After timmy's session on imagery and visualization I remembered an article I had read about using visualization to increase the rate of recovery from injury. This isn't just meant for the gimps either, I'm sure there isn't a single dingo out there without a niggle of some kind that won't benefit from this kind of thing. Following are some excerpts from a couple articles and some points on the process I'm using to visualize my recovery.
First, this from the Journal of Sports Science, Driediger et al, 2006 Mar;24(3):261-71.
It was concluded that the implementation of imagery alongside physical rehabilitation should enhance the rehabilitation experience and, therefore, facilitate the recovery rates of injured athletes. Moreover, it was recommended that those responsible for the treatment of injured athletes (e.g. medical doctors, physiotherapists) should understand the benefits of imagery in athletic injury rehabilitation, since it is these practitioners who are in the best position to encourage injured athletes to use imagery
The key points to be taken from the articles were neatly summarized by Elizabeth Quinn, excercise physiologist:
Those who healed faster had the following characteristics:
- Took personal responsibility for their recovery process
- Had high motivation, desire and determination
- Had more social support
- Maintained a positive attitude
- Frequently used imagery and other visualization techniques
- Expected a full and successful return to sports
Research on imagery use by injured athletes, cancer patients, and those undergoing physical rehabilitation has shown that using imagery has many positive outcomes including:
- Increased feelings of control
- Increased rate of healing
- Increased ability to cope with therapy
- Increased motivation to participate in self-care
- Improved mood
- Improved quality of life
- Decreased post-operative pain
- Decreased post-operative anxiety
- Reduced length of time in the hospital
- Decreased amount of pain medication taken
Imagery for Healing
Just as people use imagery for reducing pain, individuals have reported that similar techniques work for promoting healing and recovery. Examples of healing imagery include imaging a broken bone being glued back together or torn muscles woven back together. Some people use warm, healing colors to promote a feeling of warmth over a body part. Even silly images of strength and power found in comic books have been used successfully to aid healing.
HOW TO IMPLEMENT
There's a lot of info on how to implement these self healing strategies, but I think the best is to adapt what we already have. Cuni talked us through a great visualization session, we each just need to tweak it to suit our individual injuries. In addition to visualizing our on-field exploits, we need to focus our attention on the injured areas. While visualizing the movements you're going to make on the field, focus on how the joint feels under the strain. Feel the pull of the joint against the your muscles, and how strong the joint/bone/muscle feels. For me, that's turning and cutting off my left leg, feeling my quads grip my knee as a i'm accelerating out of the turn. I continue all the way through the cut, sometimes i get the 'bee, sometimes I don't, but it's always a sharp, strong cut.
Flash in and out of a number of scenarios as we did with tim, each time zooming from the field and your actions on it to the part of your body that is causing the pain/injury.
After a few of those scenarios focus on your heart rate and the way that there is a flow of blood all around the injury, adding nutrients and healing it. Visualize the healing. Basically create an image of how your body is healing itself. Watch the blood flow around the joint/muscle, feel the thuymp of the pulse, smell the blood, watch the strain on the joint during movement and the healing process. as it takes place before your eyes.
It's important to create a scene in each flash, pay attention to all your senses to create a more realistic scene. When we were in Vancouver we smelled the maple, felt the grass and heard the crowd. The more thorough and realistic an image you create, the easier it will be to hold in your mind.
That's it, there's plenty of stuff online about self healing, and it is a little wishy washy, but there are a lot of positive aspects to this exercise even if you don't believe it's healing your injury. It doesn't take long, and like Timmy said on the weekend, the least you and your injury get out of it is some stress free down-time, which is helpful in itself.
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