Social Media to Assist Sports-Related Injuries

In recent years, more youths have encountered sports-related injuries, despite the fact that there has been an increase of awareness on how to prevent them in high schools throughout America.  The problem is, similar education has been lacking at home and thus students who are recovering from sports injuries are not getting access to the proper care they need. 

How can this change?  One way is with the help of social media: students can support and inspire each other when going through the same injuries.  Helpful ideas can reach many  more people through a worldwide network – the Internet.  For example, on Facebook there is a sports injuries support group and through an online search, one can find the athletes toolkit.  These are just two of the many available resources online that can link athletes to others to give and receive great advice and support.  As well, parents and friends of those suffering from a sports injury can garner support and tips like this.

Physical Help Through the Web

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, connecting online in this way can also help the physical side of recovery.  Various medical experts have seen that with such a social support network, recovery is aided.  People share their woes and worries on blogs, which almost immediately attracts others looking for athletes in the same situation to share their experiences.  This way the one going through it at the time, does not have to feel completely isolated.  No matter how supportive their doctors, carers, parents and friends are, there’s nothing quite like getting the support of someone who has gone through the same thing; quite simply because they’ve just been there.

While gaining online support is not new (according to Wikipedia, the Internet “has provided a new and successful venue for support groups since at least 1982”), with the recent and continuing increase of the presence of social media, there is just easier access these days and more resources available.   And, as Martha Ainsworth on Wikipedia was recorded to have said, “the enduring success of these groups has firmly established the potential of computer-mediated communication to enable discussion of sensitive personal issues.”  In addition, people often find the anonymity that is offered by the Internet to be much easier than attending support groups in person.

With sports injury blogs, people feel they have access to all those following their blogs and can thus interact with them and ask for opinions, advice, resources etc. which they can access pretty immediately.  Indeed, when Proactive Physical Therapy was set up in New Jersey, it also came with accessibility to staff members through Apps; again showing how social media is becoming an integral part of recovery.

This is not only helpful but potentially extremely inspiring and exciting to see someone who has encountered an injury get up again and resume their sporting activities.  Seeing this will definitely inspire those in the moment, work even harder at their recovery.