As we all know injuries are part of every sport. Some sports injuries happen more than others. My thinking today is how do you personally deal with injuries?
I've heard it time and time again people saying "I'm going crazy... I need to get back on the mats asap" I know for myself, I get the the itch to get back to training as soon as I can, but I don't want to do something that will make my injury worse and prolong my returns to mats.
As I type this I am nursing a pretty bad rib injury. I have broken a rib before which has some similar pains that I am feeling now but one major difference is this injury it doesn't hurt to breathe like a broken rib does. I suffered this injury on Thursday of last week, and by tuesday I tried to get back on the mats and do what I could. There are some things that I can do, and of course there are some things that I cannot, so Tuesday was a day I used to test my limitations. Pain is something I can handle, but taking away something that you love to do I'm with most of you I can't handle.
The question I pose to you, is what do you guys do to help you through your recovery time and keep you from doing something dumb? Do you help your friends or team mates get through their injuries or show concerns for their health and well being? If you are like me and are around BJJ and MMA all the time how do you keep yourself off the mat when you know its best for you? I'm not looking for any help personally, but I want to know your experiences of how you handled things. I want to know how you overcame your injuries, whether you did it by yourself or with the help of team mates? Lastly I want to know, if it was hard for you to stay off the mat, did you still go to the Acadmey to be around your friends or team mates, or did you stay as far away as you could?
Welllllll now that you ask Babalu -
ReplyDeleteAs you, and several other people in our gym know, I had surgury to repair the labrum in my shoulder the day after Valentines day (Feb 15th for you unmarried guys). I think the amount of angst you suffer while recovering from an injury is directly proportional to what your activity means to you. I am at a place in my life where BJJ means a TON to me, so missing it is killing me. I have gone to the gym to hang out once or twice, but that almost makes it harder. Like a fat kid that visits the candy store when he's on a diet. I rely heavily on my friends, and also with my profesor (the bestest BJJ professor in the whole wide world)Draculino to keep me honest with my recovery. To a man, every person I piss and whine to has told me to take my time coming back and not to rush it. I find myself consumed in reading, watching youtube and tv and anything else that is BJJ related, just to keep the feeling like i am involved. It's very hard, but I know that if I take my time, then I will be able to roll well into the future without the pain I had before. It doesn't make it much easier, but if I was younger and more impatient, I would be back on the mats and would have FUBARed my shoulder again already. I know me - I've seen me do it!