The Psychological Effects of an Injury
With every injury it is important to remember that the athlete will be affected mentally. Not all athletes will act identically to the same injury. Although research shows there are factors that are commonly seen among athletes going through adjustment to injury and rehabilitation. There are three reactive phases of the injury and rehab process. They are reaction to injury, reaction to rehabilitation, and reaction to return to competition or career termination. The reactions fall into four time frames: short term, long term, chronic, and termination.
In the scenario the athlete was diagnosed with a second degree ankle sprain. This would fall under the category of a long term injury. A long term injury is one where the rehabilitation time is longer than four weeks and may take up to a year. Some other examples of injuries in this category would be fractures, orthopedic and general surgeries, second and third degree sprain and strains, and debilitating injuries.
In the reaction to the injury itself, there is a primary reaction followed by a secondary reaction. With this ankle sprain, a common primary reaction is that of fear. This athlete can be afraid of many things ranging from them never getting better to never getting to play again to being afraid of the unknown. In order to conquer this fear the athletic trainer needs to help reassure the athlete about their injury. This can be done by presenting the truth about the injury and rehab process in a manner they can understand and gaining the athlete’s trust in the athletic trainer.
A common secondary reaction is anger. During this time the athlete may have an angry or hostile attitude and the person around the athlete at the time often takes the force of the anger. It is usually just a release for the athlete not a personal attack on the trainer.
This athlete will also have reactions to their rehabilitation. Loss of vigor and irrational thoughts are the primary reactions to long term rehab. The thing the trainer needs to be aware of at this point in time is that the loss of vigor can be masked as depression. The athlete experiencing loss of vigor will not have the same spirit as they usually do, but they will not have the common signs and symptoms of true depression. The athlete needs to understand that these feelings are normal as long as there are no signs of clinical depression.
Ankle sprains have three degrees of injury ranging from 1-3. The level of the ankle sprain is determined by the amount that the ligament is torn or stretched. A grade one sprain is categorized as a slight stretching and damage to the fibers of the ligament. A grade 2 sprain is characterized as partial tearing of the ligament and abnormal laxity of the ankle. A grade 3 sprain is characterized by complete tear of the ligament if it can be pushed or pulled in certain movements there is gross instability. The movements of the ankle are abduction, adduction, plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, and inversion, eversion. The ligaments of the ankle hold the ankle bones and joint into position. These ligaments protect the ankle joint from abnormal movements such as twisting, turning, and rolling of the foot.
This article is about the results of a survey conducted by three PhD’s; Janet Simon, Matthew Donahue, and Carrie Docherty, and was published by the International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training. The purpose of the survey was to determine Athletic Trainers current utilization of ankle support, and to determine ATs current attitudes towards the use of ankle taping and bracing. It gives some history and benefits of ankle bracing and taping, and how it has become a multimillion dollar industry, considering that 66-73% of all college athletes have reported an ankle sprain. Also, a third of people with ankle sprains will either re-sprain the ankle or report feelings of instability after the initial sprain. Ankle taping has become essential part of sports medicine,
6. Mike, Jonathan N., M.S., and Len Kravitz, Ph.D. (2009). "Recovery in Training: The Essential
Functional ankle instability is described as the tendency of the foot to ‘give way’.1 Functional instability (FI) is defined as the subjective feeling of ankle instability or recurrent, symptomatic ankle sprains (or both) due to proprioceptive and neuromuscular deficits.2 Individuals reporting giving way in the absence of a mechanical deficit are usually classified as having FAI.Incidents of the ankle “giving way”, is reported in 40% to 60% of individuals who suffer at least one ankle sprain. 3,12,16,19,26
Athletic staleness and burnout is a big problem for many of today’s athletes whether they are at the amateur or professional level. The good thing about this problem that ends up in total and complete physical and emotional exhaustion is that it can be recognized when it is taking place. It can also be treated if the recognition comes at too late of a stage of the onset of staleness and burnout. But the best remedy for athletic staleness and burnout is prevention of it in the first place. There are three different models that have been used to explain the causes of athlete burnout.
She immediately scheduled an appointment with an ankle specialist, who diagnosed me with hairline fractures throughout my ankle. At this moment, I thought that my career in sports was over as I would never come back from the months spent in a boot, unable to participate in any form of physical activity, and the months of therapy that followed, but I persevered and returned to playing condition before too long. Some people aren’t so fortunate. They sustain career ending injuries which often include soft tissue damage. The problem with injuries like these is not that they will never heal, as many of them will, but the time it takes for them to heal.
People have created a hectic and busy world, that includes careers and daily activities that require physical activity. While attempting to attain the required physical conditioning, people often take chances with their personal health as they try to stretch their physical limits. Sometimes, people can surpass their current limits and form new boundaries; however, other times people are not so fortunate. These unfortunate times often lead to injury, including workplace accidents, sporting incidents, disease afflictions, as well as others; any or all of which could bring about the need of rehabilitation services. Many of these require physical therapy, which includes assisting injured or otherwise impaired patients as they recover to their pre-injury status or to recover as much as is physically possible. The field of physical therapy is a choice career for those who enjoy helping people recover from injury, and the following text will provide reason for choosing this profession.
Due to the nature of sport, athletes will always be faced with the possibility of becoming injured. Empirical research has demonstrated that injury has a psychological impact on athletes (Quinn & Fallon, 1999). Indeed, sports practitioners often witness negative psychological impacts such as depression and in extreme cases suicidal tendencies in the injured athlete (Jevon & Johnston, 2003). Injuries have a dramatic impact upon an athlete’s life (Deutsch, 1985), Crossman (1997) interviewed athletic trainers and established that 47% of respondents believed that every injured athlete suffered psychological trauma. Walker, Thatcher and Lavallee (2007), explain there is a need to advance current knowledge of the way injured athletes psychologically respond, with deeper understanding it would be possible to aid rehabilitation professionals and help the athlete cope better psychologically. Psychological issues have an important role in the athletes ability to recover from injury (Arvinen-Barrow, Penny, Hemmings, & Corr, 2010), understanding how an athlete responds will have multiple practical implications. Ford and Gordon (1997) suggest that if an athlete experiences negative emotions then it will lead to non-complinace of the rehabilitation process. In order to understand athletes psychological responses to injury several frameworks have been suggested. These include the: integrated model of response to sports injury and rehabilitation (Wiese-Bjornstal, Smith, Shaffer, & Morrey, 1998), the Bio-Psychosocial model of sport injury rehabilitation (Brewer, Andersen, & Van Raalte, 2002), the staged-based grief response models (Kubler-Ross, 1969) and the stage model of the return to sport (Taylor & Taylor, 1997).
Researchers have studied how to treat an ankle sprain, but there are not as many that have looked at whether using tape or using a brace is more effective in preventing injury.1, 3 Those who focus on prevention take into account proprioception, patient satisfaction, cost-benefit, and kinematics.2, 3, 4, 5 Evaluating various evidence provided in research, athletic trainers can decide which intervention is best suited for their practice.
You are going to want to give up, you are gonna get impatient but it is vital that you listen to what you are told. The old saying, “Minor setback major comeback” is very relevant to the patients going through any kind of injury. You may be broken now, but if you heal correctly you could come back better than you were before. The most important outcome for me is that my patients have gotten the best care they could have received and they have recovered to the fullest extent and for my patients I would like them to know that their injury does not define them, it is what happens after that matters the most. The methods that I would want to use would be pushing my clients to always work hard for what they want to achieve; Granted, there are different injuries so each one will be handled in a different way. For example, if a client comes in with a torn ligament in their arm it is not going to be an easy process for them. My job just does not involve making sure my clients heal, but also motivating them not give up and to always see the brighter side of their injury. I will know that I have accomplished all of my patients’ goals when they are healthy and ready to be active again. Giving someone a second chance and watching them make the most out of it is rewarding enough. As long as I did my duties as an Athletic Trainer, I would feel accomplished
Creative new training methods, developed by coaches, athletes and sport scientists, are aimed to help improve the quality and quantity of athletic training ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). However, these methods have encountered a consistent set of barriers including overtraining ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). Due to these barriers, the need for physical and mental recovery in athletics brought an increasing attention in practice and in research ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1).
Also, this section will provide an overview of theories that have been used to clarify the relationship between anxiety and performance in athletes. In Edward’s and Hardy’s opinion, the main problem that research on the relationship between anxiety and performance has encountered is that researchers have not defined all the specific terminology that is required to understand this subject. The following operational definitions will be used for the terms anxiety and stress. “Stress is a state that results from the demands that are placed on the individual which require that person to engage in some coping behavior.” Arousal is going to be considered to be a signal to the athlete that he/ she has entered into a stressful situation and is characterized by physiological signs.
It is estimated that one million people visit a physician for ankle injuries. In sports, 10 to 30 percent of athletes suffer from ankle sprains. Ankle sprains will be further investigated through five topics. The five topics on ankle sprains will be a clear definition with causes, the different types, prevention, treatment, and ankle sprains in sports……………………..
Recovering from an injury can indeed be a difficult process and athletes must wait for however long in able to play the sport again. During that duration of time, the idea of waiting and not performing can sometimes cause an athlete to feel angry, to be in denial, and
Sports and performance anxiety often go hand-in-hand, while many athletes become "pumped up" during competition, when the rush of adrenaline is interpreted as anxiety, and negative thoughts begin to swirl, it can have devastating effects on the overall per...