If you’ve ever found yourself injured and struggled to recover, you are not alone. You see your doctor, follow through with your Physiotherapist but progress is slow.

How we think, what we hear, what we see and what we believe all play a huge role in our injury recovery.

Why “doing your exercises” may not be the key to full success with physiotherapy.

Learn here about what it really takes to recover from an injury and be successful in rehab. It’s more than being consistent with your exercises.

1) Acceptance

You are injured. There is no sense in ruminating over how you got yourself into this situation in the first place. Thoughts like “I should have been more careful, I shouldn’t have been rushing..” won’t undo the injury. Reflection can help prevent repeating the same injury twice, just don’t dwell on it.

2) Healing takes time

There are 3 stages of tissue repair, each one lasting as long as it lasts. Unless you have an “in” with the perfect inner workings of your body, there is not much you can do to speed it up.

Receiving treatment (any type of bodywork, such as Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, or Massage Therapy) can assist in recovery but ultimately it’s still going to take time. Treatment will also help manage the pain and make you more comfortable.

3) Mindset

Other than access to care, the biggest determinant of your health is mindset.

Could this feel like the worst thing to have happened at this time?
Maybe.

But,, what if this is the thing that changes your life, in a good way?

4) Listen selectively

Try to avoid internalizing what other well intentioned people might say to you about your injury.

“After my knee injur, I never skied again” or “I had to have surgery”.

Don’t allow others narrative be your own story. Your recovery is your recovery. Put on your earmuffs and shut out the noise.

5) Expectations

Drop the scary story about how this is going to play out.

Understand that everyone’s ability and speed of recovery will vary. There are many different elements to recovery. The type of injury (not all knee injuries are the same), the persons activity level, diet, level of stress, etc. Each of these will impact how well they recover and at which rate.

Heard of the 90/10 thing? Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you deal with it. Create a story around that 90%.

6) Picture the finish line and trust in yourself

It’s hard to turn negative experiences around. It is a skill we learn by watching other people succeed, and by surrounding ourselves with positive role models.

Reflect on all the other difficult experiences in your like and remind yourself that you succeeded then too.

When you succeed, you build resilience and are a better person for it.

7) Do your exercises!

And last but not absolutely not least, don’t forget to do your physiotherapy exercises. They are still important too.

Claire McGlynn has been a Physiotherapist for 19 years. Her clinical experience includes providing physiotherapy assessment and treatment for injury recovery, spinal disorders, concussion, headaches, migraines, vestibular dysfunction, and much more. She uses a variety of treatment modalities including manual rehab, medical acupuncture, dry needling, and exercise prescription.