Injury Recovery
A serious injury is typically followed by physical therapy as an important step toward full recovery. To get back to 100% though we probably have some work to do after that. And most of us are impatient to do things at our previous level. We often push it too fast (or too slow) or work out incorrectly causing our progress to go in the wrong direction. An exercise physiologist is an ideal professional to take you the rest of the way in your recovery after an injury setback. Read on for a real-life example.
"Jared" is an active young adult who had been a collegiate gymnast and still enjoys walking on his hands more than his feet. He loves to swim in the summer, snow ski in the winter and play year-round on the backyard trampoline with his kids. Last winter Jared managed some ugly damage to his shoulder in a nasty fall on the ski slope which included a torn rotator cuff among other things. After the surgery the doc asked Jared what his goal was for the recovery, expecting something like pain-free basic movement. But his answer was the ability to do back hand springs again. After a long pause the doctor said, "Ok then. ... Here's what that will take ..."
Because of the complexity of the surgery, it was 6 weeks in a sling, 8 weeks before he could drive or lift a glass of water and 3 months before he could begin to rebuild strength. Through much of this period I continued to work with him to preserve his core and lower-body strength to prevent falls. Then with the doctor's release came the challenging work of his range of motion in the shoulder. This was slower and more difficult than Jared expected but we tried to keep it fun and positive while we also worked on the strength component. We celebrated his milestones as he was finally able to do a push-up, then a hand stand on the tramp, then a burpee. He reached his back hand spring goal at about 8 months and recently returned from a fabulous ski trip just a year after the accident.
For most people injuries result in extended inactivity that many don't really recover from. Depression, weight gain, and other medical consequences can be prevented by finding creative and fun ways to keep moving, so you're ready to enjoy again whatever it is that you love to do as soon as possible.