Introduction
Description of the injury
John twenty-two years old rugby player got injured while in his first year in college. He landed himself badly on his shoulder thus causing the joint in the shoulder to separate. The injury separated his Acromio Clavicle (AC) joint from the shoulder.
Description of the circumstances of the injury
The injury occurred when an opponent crashed into John making him fall to the ground as a normal routine to the players, but unfortunately, he landed badly on the spot causing his shoulder joint to separate. The injured person sometimes feels pain and therefore was advised to check on the physiotherapist when the pain occurs, he is supposed to be careful not to strain or carry any heavy loads that may lead to pain. The patient stretches to relieve himself from pain or sometimes gets the ultrasound treatment done on him and uses a heating pad to relax the muscles and thus this helps him to overcome pain.
The physical, cognitive, and emotional responses of the injured person
John who is a rugby fan and player responded to his injury with anger and frustrations, he was disturbed and annoyed, this is seen when he points out that at times he gets upset and angry with himself for having to experience such injury. Physically, he responded to the injury with pain and disappointment as he is not in a position to play as a professional rugby player again. He feels that professional clubs will not consider him as their team player because of the injury. He responded to the injury in a cognitive manner where he accepted his situation and understood it though he gets angry sometimes, he encourages himself that it is still possible for him to regain his strength and even still get a chance to be a professional rugby player in future (Pargman, 1999,pg43).
Suggestions for assisting the injured person
The injured person is supposed to visit a physiotherapist for physical assistance to regain his strength to be in a position to be accepted as a professional rugby player again. He is encouraged to do physical exercises daily and avoid carrying heavy loads that will make him strain his shoulders.
Another suggestion that will assist the injured person is motivating him to be more committed, work hard and be patient. This means that he has to add more effort and time to all aspects of his recovery process including the physical and the psychological rehabilitation process. Psychological rehabilitation requires less time a day to gain benefits, unlike the physical recovery process. Therefore the injured person can take the psychological rehabilitation as his daily program; hence facilitating his recovery from the injury and thus be able to return to sports as a rugby player.
Clear Description of the injury from the report
The injury was incurred as a result of playing rugby. Rugby injuries occur frequently to players and they are inevitable no matter the level participated by the player. The player in this case injured his shoulder while playing, the injury led to the separation of his Acromio Clavicle( AC ) joint ligaments when he fell and landed badly on the point of his shoulder causing the joint separation. The shoulders of the human body can move in many various angles and different directions. Therefore this means that shoulders stand in a good position of being dislocated either forward, backward, partially, or completely. The tissues joining the bones of the shoulder can be stretched or even tone thus worsening the dislocation. Therefore, due to its mobility, the shoulder is prone to injuries than any other body part.
Circumstances of the injury described
The situation or the circumstance in which the injured person was in was of pain, depression, and sadness. This is because he was emotionally disturbed; physically disabled making it hard for him to retain his position as a professional rugby player. This is because he had a dislocated shoulder that could not allow him to play again as usual.
Responses of the injured person and the relevant literature integrated
The victims of physical disability undergo disruptions of normal effective performance. The body senses and ego get altered in different ways that are sometimes frightening and confusing to the patient. Grief of stress and depression, medically distinct responses may even deliberate the person. Anxiety, rage, and anger are the additional emotional responses. Thus most patients try to use the past existing coping patterns to manage the problem of a sudden disability. Therefore it’s important to understand the responses to injury whether it is severe or just minor to be in a better position to develop the correct treatment measures and recovery procedures. Responses are complicated and depend on the type of injury, health status, and the time after the injury. Human bodies cope extremely fast with the injury by activating the whole range of responses to limit the damage. These happen not only to the particular place of the injury but also include most of the general body systems such as the heart and circulation, nervous and immune systems (Walter, 1993, pg56).
It is advisable for the rugby player, coach, the rugby therapist, and the psychological or the physiotherapist to understand the emotional feelings and responses a rugby player undergoes during an injury and the various stages of the recovery process. The nature of experienced emotions and the force undergone to a large extent is affected by the perception of the external situation. The rugby player’s response to his injury depends on the player’s prior psychological level of performance, for instance, if the person was performing well before the injury, how will he function after the injury? the nature of the disability, like the injury location, the severity of the injury, and resulting changes in the individual’s lifestyle and the emotional responses a player experiences. Emotion responses like stress, being afraid, anger, and depression are normal occurrences to any injured person (Crossman, 1996, pg80).
Strategies for managing the responses of the injured person
Effective Cognitive rehabilitation strategy will assist in addressing attention, memory, and executive deficits that can improve the injured person’s ability to manage field tasks and demands. Most of the people who experienced an injury continue to undergo issues with social and emotional adjustments from their injury that affect their field activities, thus cognitive behavioral therapy is the most recommended to enable in improving the coping skills, assist the injured patients to manage the cognitive difficulties and dealing with the generalized anxiety, stress, and depression (Craig, 1999, pg190).
Another strategy for managing the responses of the injured person is through offering education and training activities to them. The injured person needs to be educated and trained on the use of given equipment and also given more information on what he is going through to enable him to accept the circumstance to recover quickly emotionally and physically (Herb, 1993, pg,90).
The development of rehabilitation programs for the injured person is another strategy for managing the response of the injured person. This should be especially of the physical and psychological rehabilitation approaches. Psychological rehabilitation enables the facilitation of the physical and the psychological recovery from the sports injury and even enables the patient to be in a position to return or regain the strength to play as a professional team player of rugby. This rehabilitation program strategy facilitates quick recovery of the injured person both emotionally and physically and the patient can return to the sports activities like playing rugby. The rehabilitation process benefits the patient in terms of providing more information to the patient concerning the rehabilitation process, enabling him to have an increased sense of responsibility and full control over his recovery (Cashmore, 1998, pg 24).
Creating a healthy environment for the patient will help manage the responses of the injured person physically, emotionally, and cognitively. The coach, parents, and teammates of the injured person have the responsibility to provide support to the patient in all means to alter the depressions the person is experiencing. The psychological and emotional responses do not continue through a pattern of stages and the responses may differ from person to person and within the same individual under different situations, therefore the sports team should create an environment that is conducive to compliance with rehabilitation and must show some respect to the unique nature of each individual’s response, and try to identify the obstacles that may hinder the quick recovery of the injured person (Cashmore, 1998, pg 67).
Maximizing the capabilities of the injured person can also be another strategy in managing the responses of the injured person. Though it is sometimes very hard to determine what the injured individual can do, family members should do some things for him. They need to carry out an analysis of the injured person’s current abilities and limitations. From this analysis, progressive steps are created towards independence, evaluate what the injured person can perform for himself, and inquire for his views on this analysis process. This can be achieved by shifting the time at which the task is performed to suit the injured person. Add more time for the task completion and put in place all the necessary pieces of equipment needed so that the individual can work independently. Therefore determining what the injured person can do gives the person a chance to work and also allows the caretaker to reduce stress hence the patient and the family grow in a more relaxed environment of increasing independence ( Brian, 1995, pg 54).
Conclusion
In conclusion, injuries are likely to occur to anyone engaged in sports activities and especially the rugby players despite the level played. Responses to injury may be physical and emotional and each person responds differently to the accident. The Person who sustains an injury changes in behavior, action, and the way he thinks. The difference may be big or small, thus it’s advisable that family members accept these changes, learn to live with them, and find means to help the person recover quickly and regain his normal life.
Reference List
Brian, G. (1995). Individual and Community Responses to Trauma and Disaster: The Structure of Human Chaos. Cambridge University: Carol.
Cashmore, E. (1998).Sport and exercise psychology: the key concepts. New York: Routledge.
Cashmore, E. (1998).Sport psychology: the key concepts. New York: Routledge.
Craig, R. (1999).Therapeutic Modalities for Musculoskeletal Injuries. Michigan University: Human Kinetics.
Crossman, J. (1996).Coping with sports injuries: psychological strategies for Rehabilitation. University of Michigan: Oxford University Press.
Herb, A. (1993).Managing sports and risk management strategies. New York: Carolina Academic Press.
Pargman, D. (1999).Psychological bases of sport. University of Michigan : Fitness Information Technology.
Walter, R. (1993).Rehabilitation of sports injuries: the scientific basis. Canada: Wiley-Blackwell.