Fighting the Injury Blues

[Gin-Gin]

Oss, Everyone! (salute)

As some of you may have noticed, I've been away from MT for a while. This was for a couple of reasons: First, I originally wanted a break to spend a little more time with friends/family & try to develop something of a social life outside of martial arts; Second, I got injured over the holidays & have been feeling depressed & a little anti-social.

I have a sprained left foot & ankle, and my right foot has a contusion (sp?) on it which, if I understood the doctor correctly, is a blood clot--a bruise on top an another bruise, or something like that. I have to keep both feet elevated, use ice packs & take ibuprofen until they heal, which will be in a few weeks (exactly how many the doctor couldn't say).

I miss training so much--in addition to it being my workout & stress reliever, I miss the school, my instructors, & my fellow classmates. It's frustrating, because I'd been getting ready to test for stripe when it happened, & I know that I'm gaining weight every day that I don't work out.

(I can do stomach crunches on my back with my feet in the air, so I guess that's better than nothing.) I'm watching a lot of TV, catching up on threads on MT & KT, & occasionally looking at my belt chart to review the pledges, sayings, & vocabulary terms.

Since injuries are something all of us in the martial arts have to deal with, how do you deal with them, especially keeping your motivation & fighting "the blues"? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Oss,
Gin-Gin

 

[Lisa]

Gin,

I apologise if I read it wrong, but does this also mean you are not working and can't walk as well. Are you able to still get around?

If so, what about going in and watching some classes to keep yourself in contact with the other students and instructors of your school. They would probably welcome seeing you and a person can raise their feet and ice them almost anywhere if need be. This would, at least, get you out of the house and back in the school and away from the TV. Most of all you won't be alone.

The depression that comes with any injury is hard to fight. What about doing some reading on your art or another art. Do you do written tests for your belts? You mention a stripe coming up, is there a way to prepare at home for this? Does something written need to be prepared?

How about looking at different ways to exercise with feet elevated. Perhaps using weights for your arms may be an idea. Make sure you continue to stretch all your muscles so as not to lose any flexibility while injured. I find stretching and controlled breathing a great way to relieve stress and some meditation helps me with the blues as well.

Most of all, I wish you a speedy recovery. Do what the doctor says and soon you will be back in class and able to get around easier. Don't push yourself, it will just delay your recovery in the long run. ((HUGS)) to you.

:asian: Lisa

 

[Michael Billings]

Gin,

Do you do written tests for your belts? You mention a stripe coming up, is there a way to prepare at home for this? Does something written need to be prepared?

Lisa

A lot of great ideas Lisa ... but this one I find particularly attractive, Bah-ha-ha-ha-ha <he chortles, with a malicious gleam in his eye>.

-Michael

 

[Eternal Beginner]

Hello Gin Gin. I feel your pain...literally. I myself am in the midst of recovery from an MCL sprain and haven't been able to train for a couple of weeks now, plus I am in a blasted brace that makes living in a two story house so much fun.

The first time I had a serious injury(three years ago) I dealt with the depression by keeping active. At that point I was only doing karate so I ran through kata in my head, read a lot of history and basically kept up with what the class was doing.

Now, I am super-afraid of losing my cardio (which is vital as there are many tournaments just around the corner) so I swim. As part of my physiotherapy I am also able to us a recumbant bike, now that I have most of my ROM back. I also am able to do all of my regular ab work and quite a few other things so I don't lose all of my conditioning.

It helps if you have a great coach as well. My BJJ coach has encouraged me to attend all classes to watch the techniques he is showing as well as sits with me during the free roll and points out what some of the guys are doing, their options and their mistakes. Has given me a whole new perspective. My karate sensei's still let me come to class and help new people out with their kata with a lower ranked belt to do the demo while I clean up their technique.

The most important thing is to keep a positive attitude. It sounds like your injuries, though painful, are not overly serious and you will be able to resume full activity in a relatively short space of time. Take this time to heal up your body, get your mental state back to fighting fit and be totally prepared to get back into training and enjoying it as much as you ever have.

Sometimes a break is actually a gift...even if at first it isn't welcome. You can't always see the forest for the trees and when you are forced to sit out a while you appreciate more what you want to accomplish and reasses your goals and priorities.

Good luck, heal well.

 

[TigerWoman]

Hi Lisa, it sounds like Mr. Billings has a plan for you... Keep studying. My husband has gone through so many sprains that you do have to keep those feet up until the swelling stops and then go easy. Yeah later, go in to class and maybe you can help in some way. When I couldn't even stand on my leg thats what I would do just to keep in touch. Sigh! Such an addiction we have! Just remember this is temporary!! TW

 

[Lisa]

Hi Lisa, it sounds like Mr. Billings has a plan for you... Keep studying. My husband has gone through so many sprains that you do have to keep those feet up until the swelling stops and then go easy. Yeah later, go in to class and maybe you can help in some way. When I couldn't even stand on my leg thats what I would do just to keep in touch. Sigh! Such an addiction we have! Just remember this is temporary!! TW

Gulp! :erg: I certainly hope not! LOL!

Me thinks you may have misunderstood... I do believe he was referring to Gin-Gin

 

[Gin-Gin]

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for your nice post - lots of good ideas.

Walking was difficult, especially for the first week or so; used a cane until a few days ago (thankfully the swelling in my right foot has gone down enough for me to wear flat shoes, so I'm not using it anymore). Since I live alone, I have to be on my feet sometimes anyway (doing laundry, dishes, etc) but I try to stay off them as much as possible. Work is a desk job (mostly data entry), so I turn over the wastebasket & prop my feet up on it; we have an ice machine on every floor, so I take 2 small ziploc bags & fill them with ice & put one on each foot. Although I do have a lot of vacation & sick time that I could use, the thought of being cooped up in my one- bedroom apartment for a number of weeks would drive me crazy, so I prefer to go to work; at least there I feel like I'm accomplishing something, & it gets me out of the house. Also went to a friend's place last night for dinner & watched a DVD, which was a nice change of scenery.

Yes, there are many books on Kenpo--I've read almost all of them, but it's always a good idea to go back & review stuff. Someone also suggested a stretch I could do with my feet in the air, so I'll try that. We have a couple of sets (finger & striking) that I can practice sitting down, am doing those as well. No written tests - mainly executing the techniques & forms that my instructor tells me, & answering questions. Was going to stop by the school this week to pay my dues--might stay to watch class. Good idea about the stretching, I'll do as many of the streches that we do in class (without aggravating the injuries) as I can.

Fuzzy also suggested breathing exercises - am doing that to help me sleep, & it seems to be working. I don't have any formal training in meditation, but will search online to see what I can find.

Thanks for the well wishes & support,
Gin-Gin

 

[Gin-Gin]

A lot of great ideas Lisa ... but this one I find particularly attractive, Bah-ha-ha-ha-ha <he chortles, with a malicious gleam in his eye>.

-Michael

Uh-ohh... :uhohh: Ok, nobody give him any more ideas about tests! :rofl:

Thanks for the support; it may be the best medicine of all.

 

[Lisa]

Gin,

I don't have any formal meditation training either. To get some help, I started a thread on it a while back. There are some good tips for beginners and some references to some books that perhaps you could buy for yourself now that you may have some extra time to read

Lisa

p.s. sorry about giving Mr. Billings the ideas, lol

 

[Kacey]

I understand completely, and commiserate - I injured my right knee at my last testing (for IV Dan), and, of course, had to finish the testing (luckily, there wasn't TOO much left)... but as my instructor kept telling me, I had 5 years to heal! His wife, who is a nurse practitioner, told me she'd heard the pop from 30 feet away, and thought I might have torn something.

I tested on a Saturday, and it wasn't bad enough (I thought) to go to the emergency room (insurance is great, but not that great - regular office visit is $25, but ER is $150) so I had to wait until they opened on Monday; by then, I couldn't convince the nurse it was an emergency, so I didn't get in until Tuesday afternoon. My doctor diagnosed something I couldn't remember in medical terms, but wanted me to see a specialist in case she was wrong; in the meantime, she told me to stop icing it and start heat (once it's already swollen, heat helps the excess blood and fluid in the swelling to dissipate - but if your doctor told you something else, please ignore this), and do whatever the specialist said.

The specialist asked if it always made that popping noise when I bent it - always an encouraging question! - and then said the x-rays were inconclusive and he wanted me to get an MRI; he thought it was torn cartilage, and I should keep it as immobile as possible; on his advice, I bought a brace. So off I went to make an appointment for an MRI (in the meantime, I work in a 2-story building, and don't have an elevator key - the upstairs of the school wasn't seeing me much). The MRI, of course, took over a week to set up, and then I had to get another appointment with the specialist... by the time he saw me again, it had been 3 weeks since the original injury. He looked over the MRI, said I had mild arthritis (big shock after 18 years of TKD) and then used the same medical terms to describe my injury my regular docto had used... which, it turned out, meant "sprained knee", and that I could go to physical therapy if I wanted, or try to rehab it on my own through specific exercises... I chose the exercises. It turns out the exercises were the same stretches I'd been avoiding on the specialist's advice to keep it immobile... so after nearly 3 weeks not only was it still sprained, it was stiff, too!

It seems to have healed (mostly), but the knee brace I use when it starts to ache again (usually from overuse) may be with me forever.

While I was having problems walking (never mind anything else), I did a lot of stretching (once I knew I could) and started working on range of motion when I could. For the winter, I keep my bicycle on a stand in the basement; I started using it, on a very low gear (lower resistance) and worked my way back up through the gearing. I also spent a fair amount of time going through my reference texts and taking notes in my requirements book of things I wanted to work on when I got that far again... and my students got really good at leading their own warmups; it's hard to lead stretching when you can't put any weight on one leg while it's bent!

Good luck with your recovery; take it slow and make sure you don't restress it before it's fully healed, or it will get injured again, and take even longer.

 

[Gin-Gin]

Gin,

I don't have any formal meditation training either. To get some help, I started a thread on it a while back. There are some good tips for beginners and some references to some books that perhaps you could buy for yourself now that you may have some extra time to read

Lisa
p.s. sorry about giving Mr. Billings the ideas, lol

Great--I'll take a look. Don't worry about giving Mr. B the ideas--I'll live.

Thanks for the support everyone; Kacey & Eternal Beginner, I hope both of your injuries heal soon - nice to have someone to commiserate with.

 

[MJS]

Oss, Everyone! (salute)

As some of you may have noticed, I've been away from MT for a while. This was for a couple of reasons: First, I originally wanted a break to spend a little more time with friends/family & try to develop something of a social life outside of martial arts; Second, I got injured over the holidays & have been feeling depressed & a little anti-social.

I have a sprained left foot & ankle, and my right foot has a contusion (sp?) on it which, if I understood the doctor correctly, is a blood clot--a bruise on top an another bruise, or something like that. I have to keep both feet elevated, use ice packs & take ibuprofen until they heal, which will be in a few weeks (exactly how many the doctor couldn't say).

I miss training so much--in addition to it being my workout & stress reliever, I miss the school, my instructors, & my fellow classmates. It's frustrating, because I'd been getting ready to test for stripe when it happened, & I know that I'm gaining weight every day that I don't work out.

(I can do stomach crunches on my back with my feet in the air, so I guess that's better than nothing.) I'm watching a lot of TV, catching up on threads on MT & KT, & occasionally looking at my belt chart to review the pledges, sayings, & vocabulary terms.

Since injuries are something all of us in the martial arts have to deal with, how do you deal with them, especially keeping your motivation & fighting "the blues"? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Oss,
Gin-Gin

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Rest up and you'll be back on the mats before you know it!

Mike

 

[kenpo0324]

Wishing you a speedy recovery!:asian:
Rest up and you'll be back on the mats before you know it!

 

[Jonathan Randall]

I hope you heal quickly!

Are there any DVD's of AK techniques you could view? Would your instructor allow you to videotape him running through basic techniques? You may catch nuances in basic techniques that you missed in training. Also, how about starting a reading list? Have your read "Strong on Defense", "The Gift of Fear", "Zen in the Martial Arts", etc? If not, now might be a good time to do so.

As others have mentioned - sometimes breaks (providing there is no long term injury) can often be blessings in disguise. Often we restart at a much higher level than we left and find that we have a new and greater perspective that pulled us out of a rut that we did not know we were in.

Get better soon!

 

[Gin-Gin]

Thanks for the suggestions & support, everyone. They do help--more than I can say.

Jonathan, there aren't any DVDs of my instructor that I know of, but I'm going to stop by class & watch; I'm sure I'll notice something that I didn't see before. Haven't read the Gift of Fear or the others, but I'll look for them.

Update: The foot with the contusion is itching, which I hope means it's healing. The left one is hurting a little less; I can now walk on them for a few minutes before they get sore & I have to prop them up--so they're getting better!

 

[Shirt Ripper]

Only read the initial post and your (Gin-Gin) last one.

Replace you bodies training time (though still find something you can do) with your mind's training time. If you will be having a testing period shortly after your recovery this a great time to take care of non-physical aspects of it.
...or to read/study on other topics if you'd like. I am a big proponent of strength sports/fitness/athletics and I find that when I am reading a lot consistently the rest of my training is more focused and effective. The mind and body work best together. This will also help you keep your sanity during the "down time."

As I've said before, hot chocolate helps everything.

 

[Gin-Gin]

Replace you bodies training time (though still find something you can do) with your mind's training time. If you will be having a testing period shortly after your recovery this a great time to take care of non-physical aspects of it....The mind and body work best together. This will also help you keep your sanity during the "down time." As I've said before, hot chocolate helps everything.

Thanks, ShirtRipper. And yes, you're also right about hot chocolate.

Went by the dojo last night to pay my membership dues (gotta keep the doors open) & watched class. It felt good just to be there & watch for awhile...

 

[shesulsa]

Gin, you've already gotten great advice. When I was in my final two months of pregnancy with my youngest and when I hurt my back (twice), I would go to watch training every time I could. It's still hard to not get onto the floor, but you can shift your brain into mental training mode and use your imagination productively. If you visualize doing everything perfectly, you will automatically improve yourself even when you're not moving around a lot. You can move your arms and hands, so you might run through your forms and techniques from the waist up only (good training for sit-down techniques later on), do some research, catch up on reading (can we ever do that?), etcetera. Don't think of yourself as not training - think of yourself as training differently for now.

We're here for ya, babe.

 

[Gin-Gin]

Gin, you've already gotten great advice. When I was in my final two months of pregnancy with my youngest and when I hurt my back (twice), I would go to watch training every time I could. It's still hard to not get onto the floor, but you can shift your brain into mental training mode and use your imagination productively. If you visualize doing everything perfectly, you will automatically improve yourself even when you're not moving around a lot. You can move your arms and hands, so you might run through your forms and techniques from the waist up only (good training for sit-down techniques later on), do some research, catch up on reading (can we ever do that?), etcetera. Don't think of yourself as not training - think of yourself as training differently for now. We're here for ya, babe.

Thanks, SheSulsa! *walks over & hugs SS*

Seriously, I can't thank all of you enough--because I live alone, it's easy to feel sorry for myself & slip into "the blues." The few close friends I have are busy with work & their own lives & most of my family lives out of town &/or has health problems & are in worse shape than me. I know this is a temporary thing, but it's places like this that not only have interesting threads to discuss, but a place for a friendly voice to say, "Yeah, I've been there" when you need one.

:asian:

 

[Eternal Beginner]

Thanks, SheSulsa! *walks over & hugs SS*

Seriously, I can't thank all of you enough--because I live alone, it's easy to feel sorry for myself & slip into "the blues." The few close friends I have are busy with work & their own lives & most of my family lives out of town &/or has health problems & are in worse shape than me. I know this is a temporary thing, but it's places like this that not only have interesting threads to discuss, but a place for a friendly voice to say, "Yeah, I've been there" when you need one.

:asian:

I think a place like MT is a good place to talk about these things because even if your family/friends are sympathetic to your injury they don't appreciate the loss you feel not being able to practice martial arts, even if for just a short while.

I hope you are healing well, taking some of the great advice and also maybe spoiling yourself with some of the free time that has been found since you can't always make it to training. You know, watching a favorite movie, giving yourself a nice facial...generally indulging in things you sometimes put off. I know I have been baking a lot more than usual and doing a lot of internet searches planning our trip to Brazil. Sometimes good things can come out of bad stuff!