Latest / The ACL Athlete Podcast / 223 | Rehab Realities vs. The Reel: The Social Media Illusion of ACL Recovery

Transcript

223 | Rehab Realities vs. The Reel: The Social Media Illusion of ACL Recovery · The ACL Athlete Podcast

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone to the ACL Athlete Podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we talk about everything related to the ACL, whether that's the injury itself, the rehab process, return to sport, and more.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Ravi Patel, performance physical therapist and coach.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Between myself and fellow guests and experts, you'll learn through the lens of the patient, the healthcare professional, and the coach.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: The goal of this podcast is to equip you, the athlete, with the education to make the best informed decision about your care and your ACL journey.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive into today's episode.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: What is up, team?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I am diving into it today.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Gonna keep it super short because you guys deserve it because of a lot of long episodes recently.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get to it.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I talked with an ACLR recently, actually today, and this episode and just this feeling of wanting to share this information was really important to me because this person is nine months out and he's nowhere where he wants to be, and there's just some limitations.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: He exhausted his PT months ago.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he was basically kind of doing the same stuff they were giving him, it wasn't being progressed.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: The surgeons, like, oh well, you should just kind of ease back into sport um after a checkup being uh nine months out, and so it's something that I'm starting to see just with conversations, especially recently, I don't know if it's just that timing, but people who are just kind of really down with where they are, and of course, there probably is this notion of we're helping people and they probably didn't necessarily get the service they needed to, and so then therefore they're reaching out for help.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I understand that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: But being in this space, talking with people every single day, every single week, working with so many ACLs as a team, myself, and just knowing this landscape over the years, I've just been able to observe a lot.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And this person who's not where he wants to be, you know, one of the things he brought up, he was like, you know, I've been looking on YouTube and looking on Instagram and seeing people doing things that he was thinking he should be doing at four or five months that he can't even do right now being nine months out.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you could just kind of hear it in his voice, and you could tell like there's frustration.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I know many of you listening to this, you might not be nine months out, but you are sometime away from this injury or surgery, and it's one of those things where you're not where you want to be, and we're our hardest critics, and there are so many things that just kind of go into this thinking of where we want to be versus where we actually are, and we're always trying to push ourselves, and it's a lot of this is coming back to what the narratives are around like what does our surgeon communicate, what is the protocol, what does our physical therapist say, what does our coach say, what are the goals you have set, the timeline.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many influences, right?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: So many factors, and then there's also the world, and that is what makes this even harder is that with this, there is just challenges with seeing the outside world and what they're doing.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, we hear the headlines of professional athletes and college athletes and whatnot with this ACL injury or multiple injuries, and we see that stuff, we look into the recovery.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: But this one's challenging because it's so easy nowadays to be able to access people who have torn their ACL and what it looks like.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Reddit, looking at Facebook groups, Instagram is just a reel of people going through the process if they document it.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: YouTube, if you type it in, you'll see hundreds and hundreds of videos of best exercises and recoveries and do it my way.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so you can see all this stuff, right?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing about this is that it's challenging because with that is that everyone has their own story and their own journey.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing with this athlete, and also just inevitably with social media, especially, is that comparison sets in.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to see someone else, and you're just like, oh, well, they're there.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Here's where I'm at, right?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And no matter what, as much as we're like, uh, run my own race, like do this thing, like this is my own journey, like it sets in.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: And don't get me wrong, no one is immune to this.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and it can happen in many domains.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: It could be professionally, personally, um, it could be someone who has a boyfriend or girlfriend or in a marriage versus someone who doesn't, right?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: As much as you know, like, oh, I'll find my person, it's like it still just kind of sucks, right?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so then therefore, we're not here to sugarcoat that comparison doesn't happen.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just more so how can we make sure we practically tackle this and also understand essentially like what is it that social media and these other areas might end up providing in the sense of maybe some negative input.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something that I I want to tread carefully and I want to be mindful of because I know that this is something that will just exist.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, working with ACLers, I also want to share some input about this, especially because I see so many ACLers struggle because this is a long and hard process.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's no other way to say this.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is just difficult, y'all.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And even through my ACLs, challenging recoveries, both different, and now going through this hip surgery and recovery, I find myself comparing.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm seeing, like, oh, well, where are some of these other people at being, you know, four weeks out, five weeks out, six weeks out?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how am I doing?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where it can get really challenging with this process, is that even I know better.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is, like, I find myself doing it, but then I kind of circle back around to knowing, like, okay, I am in my own race and I know that these are what I'm aiming for, and it's looking at the gap and the gain, right?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: Not looking at what the gap is ahead of like, all right, this is where I'm at, and I'm not even to this point yet.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's more so of like, I've really come a long way in the past four or five, six weeks, y'all.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: I've I've really made some huge strides in my own recovery.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's one thing that is helpful in this process, but more so coming back around to social media, it's not going to show the negatives as much as it's going to show the positives.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to understand this.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is not going, we're not going to get on social media and there's going to be tons of ACLers tearing their ACL and saying the process sucks and that you know they're they're sharing their personal experience.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there are accounts out there, but when you look at social media for the most part, there's a lot of intention behind the way it's designed.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, it's like personal vlogs and stuff like that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm including like, you know, YouTube, Instagram, all these things in here because it's just going to show the positives.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the way that it is built.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's the way that people want to show because it's a sense of pride, right?
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think we need to be careful with the way that we let social media into our lives as we're rehabbing this process.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to just be able to take that step back and look at this as you're scrolling through Instagram, as you're scrolling through Facebook, looking at YouTube, and just seeing these people's different journeys.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not gonna say don't do it because you're probably gonna do it anyways.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be like, oh, that's a cool exercise, or like, look at where they're at, whether it's a friend, someone that you just kind of met, or you're just kind of browsing through and just seeing where people are, right?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's different accounts, the ACL Club, you know, people are sharing different stuff, and it's just highlights.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's healthy to see this stuff, but I think it can also be unhealthy.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: But I think we need to understand the narrative that is typically pushed through social media, and it's typically more positive than negative.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's the highlights, it's the testimonials, it's the wins because it creates some positivity for those accounts who push them.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that could be the ACLer or it could be the clinician.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Even auditing our own account, we're not pointing out all the failures or all the things that all our athletes are failing with or having issues with.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we want to highlight those things, and I share these things on this podcast, and is something that we talk with our athletes with, and you know, even with people who are potentially joining on.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't want to sugarcoat anything.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, if we're trying to promote something that is going to try and pull people in from a healthy perspective, you're probably not gonna shy towards all the all, or you are gonna shy, if you will, towards all the things that are negative, right?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're not gonna put that stuff out there, you're gonna more so want to show the stuff that is going to be more positive in that light.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: So just know that.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And the flip side to this is a community group where that can highlight more negative than positive.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is with ACL, it's interesting.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: So especially with Facebook and Reddit groups, like it's something where I don't blame any of these groups that exist.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's so healthy to communicate and see other people's perspectives, but just know it's n equals one for the most part with a lot of these people.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's gonna be really important to just not take what one person says about a graph type or their own journey or this is the best thing, because I promise you, Bertha from you know Nevada that is you know 35 and said her quad graft is the best thing in the world and got back to skiing in like seven months is gonna be different for a lot of other people.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just be careful with taking that information.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: But community groups and these forums, by nature, people are looking more so for problems they have and looking for solutions.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so just know when you go into scenarios like that, that that's going to highlight negatives more than positives.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, people come back and say, like, hey, keep with it, like I'm I'm here and keep moving forward.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, or they may come back and say, like, hey, I'm a year out, two years out, and I'm doing this now.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: But majority of the people don't want to perseverate on this ACL process.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever they are done, they're done.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're putting this in the backseat and they're moving forward.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So all those wins and highlights that you're hoping to see in the Facebook groups or Reddit is less because people there are looking for answers to problems.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna see that stuff and you're probably gonna see a lot more negativity.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: So just know that the the medium you're engaging with, what you're likely to get within those.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then this is the big takeaway for today is just know that you have to be careful what noise you're letting in.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you guard your gates.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's what my wife tells me, you know, in terms of like stuff that you let in, you gotta guard your gates.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta make sure, like, am I letting this stuff in?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh am I putting uh too much negative into my system of seeing people on social media for comparison, seeing people on this journey, maybe in these Facebook or Reddit groups, and just filter that and know, like, all right, if I I see something, how does it make me feel?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's negative, I would encourage you to audit this.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if it's on IG, mute the accounts, you know, control the amount of time you spend on there.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you take a break from these groups to understand, you know, maybe it's not healthy to read all this stuff.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that's where we need to come back to okay, what are the things that are true?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, to run your own race, to focus on the gain over the gaps, as I've shared before.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And just because someone had a successful, flawless process doesn't mean that they didn't encounter the bumps, and it's also not your story.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: Social media doesn't show everything, so I want you guys to watch out and just be mindful of this.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you, there are tons and tons and tons of ACLers and people in the trenches, not where they want to be, more so than the people that are where they want to be.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you, it is tons and tons, like 10, 20, 30x more people are not where they want to be.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a multitude of reasons for that.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, that's where you have to just be mindful of what you're letting in and don't let this rob you of the joy and the work you put in, right?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Especially getting to this point and the accomplishments that you have.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that this is helpful, y'all.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just something that I wanted to share because of conversations and talking with this ACLer, but I hear this all the time and it was kind of weighing on me.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so hopefully, this is just even a friendly reminder for you.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Filter what you are allowing in and to guard your gates with this and just remember to run your own race.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's so big in this process, being so long, so up and down, and everyone's situation is so different.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Even 10 quad tendons that are six months out are all gonna present differently because of their journey, their injury, the factors in their life.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many things that are gonna play into your recovery.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So that's where having a good guide to keep you anchored and understand where you are and where you are heading is so key.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So run your own race, guys, guard your gates, protect the social media, and just know the pros and cons of each, of what social media shows and also what kind of groups will show too, to know what kind of natural information is going to be shown so you can be more protective of what comes in and what you're seeing.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Hope this helps y'all.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, this is your host, Robbie Patel, signing off.