8 Tips To Master Your Mindset Through Injury

I hope you are all safe and well and are hopefully coming out of this period in a good place. Although this time has been challenging for many, it certainly has given us some space to reflect on many things which hopefully will serve you well moving forward. 

Today I wanted to talk about how to manage your mindset through an injury. This is such a crucial part of overcoming an injury, and in fact, can be the difference in the time of recovery and also the success of the recovery. Injuries are difficult to deal with as they stop you doing the things you love doing or even more practically can stop you from being able to manage normal daily activities. There is a huge three way connection between the mind, the brain and the body. As an analogy I like to think of it like this. Imagine an oil refinery, the petrol and a car. The oil refinery is the mind, the petrol is the brain and the car is the body. 

Ultimately what we fuel our body with, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, will determine the performance of the car. I know first hand, both having being injured and also having seen 1000s of injuries, just how a person’s mental attitude can help. When I worked in professional football, what amazed me was the difference in how players coped with similar injuries and how this impacted on their recovery. Although we can’t cheat physiology, healing and anatomy on a grand scale, we can certainly change it by altering our brain physiology which has an impact on our perception of pain and function and can lead to a quicker and more successful return to full health. 

Below are 8 tips for managing the energy that goes into overcoming your injury. No matter how big or small your injury is, there is always a place for improving the overall well being of your mind to help your recovery. 

1. Accept and don’t blame - At times of course, our actions may have been a factor in our injury. If we suddenly did something we were completely unaccustomed to then yes, we could look back and say ‘Oh why did I do that?!’. This is ok, but rather than blame ourselves, we should use it as a lesson for the future. We don’t set out with an intention to injure ourselves! We most often have good intentions, to be healthier, fitter, stronger etc, and this enthusiasm can overlook the fact that our body was perhaps not prepared for that change. Accepting that it has happened and moving on to deal with it as best as possible is key. 

2.  Don’t compare - No two injuries are ever the same and they are certainly not the same in how they present in different people. It is important to stay present to your injury and focus on that and that alone. You can certainly draw on experiences of previous episodes you may have had or people you know who have had similar but use that as a check point rather than a strict comparison. You may judge your progress negatively if you compare it to others who have recovered quickly. Stay in your own reality. 

3. Goal setting - This is a really crucial area and it is up to you and your therapist to come up with short, medium and long term goals. The most important of these are the short term goals as they will keep you present. At the start of your rehab your therapist should know what your ultimate goal is as this differs for everyone. Short term goals however are the key to keeping momentum going. You should establish a set of what we call process goals and then little tests you have to pass before you can move onto the next stage of rehab. This really is more for your therapist to do and then give you the exercises to reach those milestones but it’s really important to understand how these process goals will move you closer to your long term outcome. In the back of your mind, have that long term goal in sight, but each day focus on the tasks right in front of you. This is what will cause the mini shifts day in day out and before you know it you’ll be closer to your dream destination!

4. Clean language - The way we describe our injury and how we visualise what is going on in our body is really important. Unfortunately, it is not just patients who use inappropriate language when describing injuries. Therapists can also fall into habits which aren’t beneficial to an a understanding of the pathology of the problem. There is a lot of fear which can creep into a patient’s mind when they are spoken to in language which serves to, at times, catastrophize the problem. Depending on the injury of course, examples of such words are ‘unstable, broken, inflamed, tight, flared up, out of place’. Now in some instances, it may be appropriate to use some of those terms but a lot of the time it just isn’t scientifically right. The two most common misconceptions I hear are “My ITB is tight’ and “My back is out of place”, both of which aren’t really true! Speak to your therapist to gain a good understanding of what’s going on and use better language yourself in describing it. It can be a real game changer in moving forward with your rehab and altering your mindset. 

5. Visualisation - The power of visualisation is very real. You may have seen the images of F1 drivers mentally practising the circuit prior to getting in the car, tennis players getting into the zone during breaks, dancers working through routines in their heads etc. This constant mental imagery closes the gap between the thought and the action and allows the two to be more whole. This can work in rehab too. There are studies which show that adding visualisation can help the recovery from injuries. Sitting there and visualising healing taking place, picturing a healthy joint, muscle of whatever is injured, and looking positively at the recovery can aid both pain and also function. It is almost like a mini hypnosis which can be so powerful. It may sound odd, but talking to your injury verbally for a few minutes a day can help with recovery. 

6. Breathing - Similar to number 5 this is a really simple technique that we can use. The reason breathing properly and mindfully is so important is the effect it can have on the physiology of our body. Although you won’t notice the immediate effect of, say, breathing for 5 minutes a day on your rehab, over time the change is real. Breathing helps to regulate cortisol levels, the hormone which is released during times of stress. Regardless of where the stress is coming from, cortisol will be elevated in this state. During injury, stress may go up. Exercise has the effect of releasing your happy hormones: endorphins which can counteract the stress hormone. So, if your exercises routine has been disrupted and this balance of hormones has been affected, taking just 5 minutes twice a day to focus on some breathing techniques can really help regulate stress. You can try diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, alternate nostril breathing - there are many forms of breathing out there. Please make sure that you are in good health, have no associated heart or respiratory conditions, are not pregnant and do not have other health issues that could be a contraindication to doing some of these techniques. 

7. Be adaptable - In some instances we have to accept that an injury may force us to reconsider what we can do going forward. I personally know how this feels.  After having had several ankle injures, I have now accepted that I can’t do the things I did 10 years ago which is ok and I have since found new things to help and also keep my enthusiasm up for exercising despite not being able to do exactly the same things. Re assess your current exercise routine, be open to trying things you haven’t tried before, understand that our bodies do change with age - what may have previously worked for us may not be serving us as well now. I am a big believer in having variety in your exercise, unless of course you have a very, very specific sport or event which requires you to train very specially. For example, it would be counterproductive for a 100m sprinter to suddenly take up lots of yoga as they actually rely on an element of stiffness to produce power over a short space of time. Train your body in different ways to ensure good balance of strength, flexibility, power and fitness. 

8. Make sacrifices - Ultimately it comes down to how important an outcome is to you. Your ultimate goal and your lifestyle have to be aligned if you want to see the best and quickest results. Not only can our brain not comprehend conflicting thoughts, nor too can our body. What do I mean by this? Well, if you want to lead a healthier lifestyle and yet keep telling yourself that you love fast food, your brain will become confused and so too will your actions. Similarly, if your goal is to ski after a knee injury and your physio has set you a programme of going to the gym 3 - 4 times a week, choosing to go out socialising on two of those days instead is not going to produce the results you need. It may sounds common sense but it is often not common practice. Your daily habits will, over time, produce the results you want. It’s that simple. Be prepared to sacrifice some things, perhaps only for a while mind you, to focus on what matters most at the time. 

I hope that these points have been useful in identifying some areas you could work in to optimise your rehab. I am a huge believer in mindset and how it affects the body and paying attention to the above can really help shift you in the right direction. 

If you would like to find out more about any on the above then please feel free to contact me at alex@physioremedies.com.

I wish you well in your rehab and I appreciate you for taking the time to read this article.  

Stay healthy, stay strong!

Best wishes 

Alex. 

Words by Alex Manos.