Take a look back on the top recovery stories and expert rehabilitation tips shared during the year!
As we leave 2023 and start fresh into a new year of hitting our recovery goals, we're first taking a look back at the inspiring stories and enlightening expert insights shared by the Brace Community over the past twelve months!
Included below are links to each post, alongside a brief summary, in case you missed it during the year or want to revisit a former favourite! And if you want to feature on the Brace Blog in 2024, make sure to follow the instructions at the end!
Remember, you can access all this great content, alongside recovery tracking, progress metrics, trophies and rewards, and forums and social feeds, in the Brace App for free! So if you're going through rehabilitation or are a practitioner supporting clients in the process, make sure to download the free Brace app from our home page, to take control of the recovery journey in a positive and connected way!
But first, lets take a look back on 2023:
Recovery Journeys
During the year, we shared the stories of five individual's who have been through the recovery process. Through ups and downs, milestones and setbacks, each gave an honest look at the challenges of the process, and we'd like to thank all of them again for their candid take on their recovery journey. Well done for all your resilience and determination in the process and we wish you all the best for the journey ahead!
Kelsey Ruffing
Kelsey is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counsellor and former soccer player from Chicago, USA. In this piece, she shares details of her tough recovery experience, with multiple re-injuries along the way, and how the reflections from this journey led to the amazing work she does today to support others dealing with those same challenges.
Lea Andresen
Lea is a handball player from Germany, who due to an unfortunate series of sporting injuries had to have five surgeries by 22 years old. In this piece, she charts the long journey from her first surgery in 2018 through to today, detailing the mental impact that came alongside the physical challenges of these injuries, and the advice and conclusions she's drawn to support others in the recovery process.
Dan Alexander
Dan is a multi-sport recreational athlete from the UK who has participated in sports including cycling, running, tennis, football, and basketball. In this piece, he recounts the relationship with sport and activity that he's had from a young age, and the impact of persistent pain from bilateral hip injuries that led to his current recovery journey. He also shares his lessons from this experience and advice for others in the process.
Ellen Johnston
Ellen is a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor based in Donegal, Ireland. Ellen, who's life has always been heavily rooted in sports, suffered a serious knee injury at the age of 14, which started the long rehabilitation journey outlined here. Ultimately, it was this difficult physical and mental experience that inspired her to get qualifications in both Personal Training and Nutrition, in order to help others in their fitness and recovery journeys.
Matthew Bell
Matthew is a 30 year old Irish International Hockey Player, who is currently working in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and playing hockey at Banbridge Hockey Club. Below he shares details of his remarkable story of a sudden cancer diagnosis and the challenging treatment that followed, his journey to get back to the pitch, and how his experience as a professional sportsperson supported his recovery mindset.
Want More Recovery Insight & Advice?
We asked other members of the Brace Community, currently in the rehabilitation process, for their advice on approaching the recovery journey.
Expert Insights for the Rehabilitation Process
During 2023, we also shared valuable advice and guidance from three industry experts to help support people with the physical and mental challenges of the recovery process. Thank you to our experts for the brilliant pieces they put together to help support people in their rehabilitation journey!
Strategies to Support & Accelerate Your Recovery
Dr. Peter Tierney
Peter is a Senior Researcher and Health & Performance Coach. He is currently working at Lululemon, and prior to this spent a number of years working as a physical performance coach and sports scientist at Leinster Rugby in Ireland, and The Football Association in England.
In this excellent piece, he shares his valuable insight for navigating the recovery process and how to focus on doing the most impactful things consistently well.
A Guide for ACL Injury Recovery
Hannah Antony
Hannah is a Canadian physiotherapist who trained in Australia, and has worked with clients through orthopaedic injuries, surgeries, and in particular Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstructions. Her current role see's her providing virtual physiotherapy and coaching from her home in Canmore, Alberta, with a main focus on ACL injuries.
In the piece below, she outlines how her own experience of an ACL injury gave her a deep understanding of the rehabilitation journey involved, and how she has used this, alongside her clinical expertise, to support others going through the process.
Emotional First Aid for Physical Injury
Meg Waldron
Meg has a Masters in Sport Psychology and works with youth, collegiate, and post-collegiate athletes. In high school she was an All-American in track and field and one of the top recruits in the US. During college Meg experienced setbacks and injuries that contributed to a feeling of isolation and loss of identity.
She also witnessed the same happening with teammates around her, but with no specific support systems in place to ease the mental bruises, which led her to devote her life to helping athletes rediscover joy and express their agency through sport.
In this fascinating post 'Emotional First Aid for Physical Injury' she shares an insight into how the brains "happy hormones" are stimulated by different experiences, and how we can trigger these to help us cope with injury and support our recovery!
Want More Expert Insights on Rehabilitation?
We asked other top experts from the Brace Community for simple tips they'd give people to support them in the recovery process.
Read our Year In Review 2022
If that's not enough, you can also access all our content from 2022 in last years Brace Blog 2022: Year in Review!
You'll find more remarkable and raw rehab stories, alongside additional expert advice and tips at the link below!
Stay tuned for what's to come in 2024!
That brings us to a close on all the great stories and insights from 2023! We look forward to sharing lots more relevant, supportive and inspiring content to help with the recovery process in the year ahead.
If you're going through the recovery process (or have been through it before) and would like to share your story, we'd love to hear from you! Similarly, if your an expert who'd like to feature a post to support people with managing their rehabilitation journey let us know! You can reach out through the contact form on the home page or on our instagram page.
And don't forget to download the free Brace app to take control of your recovery journey in a positive and supported way! We've lots of great updates coming in 2024!
Finally, Happy New Year to all of the Brace Community and best of luck for everything to come in 2024 - let's hit all those recovery goals together!