ACL Injury Return Spotlight: Brigitte
Getting back into the swing of things can be extremely difficult following a traumatic injury for anyone. After suffering an ACL injury in March of 2014 while skiing, Brigitte has been coming to The Micheli Center since May 2015 and working with Jen Morse, one of our Injury Prevention Specialists, to get back into her normal routine. Brigitte says that her time here has really “bridged the gap between PT and everyday activities to help me get back to where I was before sustaining an injury.”
Sitting in on one of her sessions I learned a lot about Brigitte’s experience at The Micheli Center, which she said has been nothing but positive. The hardest part of getting back into using her knee, she said, was overcoming the mental block and lack of confidence in it that had built up over time.
Reminding herself of the injury made it hard to move forward, but working on new exercises and regaining strength gave her the boost and assurance she needed to keep going. Confidence is key to getting yourself into a routine again and it truly helps when you are in a controlled, safe environment. Jen stated that the she generally finds that hardest thing when working with adults after ACL injuries is the need to constantly remind them that what they are doing is good and that continuing the positive habits will give them positive results.
Brigitte said that the “program is phenomenal and it shouldn’t be an option, it should be a necessity.” She couldn’t help but rave about her experience here as well as her experience with Jen, who has built trust with Brigitte and helped her uncover the ability to confidently work on her own.
When it comes to the difference between children and adults tearing their ACL, Jen said that the endurance of a 10-year-old kid is much different, but that kids and adults are facing injuries without the proper step-by-step motions to ease back into their regular lives, a gap that The Micheli Center can help fill!