I'm going to try something. I'm going to train my brain to think happier healing thoughts! These last few months my biggest daily worry is about not getting better, as in I'm going to be in pain for several years or longer. It's pretty clear not many folks are still in this much pain 9 months out or longer. The doctors say that I picked the most painful graft and anterior knee pain is a common complaint as if my pain was to be expected. Yes, but life hindering pain? Can I really use my mind to think anterior knee pain away (or not make it worse)? In general, I think I'm a pretty positive person who doesn't take things for granted and feels pretty dang lucky and appreciative of the life I have. During this journey, I've been tested. REEALLLY tested. I have never experienced such lows. Everyday, I worry what is my future going to be like. I heard a podcast on Neuroplasticity from The ACL Club on how you can rewire your brain because it has the capability to create new pathways. For this post, I'm thinking of it in the positive attitude/mindset sense (there is neuroplasticity in the physical and neurological sense). Basically I want to cut down on these negative thoughts that occupy my head space because it and the pain are affecting my life. Some research suggests that you can think yourself healed, as if you have the power in your mind to heal yourself, which I'm researching further out of curiosity (if that worked then everyone could beat cancer and we know that is not true). Link to podcast below: https://soundcloud.com/showyourscars/031-the-power-of-neuroplasticity It was the first time I heard the term, so I looked into it for attitude adjustments reasons and overall positive thinking. Any ACL recovery is a very long tough journey, but you can ether make the most of it and enjoy the process as best you can, or you can be miserable and feel sorry for yourself. I was really enjoying the process in the beginning actually. Whether or not it affects your actual recovery outcome or recovery duration, you can be a much more enjoyable person to be around by enjoying the process more. I don't want to be consumed with doom and gloom thoughts. It's exahusting. I want to have a better outlook, to be a better person. Let's be honest, there can very well be much more difficult things to face in life and this ACL recovery is just one way to really test your strength to get through it all. Here are a few things based on some articles I've read:
I will probably add to this as I get more ideas, but it's a good start for now.
I was on day 7 of doing the new exercises until I pushed it a little too hard yesterday (wore my Ace bandage wrap to help me squat deeper). I'm pretty sore in the tendon today so I will only do light indoor biking, stretching, and try a short walk later just to enjoy the sunshine and nice temperature outside.
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AuthorA 45 year old active female who tore her ACL in January 2017 (at the age of 40). Reconstructive surgery in February 2017 with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Archives
November 2022
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