Exercise injury, how to deal?

Linzon

At my Ultimate Frisbee game last night I came down on my leg wrong and injured my knee badly. Nothing's broken or floating around where it shouldn't be but I'll be on crutches for the next couple of weeks and on very reduced activity after that.

I'm a fairly active person who's been fortunate to avoid any serious injury before this point and I am not happy to be stuck in bed and hobbling around. I also have two small children with all of the activity that goes on with them (I think I'd enjoy the 'being in bed' thing more if my husband wasn't having to take time off of work to look after them, I feel so bad about that). Having watched my sister go through knee surgery after neglecting a similar injury I have no plans to push myself but looking at an unknown number of weeks and months of reduced activity is making me very unhappy. I miss Ultimate already!

So, how do you deal when you get injured and have to be out of commission for a while? I'm planning on eating at maintenance for the next while and taking it as easy as I can but argh!

juggernaut1974

Linzon wrote: »

So, how do you deal when you get injured and have to be out of commission for a while? I'm planning on eating at maintenance for the next while and taking it as easy as I can but argh!

^ That.

Yi5hedr3

Take up Chess.

Francl27

Yeah... take it easy and eat less (obviously remember that with less activity your maintenance is going to be lower too). Totally sucks though.

DrifterBear

ya it sucks! Physiologically, you have to just eat less, but it's the psychological loss that hurts the most. Good luck!

Mouse_Potato

I just spent 16 weeks in a cast after breaking my wrist. I had to give up all of my regular physical activities. Yep, it sucks. In my case, I was still able to do cardio (probably not an easy option for you) and I also decided to focus on flexibility. And I read a lot. Now I am in a brace, but my ROM for that hand is still very limited and all my strength is gone. I think I'm going to learn to paint.

Good luck!

muccica07

Make sure you are on top of your nutrition and slowly ease back into it when you are cleared too. Its certainly not fun, but its a lot less fun to make the injury worse and be out for longer

azulvioleta6

You just have to do the best that you can and get to the other side.

Are you working with a physical therapist? If that is an option for you, take advantage of it. A PT could help you with recovery as well as with modified exercises that will work with your injury.

Could you swim, using your arms only? Does your gym have one of those upper-body bike machines (the name escapes me)? Could a rowing machine work with some adaptation?

AskTracyAnnK28

I had knee surgery in August and was on crutches and out of commission for 7 weeks. I tried to eat at maintenance but it was difficult to prepare dinner on non-weight baring crutches and had to rely on other people to cook and grocery shop for me. Needless to say, after losing 65 pounds I gained almost 20 back

Linzon

Thanks everyone! I did make sure to lower my activity to 'sedentary' as well as setting it to maintenance, which is about 200 calories less than I normally eat when active and losing weight, blegh.

Sadly I don't have a gym membership but I have an appointment with my doctor and am going to make sure to get in with a physical therapist so I can get fixed up right. I've been meaning to get one though, so in a few weeks maybe it'll finally be time...

Also note to self: stop watching cooking shows while on reduced calories.

goldthistime

I had a back injury that caused me to be completely inactive for about five months. The worst of the problem was missing the mood enhancing benefits of exercise. It's kind of a bizarre suggestion but I just got a "HappyLight" that feels like it's helping my mood during the dark days of winter.

I have also had less limiting injuries where I just did what I could: strength train the parts of my body that could handle it (you could have a killer upper body after this!), row, cycle and swim.

shadowfax_c11

It took me about n9 months to recover fully from a torn meniscus. No Surgery needed. i was off the mat (no aikido) for about 6 weeks and then very limited exercise for a few more months. You just have to be patient and use good judgement. The time passes faster than you think it will.

CoffeeNCardio

I HATED that I couldn't run when my ankle was messed up, and as a result I went through this very stupid on again off again habit where I'd try to use it too soon and end up messing it up again and waiting. It's frustrating, I'm with you there, but try to think about how much exercise you'll miss out on if you do what I did versus the very small amount you'll lose while it's healing properly. It's a clear choice, it just sucks to have to make it.

Linzon

Well, I had my first knee surgery on Friday (torn meniscus) and have another one coming up in a month (ACL reconstruction). Surgeon says no sports for a year and I am totally devastated. I'm also definitely feeling the mood-related effects of no exercise as I used to get in a good hour or so a day on the treadmill. Ugh.

huckleberryrpalmer

I have an apparently permanent knee injury - can't get away with running last two years. I try to walk instead, but I've gained @ 25 pounds. Haven't really had a support group, though - I think that will help.