I haven't seen it discussed much, but I agree with this Sporting News article that psychological barriers can be one of the biggest hurdles in recovering after ACL reconstruction. In the article, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who has recovered from ACL surgery, gives this advice to Tom Brady, the New England quarterback who missed last season with an ACL tear:
"I would just tell him to be prepared for the mental obstacles when he gets back on the practice field -- and the game field," Palmer said. "You have to get over being uneasy about people being down around your feet and get over feeling like you need to step out of the way to protect yourself."
I haven't been anywhere near a soccer field since tearing my ACL, so I can't really say if the mental ghosts will haunt me if I do resume playing (I suspect they won't since I've wrecked on my bike several times and this somehow has not deterred my brain from throwing my body back in the saddle). But mental blocks can impede recovery in other ways.
You get used to limping in the first few weeks after surgery, so it becomes difficult to change and get back to your normal way of walking. You don't trust your knee, so you resist putting full weight on it even when they say it's ok to do so. Your knee heals at such a slow snail's pace that you begin to wonder if it will ever heal at all. After getting steadily better, your knee suddenly feels worse and you wonder if you'll ever be able to resume normal levels of activity without the damn thing becoming inflamed. And perhaps most of all, if you were an athlete before the surgery, it's difficult to be a couch-ridden gimp because you really want to get back to your sport.
The whole recovery process is fraught with mental trials. The best advice I know of is just to take it one day at a time. If it feels great, then plow through the rehab exercises. If it feels crappy, stay off of it. I have no advice for the problems Tom Brady might face, but he seems to be doing pretty well without my input.
No comments:
Post a Comment