muscle sprains the ligament will move out of it’s normal range of motion causing the stretch or tear. Again, sports increase the risk of any injury.
Common Sites: Not limited to, but common sites include; knees, ankles, thumbs (& other fingers), wrists.
*These 2 injuries are some of the most common training injuries there are. They vary in severity and there are different degrees of them.
Which means there are different recovery periods and protocols. A physical therapist will be able to identify this.*
3) Bone Fractures
Bone fractures commonly known as ‘a broken bone’ also vary in severity. There are different types - transverse, stress, compound, greenstick, comminuted, linear, oblique, spiral, etc. I am not an orthopedic doctor so google these if you are curious what they are.
Basically, you can simply crack a bone or you can severely break it in half. And in a bunch of specific locations, directions, etc.
Again, you get the point - there are different ways you can break a bone.
Causes: The most common cause of a fracture is the result of impact to that bone. This is why fractures are so common in sports, car accidents, and falling.
Common Sites: Not limited to, but common sites include; arm, foot, hand, leg, wrist, fingers, toes.
*There are other training injuries other than the 3 common types (some more common than others) such as:
forms of tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon)
concussions (brain injury)
severe bruising
pinched nerve
dislocation
shin splints
spinal disc injuries
compartment syndrome (large force produced within the muscle - can be life threatening),
rhabdomyolysis (muscle tissues die & releases myoglobin into the bloodstream which can lead to kidney failure - can be life threatening).
Injury Treatment
I’m not going to go into much detail here because again, i’m not a physical therapist or doctor. Physical treatments obviously depend on the injury and the severity of it.
What isn’t commonly discussed when dealing with injuries is the mental struggles that go along with it.
Especially if you are an athlete or a highly active person.
You are essentially being taken completely out of your normal routine. The mental battle is arguably more challenging with the physical battle… and should be discussed along with the physical treatments.
The Mental Struggle of Dealing with Injuries
If you are used to training daily or are a high performing athlete and you get injured it can be a very traumatic experience. Of course the pain is challenging and very uncomfortable but what isn’t commonly discussed is the mental impact of the injury.
Think about doing something you absolutely love every single day and then all of a sudden it’s taken away from you. You don’t have that output anymore…You physically can’t do it anymore.
This is extremely hard on individuals that deal with injuries. Daily tasks become difficult but sports and training (depending on the injury) become the last priority.
This is obviously very difficult because individuals that are highly active or athletes are used to that physical activity being one of their main priorities. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and other struggles.
This often isn’t discussed when people get injured. It’s normal to discuss how long it takes to physically recover, but people don’t typically discuss the time it takes to mentally recover. The depression, loss of identity, sometimes post traumatic stress, and anxiety individuals go through isn’t talked about enough.
I’m going to talk about my latest experience with a collar bone injury to put this into context.
My Injury & My Mental Struggles
March 2nd, 2019 I suffered a severe injury. I was playing ringette and I was hit into the boards. My collar bone snapped completely in half. The next morning I was in surgery to get a titanium plate and 6 screws put in to hold the bone together. The physical pain was unbearable - the worst pain I have ever felt and I’ve had my fair share of injuries. The physical pain over the next few weeks was hard but the mental struggles were the toughest part.
I am a strength coach and I would consider myself an athlete. I play recreational sports and train almost daily. Once I was injured this was all taken away. No work, no sports, no training. The first few weeks were so hard mentally - being stuck in the house, not really able to move or even walk without severe pain.
After 3 weeks I went back to work (probably should have waited longer) but I needed to get out of the house. My job is very flexible so I was only working a few hours per day. This helped me get back to feeling like myself a little bit. At this time I was really struggling with an identity loss. Without training I did not feel like myself.
After 3 weeks I started doing very light cardio. 20 minute sessions or less. This is all I could handle at the time. My surgeon told me 3 months off of lifting weights and to me, 3 months felt like 10 years.
For the next few weeks I worked out when I could which was typically only a few days per week doing extremely light cardio and maybe some bodyweight lower body exercises.
VERY different from my structured lifting and conditioning program I was following before getting injured.
3 months without lifting ended up turning into 6 months of no lifting, and 2 months of intense physical therapy. Lots of ups and downs, some complications from surgery left me dealing with nerve pain which was another issue I had to address in phsyio. Luckily, the nerve pain was relieved over time and physio helped my pain and range of motion immensely.
Finally, 7 months post op I was able to lift small weights and slowly progress back to where I was. Slowly integrating more intense lifting all while still making my mobility exercises a priority daily.
During this time I was so depressed, had a loss of identity, loss of motivation, body image issues, and going into work became very tough mentally seeing others workout and not being able to. Not being able to practice what I preach as part of my career left me feeling like a fake. I knew I was dealing with a severe injury but when it goes on for 7+ months it’s hard to not think like this. I struggled with anxiety daily of when this pain would go away and when I could feel back to myself.
Not to mention the trauma of returning to exercise and sports with the fear of getting injured again. This is also extremely difficult to deal with.
Finally, after about 10 months of intense mental therapy, physical therapy and a whole lot of patience I finally felt like me again. Basically pain free and able to do almost everything I could before my injury. Specific exercises I still avoid but I’m back to myself and training like I was before.
Back to my handstands and continuing to feel stronger everyday!
Take Away Message
If you have ever dealt with injury - be Ok with not being Ok.
It’s OK to struggle. It’s normal to not feel like yourself.
But, know that you are more than the struggle, you will get through it, time heals everything and you will return back to your normal life.
Don’t focus on what you can’t do, focus on what you CAN do. Find new ways to bring that spark back.
Focus on the positive side of things as much as you can. But, also be easy on yourself. Injuries are extremely difficult and it’s going to be tough.
Most importantly - REACH OUT! Talk to others, go to therapy if you need to. Don’t let anybody tell you what you’re mentally dealing with isn’t a big deal. Get help if you need it.
And Remember - The mental battle is tough but you are tougher. You will get through it!
Important Note:
If you are not dealing with an injury, please take this message away with you. As an athlete and coach I preach fitness and sports. But, through this injury I’ve realized it’s SO important to have alternative ways to relieve stress. When a trauma occurs such as an injury that takes you out of your activity or sport, you need ways to cope. Practicing mindfulness, meditation, writing, etc to relieve stress will be so helpful when dealing with an injury. That old saying - don’t put all your eggs in one basket applies here. I love working out to relieve stress and if you do too, that’s fine! but please practice other forms of stress relief in addition to exercise so you never rely on just one thing.
If you’ve made it this far, Thank You!
I hope you feel educated on the different training injuries and I hope my story resonated with you.
I want to use this platform to educate and relate to as many people as I can.
Please share this if you found value in it!
Stay Healthy & Happy Training,
-Holly :)