Injury rehabilitation

• Read Danny's journey on living with injury and chronic pain

  I'd been lucky in life not to have had much by the way of injury, certainly nothing broken before nor experienced having to rely completely on others to do things for me as I rehabilitated.

  When I broke and dislocated my shoulder that all changed. For the first time in my life I lost control of what was going on in my life, months of being dependent on others, months of not knowing what sort of prognosis and recovery there would be, long waits between medical appointments and getting the right support, and months of living with chronic pain.

  I'd never really experienced depression and I don't know if I was clinically depressed, but life sure felt pretty lousy. I think much of that was from the pain and not sleeping, not knowing what lay ahead, and sense of loss in my life. It was the loss of not being able to do my job and things I had enjoyed in life, and even be able to do the basic things. And I hated being dependent on others for help. I couldn't even move the fingers in my right arm, so things like cleaning teeth, dressing, tying shoe laces and using a phone or laptop were a real challenge, and no driving.

  The not being able to sleep because of the pain was the worst; I slept in the spare room and each night drifted in and out of sleep until 2-3 a.m. and then it was easier to give up. The drugs would help take the edge off it for a short time, and better than nothing, but then it was back again. I learned to get by with little sleep and to get used to a level of pain.

  The recovery coordinator was a life saver. We are lucky to have them in the military. They kept in touch and helped get me to see the right people, and faster than I would've waiting for appointments through the public health system. I did not feel quite so alone in having to deal with my injury.

  The pain began to ease a bit, to the point I could get through with a rough 4 maybe 5 hours sleep. After a month I got the first movement back in my fingers (until then I was living with the possibility of getting no movement back at all). I stopped taking the drugs during the day as they made my mood lower and ability to think clearly fuzzy. It was a gradual recovery after that to the point now it's as good as it will get ('you've had a significant injury'), not perfect but I can do most things again and any pain now is mostly my own doing. I feel lucky and happy to be through the worst of it.

  It wasn't a fun time for me nor those having to live with me. I understand a lot more about how hard it is to experience injury, chronic pain and the not sleeping, and not being in control. I learned to advocate for myself (after being discharged with Panadol and told I would come right in 10 days) and that taking support from others and medication are important tools for recovery. I learned that recovery coordinators are awesome. I learned that living with significant injury is hard but that you just have to get on with life, realise things could be a lot worse, take the help that is offered by others, and know that most likely life will get better over time.

  To read the PDF version of Danny's story click here

Steps to recovery after injury

• Step 1. Talk to a physiotherapist

  If the injury you have suffered is musculoskeletal, you can make an appointment with a physiotherapist directly without booking in at the Defence Health Centre first. It is important that your injury is seen early before it gets worse. The physiotherapist will ensure to book you an appointment at your local base at a convenient time.
  
  APM is the official provider of Physiotherapy Services for serving personnel at NZDF. They will treat a wide range of health problems that involve the musculoskeletal system including fractures, sprains, tendinopathies, muscle/ligament tears and much more.
  
  Get in touch with a physio to make an appointment - email or 0800 376 547.

• Step 2. Plan for recovery

  Depending on the severity of the injury, the physiotherapist will work with you to put a plan into place.

  Acute Accident / Injury / Surgery

  If the injury is severe or surgery is needed, a meeting will occur with the physiotherapist, and possibly other health professionals that need to be involved such as the Doctor and Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor (ERI), Your manager, and potentially your family. This is to discuss your treatment moving forward, estimated time of being away from work, and expectations of what work and activity can be done in the workplace or at home to ensure recovery isn’t hindered and full recovery is made.

  Minor Musculoskeletal Injury

  If your injury sustained is less severe and after treatment the injury has improved, the physiotherapist will refer you to an ERI to help rehabilitate the injury and also maintain general fitness to prepare you to return back to work.   

  Getting referred to an ERI

  Once you are ready to start your exercise based rehabilitation, your physiotherapist will refer you to an Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor (ERI) to support your recovery. You will be formally placed on Rehabilitation which allows you the time and space to return back to full fitness. Your workplace will be informed and attendance at classes is a place of parade like other medical appointments.

• Step 3 - Understand your injury and your guidelines to follow for recovery

  After receiving a diagnosis from the Physiotherapist, you will be given a time frame and a programme to follow. You may receive a Limited Duties (LD) chit, which will detail any restrictions for PT or work activities. You may also be Medically Downgraded if you have a serious injury. This is for your protection to give you the space and time to rehabilitate properly. 

  Inform your chain of command about your injury and ensure they understand how this will effect your work. This may be a hard conversation to have if you do not want to let your team down. A health professional such as the Physiotherapist (Physio), Medical Officer (MO) or Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor (ERI) can help explain this to your workplace and give advice on the work you can still do to contribute to the team.

  If you require surgery or your injury is of a more serious nature, a Multi-Disciplinary meeting will occur to help support your recovery. This will involve those involved in your recovery to help support and explain the process moving forward. Health professionals will include but not limited to the MO, Physio, ERI, Social Worker, Psychologist as well as your work manager and family members where required.

• Step 4. Return to duty

  Once you feel confident and fully recovered, and you have been successfully medically upgraded, you can attempt your service fitness test (Army, Navy & Air Force).

  Note. If there is a period where your injury has healed, but your general fitness has dropped due to your injury not allowing you to train like you previously could, there will be a transition period where you will receive a programme from the ERI or unit/camp PTI to ensure you build back up to full fitness gradually.

  Contact your local gymnasium for their fitness testing schedule.