5 Steps to Acceptance
Injuries can change your life dramatically — sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently. Accepting a part of your life has changed can be a challenge, just like any other traumatic experience. Some people in beginning recovery will go through five stages of acceptance similar to the steps of acceptance for a death.
- Denial about the injury’s severity or that the injury even happened is first. This could be from shock or fear.
- Giving up some control over life during recovery can be frustrating and leads to anger. Anger maybe directed at yourself or at friends and family.
- When the anger subsides you may begin to bargain with yourself. You promise you won’t train as hard or you will train harder than before.
- Feelings of depression about the future are next. Will your body be the same? What will you have to give up? How much will my life be different?
- Acceptance is the final step. This last step is also the only proactive step where real recovery can begin.
Once reality sets in you can begin talking with your physician or physical therapist about the recovery process. You should do the following together:
- Talk about developing a support network. This can be friends, family and others going through similar recovery. It’s important to keep in mind that injury and recovery affect everyone differently so never compare your progress. Also, your network should be ready to listen, offer support and never push you.
- Determine, with your medical professional, a list of milestones. Be realistic and honest with yourself. Make sure to listen when your physical therapist offers his opinion or gives orders. A good PT will be honest even when it hurts.
- Find the things in life that motivate you. Motivation makes the recovery process easier.
- Explore other hobbies or interests. Ask your PT what activities are acceptable during recovery, and then listen. Hobbies and interests keep your mind sharp and keep your thoughts away from your injury.
- Think happy thoughts.
Your physician or PT may have other suggestions, but if he or she doesn’t bring up your emotions then you should. Communicate and be open. Depression makes recovery difficult and it could lead to a re-injury if you’re not honest with yourself.
Share your recovery stories in the comments. Did you feel depression or other emotions during recovery?
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Elbow Anatomy
Ever bumped your funny bone? Hitting the funny bone is the most common, minor elbow injury. The sensation isn’t very funny, but it passes quickly.
Other common elbow injuries include elbow dislocation, elbow fracture, tendinitis and tennis elbow.
Causes
Injuries occur from a variety of reasons, but some of the most common are:
- Pushing your limits or repetitive action during sports
- Work-related injuries
- Falling
- and while working on home projects
Treatment
Injuries to the elbow are often results from overuse or repetitive use. There’s no certain way to treat elbow injuries like tennis elbow, but using platelet rich plasma and physical therapy is an option. Also, arthroscopy has a good response rate.
Arthroscopy is a surgical technique in which the physician inserts a needle-shaped fiber optic telescope, or arthroscope, in the joint through an incision approximately 1/8 inch long. Utilizing instruments as small as 1/10 inch, corrective surgery is performed. Normally done as an outpatient procedure, arthroscopy causes less trauma to the tissues than traditional, more invasive surgeries.
Preparing for a doctors appointment
You should prepare for your doctors visit. The more your doctor knows, the better help he or she will be able to give.
- What are your main symptoms and how long have you had them?
- How did the injury occur? And when?
- How was it treated? Did you try at-home treatments and did it help?
- Have you ever injured your elbow before? Has it caused problems before?
- Does any specific activity make the injury hurt more?
- What prescription and nonprescription medicines have you tried?
- Do you have any health risks or preexisting problems?
- Does anyone in your family have preexisting joint problems?
If you’ve injured your elbow, make sure you see your doctor before it gets worse. Not addressing the problem could make the injury worsen.
]]>No matter the cause, sometimes the only answer to reclaiming an old lifestyle is surgery. When the knee reaches the point-of-no-return the only option might be total-knee replacement. This procedure is for only severe cases where everyday activities are becoming difficult to perform due to pain or risk of extensive damage to the joint.
What is Total Knee Replacement?
Total-knee replacement is the surgical procedure where damaged knee joints are replaced by an implant made of plastic and metal pieces developed to function like a natural knee. Variations in the implant have different benefits and risks. All benefits and risks should be discussed with your physician!
Risks include blood clots, some instability, blood vessel injury, stiffness and infection (which could require re-operation).
Who should consider this operation?
Only patients suffering from progressive pain and stiffness in the knee should consider Total-Knee Replacement surgery. Making the decision to have this kind of operation isn’t easy. Patients should ask their doctor about other options.
Average ages for the 600,000 annual patients is 65-70, but younger people have received an implant.
What is post-op life like?
The average life-span of an implant can be 15-20 years, but a patient’s lifestyle and activity is a factor. Post-op care involves physical therapy at the hospital and at home. Your doctor may limit some physical activities like high-impact running and high-demand sports in favor of slower-paced exercises and leisure sports. Swimming is an ideal activity for patients.
Here’s a list of important issues (but not all the issues) to discuss with your doctor:
- How will this surgery affect my daily activity?
- Will I have to give up sports?
- Can I damage the implant by running?
- How do I spot a problem with the implant?
- Can I begin a new sport?
There are stories of pets saving their owner’s life; predicting heart-attacks, seizures, cancer and other health threats before symptoms appear.
October is Pet Wellness Month and a good time to think about all the benefits of having a pet around during recovery. Research shows there are many benefits to owning a pet (the below list comes from Pets911.com and you can find more benefits on their website).
- Pets lower the recovery time for surgery.
- Senior citizens who own pets actually need less medical attention than those that do not.
- Pet owners typically have lower blood pressure than non-pet owners, and one study actually proved that with as little as 10 minutes with a pet can lower blood pressure significantly.
- 70 percent of families surveyed reported an increase in family happiness and fun after acquiring a pet.
- Children exposed to pets during their first year of life have a lower frequency of some allergies and asthma.
- Children who suffer from autism have more pro social behaviors if they own a pet.
- Owning a pet – especially a dog – helps children in families better adjust to the serious illness or death of a parent.
- Having a pet may decrease heart attack mortality rates by 3 percent, which translates into 30,000 lives saved annually.
- Positive self-esteem in children is enhanced if the child owns a pet.
- Many groups take therapy pets to visit residents of nursing homes, and the experience has shown to be a very positive one for both the pet and the individual.
- The reverse is also true – the life of a pet is usually enhanced if its owner cares for it properly.
IF you’re missing a furry, cuddly one in your life, you can get your fix online. UStream.com streams live feeds of baby puppies, kittens, owls and other adorable creatures.
Check it out.
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