Finding a New Normal After An Injury - As Seen On TV

When injury repair and rehabilitation aren’t enough to get an athlete back into the game or performing as well as they once did, coaches, physicians, and fellow athletes encourage sports and performance using psychology to help athletes find their new normal.

Life altering sports injuries and even temporary rehabilitated injuries can lead any athlete into a downward spiral of depression, often seeking a new identity in who they are outside of the “thing/sport/passion” they loved to do. This is especially true for athletes becoming very impatient or having unreasonable expectations focused on losing time instead of having your mindset fixed on the goal of building momentum to get back into the game. 

Imagine the Looney Tunes character, Road Runner spinning in place before taking off down the road past Wile E. Coyote.

Or for younger readers, imagine any one of the drag race scenes from your favorite Fast and Furious movie.

 

Building momentum takes time. For athletes, momentum isn’t just speed and agility. Movement is equally as important as mental preparation; the mindset you maintain during any sports injury recovery and the motivation you focus on while returning to play.

 “Movement is a means for an athlete to process things, to deal with stress, to process life and when we can't do that anymore, it's bad news.” - Injured Athletes Toolbox

Athletes who endure a season-ending injury, really have a hard time getting through not just the pain, but the process. They often benefit from sports and performance psychology tactics. The most challenging thing for an injured athlete to accomplish is to return to play from the mental side of things.

Physical therapy and injury rehabilitation isn’t just repeating skills and drills. Often athletes find themselves frustrated by the process of repeating small exercises unknowing that they are being prepared for the next step… similar to the scene in Karate Kid.

    

If only we had the constant urging of Jackie Chan…

Throughout over 40 years of practicing orthopedics and sports medicine, Lemak Health has treated many different patients, from professional athletes to weekend warriors, and just like some of the greatest movies, recovering from a sports injury can lead someone through a rollercoaster of emotions. Much like an underdog story, the 4 most common emotions an athlete may face after a significant injury include, in no particular order,

  1. Frustration and Anger because you can't do what you love and you can't participate in your sport
  2. Disconnection from the life that you love as an athlete and from your friends
  3. Disappointment and Bitterness that your body has let you down and failed at the very thing that you used to connect your happiness with
  4. Impatience that's causing you to make bad decisions and get back into your sport before you're physically healed

We believe that the whole body cannot be healthy unless each part is healthy. Sports and Performance Psychology can play a critical role in the healing process and has a drastic impact on the speed of your ability to heal from the inside out. Lemak Health is committed to improving life after injury. It is our goal to help you through whatever injury you may have and to make the experience as painless as possible.