Do you have a personal injury that just seems to be taking a really long time to heal?
You’re not alone. 39.5 million people in the US visit an emergency room or a doctor’s office for treatment of a personal injury each year. Yikes! That’s a lot of people…
And here’s the thing.
Healing a physical injury is only one part of the overall equation. Mental and emotional health play a huge role in how quickly a person recovers from an injury.
In this guide, we’re sharing the wellness strategies that work, proven by real research and real results from personal injury clients just like you.
Let’s get started!
In this article, you will learn:
- why wellness matters during personal injury recovery
- how mental and emotional health can affect physical recovery
- 7 effective wellness strategies to implement
- how to make sure your medical and legal teams are in sync with your wellness goals
Table of Contents
- 1 Why Wellness is Important During Personal Injury Recovery
- 2 The Mental Health Factor You Need to Know
- 3 Wellness Strategy #1: Get a Mental Health Checkup
- 4 Wellness Strategy #2: Create a Structured Recovery Plan
- 5 Wellness Strategy #3: Build a Recovery Support System
- 6 Wellness Strategy #4: Manage Pain Wisely
- 7 Wellness Strategy #5: Stay Connected to Your “Why”
- 8 Wellness Strategy #6: Communicate with Your Legal Team
- 9 Wellness Strategy #7: Practice Patience (Even When It’s Hard)
- 10 It’s Time to Put Your Wellness Plan Into Action
Why Wellness is Important During Personal Injury Recovery
Personal injury cases involve a lot of moving parts.
Meetings with your lawyer, consultations with doctors, therapy, and, of course, medical bills. You could spend all day just dealing with logistics. And before you know it, you’ve got a pile of legal and medical appointments, but no clue how to heal.
But there’s one huge part of the puzzle that almost everyone seems to overlook…
Your own wellness.
After an accident, your body needs time to recover from the physical injury. Your mind needs time to process what happened. Your emotions might be all over the place. You might even be stressed about lost wages, job security, and future expenses.
Research shows that clients who focus on wellness during their recovery process experience faster healing, better physical and mental health, and shorter recovery time overall.
The Mental Health Factor You Need to Know
This next fact is one of the most mind-blowing statistics we’ve ever come across.
One in three people will experience major depression within 3 months of a traumatic injury. Yikes.
Rates of depression are even higher for people who have suffered from a traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury.
But here’s the crazy part…
Poor mental health doesn’t just leave you feeling down. It actually slows down the physical healing process too. In fact, research has shown that psychological factors make up 38% of the difference between those who heal quickly and those who struggle.
Yikes, again.
Wellness Strategy #1: Get a Mental Health Checkup
Okay, so we just learned that mental and emotional health plays a massive role in how quickly you recover from an injury.
But how do you actually know if your mental and emotional health is holding back your recovery?
Simple. Talk to a professional about it.
This is what that looks like:
- Ask your doctor for a mental health screening
- Be honest with how you’re feeling emotionally
- Don’t ignore things like trouble sleeping or mood swings
- Consider finding a therapist who can help with trauma recovery
Why do so many people skip this step? Because they figure it’s “no big deal.” Don’t be that person.
Wellness Strategy #2: Create a Structured Recovery Plan
Here’s one of the best ways to reduce anxiety and stress during the recovery process: develop a plan.
Work with your medical team to create a step-by-step recovery plan that includes:
- Specific recovery milestones
- Physical therapy schedules and appointments
- Follow-up and reevaluation appointments
- Pain management plan
Share this plan with your personal injury attorney, too. Your attorney needs to have a good idea of your recovery timeline in order to build the strongest case possible.
Wellness Strategy #3: Build a Recovery Support System
It should come as no surprise to you that having a strong support system during recovery will result in a better recovery outcome.
Your support system should include:
- Family and friends who can help out with day to day tasks
- Medical professionals who know your injuries and are invested in your recovery
- Your legal team, who can take some of the legal stress off of your plate
- Support groups where you can meet people with similar injuries
Ask for help.
Wellness Strategy #4: Manage Pain Wisely
Pain management is one of the more challenging aspects of injury recovery. We get it.
Try to take a holistic approach to pain management with the help of your doctors and physical therapists:
- Prescription medications (used in moderation)
- Physical therapy and exercises
- Hot and cold therapy
- Meditation or breathing exercises
- Getting good sleep and rest
The key is to manage your pain enough to be able to participate in your recovery process.
Wellness Strategy #5: Stay Connected to Your “Why”
Injury recovery is a process. It’s not a sprint, but more like a marathon.
And marathons take a lot of mental and physical endurance.
Especially on the days when you just don’t feel like pushing through another mile, it helps to remember WHY you’re doing this:
- Returning to work
- Playing with your kids again
- Picking up your hobbies again
- Regaining independence
Keep your why top of mind.
Wellness Strategy #6: Communicate with Your Legal Team
Personal injury attorneys are more than just administrative assistants and insurance companies handlers. They should be a key part of your overall wellness strategy.
Why? Because when you have a competent attorney working on your behalf, it takes away a tremendous amount of stress.
You don’t have to worry about dealing with insurance companies, insurance investigators, filing complex court procedures, or advocating for fair compensation and damages.
To make sure your attorney can do their job to the best of their abilities:
- Keep them informed on your recovery progress
- Ask questions when you don’t understand something
- Communicate any new medical information
The more your attorney knows, the more they can help you.
Wellness Strategy #7: Practice Patience (Even When It’s Hard)
Here’s the hard truth about personal injury recovery.
It takes time. Ugh.
And no one is ever really happy when they hear that answer. In an ideal world, physical recovery would happen overnight.
But in the real world, if you push your recovery, you risk re-injuring yourself, developing chronic pain, or further slowing your recovery time.
Focus on the small progress you make each day. Celebrate the small wins.
It’s Time to Put Your Wellness Plan Into Action
We’ve walked through 7 powerful wellness strategies for recovery, and we’re confident that they will help you to focus on overall healing rather than solely physical.
But let’s be honest.
You can read and reread this article until we are blue in the face, but it’s only when you put these strategies into action that you’re going to start to see results.
The most important part? Pick one strategy that resonates with you most right now, and implement it this week.
Maybe it’s a mental health screening. Maybe it’s creating a strong support system. Maybe it’s finally having an honest conversation with your attorney.
Pick a strategy. Put it into action. Then next week, pick another one.
