When you cope with all the training that you do, I think one takes it for granted – not being injured. You don’t fully appreciate all that your body takes on and tolerates each day. I see injured people every day, reassure them, make a plan and help them get back to achieving their goals. And so it’s always a steep reminder and learning curve for a physio when something hurts.
Firstly, myth buster; physios get injured too. Yes, we can do all that we can to minimise the risk of injuries with regards to training load, strength capacity and mobility but sometimes they just come out of nowhere. Injuries are hard. They are hard for everyone but as a physio, there are always learnings that come with each injury.
“It gives me a greater understanding of what it’s like for my clients to be injured and not being able to get out and do what they want to do”
It reiterates the true meaning of being told ‘not to run/cycle/exercise’ and has for this reason honed my practice of trying to keep the patient doing what they want to do at a level that doesn’t delay healing & continue to aggravate things.
I understand the injury more so when a client does come in saying it hurts here and there… but sometimes it’s more sore in the morning… and with these movements. I get it. There isn’t a standard pattern to an injury – we aren’t textbooks, and so explaining an injury and its history can be hard.
Management strategies.
Injuries challenge you in a different way from how you are normally physically challenged in your sport. It tests your mental game, makes you realise how much you love the sport that is currently causing you pain and gives you time to fine tune other aspects outside of just the physical training.
Everyone copes differently but my top tips for managing the initial stages of an injury would be:
- Find the sweetspot. If you can carry on training with pain < 4/10 and no lingering 24hr pain then do so.
- Take control – seek a medical professional opinion and plan how you are going to see progress away from this injury.
- Positive mindset. Try to stop talking negatively and using terminology such as “damaged”, “weak”, “not working” etc. Think about what you CAN DO. CONTROL the CONTROLLABLES
- Channel your motivation and energy into something that gives you that same satisfaction. Work hard to seek improvement in something you may have previously neglected.
- Finally, (and I’m sad to say it) stop booking races in the future. Pull back from that competition environment right now and focus on the day to day. Give yourself small goals that are different to just a race goal.
Focus on a different start & finish line.
