Self-Care Suggestions After A Personal Injury

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Recovering from an injury can be difficult. Regaining one’s health can take a long time, causing several physical and mental challenges for many people. While some people can fully recover from injuries in a matter of weeks or months, others are left with long-term concerns, including mobility difficulty, attention issues, or chronic pain that may change a lot about their daily activities. Even those who fully recover their physical health after an accident are frequently left with severe emotional and mental scars such as anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. 

The rehabilitation process differs for everyone, but people can use a few basic methods to heal and cope with their trauma, such as self-care practices. Here are some self-care ideas you can implement in your routine to help you overcome and deal with the effects of personal injury.

Financial recuperation 

Physical recovery is critical, but so is a financial recovery. While dealing with or overcoming your personal injury, you would incur various expenses such as surgeries, counselling, in-home care, and other health-related expenses. Some of the injuries incurred may prevent you from working and cause you to lose your source of income. All this can have a strain on your wellbeing. Therefore, looking for financial recovery is an effective form of self-care. 

You can do so by looking at alternative ways of making money. Online options such as creating a blog or vlog documenting your recovery journey or taking advantage of remote working opportunities is a great way to make some money. If the injuries you endured are due to the negligence of your workplace, it is vital that you also seek the necessary compensation. Although this may be challenging, you would be able to gain some financial freedom and much-needed peace of mind. You can hire professional legal services providers to take you through the necessary legal processes to make your claim, offer sound advice, and handle any legal issues along the way.

Consult a physician 

Another self-care practice you should consider after your injury is to seek medical attention regularly. Although this may seem obvious, many people leave incidents with injuries they don’t know about, such as herniated discs, traumatic brain injuries, or ligament damage in their knees or shoulders which would only be detected after a medical examination. Some people are also reluctant to see a health professional because they are sceptical or do not want to incur health bills. At the same time, others do not go to their scheduled follow up appointments. All these practices do more harm than good. Take care of yourself by getting the medical attention you need.

Make sure you get enough sleep

Most people need seven to eight hours of sleep per night to stay healthy. If you’ve had a severe illness or injury, your body may require more rest than usual. The effective functioning of numerous essential healing processes necessitates sleep. Sleep deprivation makes it difficult for muscles to repair after an injury. When it comes to recovery, getting enough rest is crucial, but injuries can make sleeping difficult. As a result of their injuries, many patients have difficulty sleeping. Others cannot sleep because they are concerned about their health or fearful of the traumatic event that caused their injuries. To remedy these issues, it’s sometimes as simple as drinking less coffee or sticking to a regular sleep pattern. Some folks, on the other hand, require medication to get enough sleep. Check with your doctor before taking any sleep aids, especially over-the-counter medications, to see if they interfere with your recovery.

Healthy dieting 

Keeping your body healthy with the right nutrients you require for overall health while recovering is critical. This means that while you are recovering, you should be more careful of what you consume. Besides watching what you eat, you should also consider developing healthy eating habits and meal plans. 

Remember that these suggestions are only a starting point; you should get specific guidance from your doctor on optimising your diet. People suffering from injuries should eat adequate protein, Vitamin C, Zinc, Vitamin D, and Calcium and eat general health. It’s also crucial for persons using painkillers to eat a lot of fibre-rich meals. This may assist in alleviating constipation that these medications are known to produce. Finally, keep in mind that a lot of individuals say that some foods have healing properties. Make sure you only listen to medical advice and are familiar with the food-based health claims assessment process.

Having A Carer At 27 Years Old

Having a carer isn’t something I expected to happen at 27 years old. I suffer from Chronic back pain, Sciatica, Depression, Anxiety & apparently (yet to be diagnosed) PTSD.  Due to my ESA being refused after 2 years receiving it, we have had to look at other options. I simply can’t cope with a tribunal, talking to strangers, going through my weaknesses yet again. It is honestly soul destroying, my mental health isn’t at a point where I can fight a battle like that.

For the first time in almost 8/9 years I felt suicidal again. I genuinely felt my family would be better off without me. I  thought about facing a tribunal but because I know it will be a struggle to attend, explain myself & I didn’t want to put the whole family through several more months of stress. Instead we have had to look at other ways to get by & as part of that, the Mr is now officially my Carer.

Having a Carer
Photo by lalesh aldarwish from Pexels

My Carer

Anyone that knows me well will know the Mr has been caring for me fully for the past 3-4 years. We never made that official on paper but it has been the case since Izzy was around a year old. I began to struggle to lift her, the pain would cause me to lose my vision. Things got worse & I know me fighting it & trying to appear healthy did more damage. It took a long time for me to accept I couldn’t manage a lot of daily tasks.

The Mr has done so much for us over the years, kept me going during my lowest points, making sure I take my medications, book & attend appointments, reminding me I have to eat at least twice a day, helping me up, chores I can’t manage, shopping, school runs & so much more that it makes sense for him to finally be my Carer on paper. I often joke about being useless without the Mr & it’s completely true, we’ve had our ups & downs but as my health has declined he has gone above & beyond to help me any way he can.

A Shock & Relief

Receiving the award letter was both a relief and a slight ‘oh’ moment though. As I said to the Mr, ‘This means you’re officially the adultier adult!’. I panicked slightly then, realising I had fully admitted I need help & a carer for at least 35 hours a week. It’s one thing having that help, it’s another seeing it written down on paper.

Once I calmed down it made me realise a few things. Whilst the DWP left me feeling useless & worthless, I do genuinely need the help and whilst ESA may be a nightmare to have awarded due to the shocking state of the system, we are entitled to something! It’s been a rough 2 months with barely any money coming in so it was a relief for the Mr to be awarded & paid carers allowance. I realised I am not admitting defeat like I first thought. Instead, I’m accepting help to enable me to get through day to day life smoothly.

Daily Life

Since my ESA was refused daily life has been a bit upside down. I’ve really struggled to do anything I enjoy, including blogging; feeling guilty for letting the family down. Now we have another solution I don’t feel so bad. I know we are on a low income because of me, my mental & physical health but knowing the Mr’s help is now at least recognised I feel a little less like it’s all on my shoulders. Knowing we have some kind of income other than my PIP is a huge relief. Even though I make it difficult because neither of us can work, I feel a little better. It’s tough being ill, it’s even tougher asking for & accepting help but I think in a way I will find it a little easier to ask for help now & not just from the Mr.

 

 

DIY Daddy