Keeping Fit After a Traumatic Injury or Disability

To start, before you read any further, if we could pass on some advice around this topic it would be to read “The girl who fell from the sky” by the incredible @Em_carey - this book has moved us deeply here at Dunnebells and we believe reading her words will do the same for you.

Now, to get into some other things around keeping fit after a traumatic injury or disability, let’s dive in.

If you enjoy keeping fit, then a sudden injury or disability can be difficult to deal with. Indeed, anyone who has suffered from a severe injury, especially one that will likely become a long-term problem, will have to make major adjustments to their lives. 

Your body and your mind are interconnected, which means that staying focused on your fitness goals is both more important and far more difficult than ever before. You have to change your expectations and work around your body, rather than making your body work around you. 

However, the good news is that you can still keep fit after a severe injury. Doing so can even help the healing process, as long as you do it right. 

Your Mental Health

Your mental health is one of the most important parts of your overall well-being. As mentioned before, injuries and disabilities are hard to deal with, in more ways than one. Not only do you have to deal with the pain of the injury and your new limitations, but some people struggle with their new reality.

For many people, fitness and physical health are such vital parts of their lives and identities that something that threatens these things can be catastrophic. Your self-esteem can take a major hit, especially if your injury is disfiguring as well as disabling. 

There’s also the fact that injuries tend to come along with traumatic events. Car accidents, assaults, and war are common causes of disabilities and injuries, and these events can also result in PTSD or other mental health disorders. It’s important to tackle these issues as well, such as by seeking specific PTSD treatment for veterans. 

As well as speaking to a mental health professional to keep yourself mentally healthy and deal with any emotional stresses related to your injury, keeping fit and active can be incredibly helpful for your mental health. However, you should do so carefully and correctly.

You need to be patient with your body and your new limitations. Trying to jump back into your normal exercise routine can be disheartening and can even injure you further. Find an exercise that’s right for you and build yourself up. It’s better to be a little gentler with yourself than you need to be at first, at least until you learn how to work with your body.

Once you’re able to build up an appropriate workout routine, you can fall in love with your body in different ways and surprise yourself with what it can do. Keeping fit helps you to feel better, so you can get that self-esteem back into shape. Do something that you enjoy and keep with it. You got this.

Physical Recovery

While keeping fit is a major part of maintaining and recovering your mental health, it’s even more important for your physical recovery. Depending on your injury, your medical practitioner may prescribe or recommend physical therapy.

Physical therapy is an exercise regime that’s specifically designed to bring back functionality to an injured or disabled body part. It builds up strength and stamina, and can eventually reduce pain and other issues. Unfortunately, physical therapy is rarely easy.

When you’re undergoing physical therapy, you’re deliberately exercising the weakest part of your body. This can be uncomfortable or even extremely painful, and sometimes it’s difficult to be confronted with the extent of your injury. However, it’s important to stick with your physical therapy, as it’s the best way to regain as much functionality as possible and recover.

As well as this focused exercise, you should also do what you can to keep the rest of your body fit and healthy. Gentle exercises and cardio will keep your heart health and cardiovascular system in top condition, which means that your body is primed for recovery.

Good general health is always important, even if you’re otherwise disabled, injured, or sick. If you are as healthy as possible, then your body can recover and you will feel as well as you can. Keep working at your body and you may find that you’re as fit as ever.

Socializing

Exercising is good for your body, your mind, and your social life. Many exercises can be a solitary activity, but you can also find some that let you spend time with people and make new friends. 

Disabilities and serious injuries can lead to loneliness, as you sometimes aren’t able to keep up with things in the same way you used to. Your friends and family may not readily understand when you’re in pain or when you’re struggling. However, exercising with people is a great way to rebuild relationships and rebuild your body. 

Learning Your Limits

One of the hardest parts of getting injured or becoming disabled is learning your new limits and boundaries. Pushing yourself too hard can lead to things getting worse, while not pushing yourself at all can have similarly poor consequences.

The key is finding balance. This can, unfortunately, take time to get used to. Keeping as fit as possible will strengthen your body and stretch your limitations, but you still won’t be able to do everything you used to. 

Ideally, you should be able to consult your doctor and discuss what you can and can’t do. If you find that you’re stretching yourself too thin, then listen to your body and take it easy, allowing yourself to recover. You only have one body, so it’s important to look after it.

One thing that you may discover is that, over time, you aren’t as limited as you once thought. As you learn your body and how to work around it, you will find that you’re able to do things you never thought you could. True, not everyone can join the Paralympics or climb Everest despite major disabilities, but that’s just as true when you aren’t injured. 

You can, however, still live a full and enjoyable life within your limitations, even if it takes time to get used to. This includes keeping physically fit and healthy.

As mentioned, we couldn’t recommend giving @Em_carey a follow on Instagram and reading her book “A girl who fell from the sky” - one of the lines that are still with us every single day is “If you can, you must”. You’ll know what this means if you give the book a read and you may very well never be the same after you uderstand it, in the best ways.