When it comes to your loved ones, it’s hard to watch them endure the pain of an injury. While you want to offer support, you often feel like you aren’t meeting their needs. So here’s a a few tips for offering injury support to a hurting loved one.
Injury Support: Tips for Helping A Loved One in Pain
Don’t Avoid the Obvious
Sometimes, talking about an injury can be a little awkward. Maybe you aren’t sure if your loved one wants to talk about it. Or perhaps you feel bad bringing it up because you worry it may upset them. In many cases, people want to talk about what they are going through. But if they feel you avoiding the subject, they may not feel open enough to do so.
So one of the best ways to offer injury support to someone you care about is allowing them to discuss their pain. Don’t shy away from the subject or avoid the elephant in the room. Instead, just listen and let them talk about where they are in their recovery.
Give Them Resources
Since you want to give them as much injury support as possible, it’s helpful to provide outside resources too. For instance, you may want to make sure they are in contact with their doctor regularly. But some people also find comfort in speaking with a therapist or another doctor. Also, it can be helpful for an injured to loved one to attend a support group. By giving them these resources, you are offering injury support that is specific to their needs.
Spend Time With Them
After suffering an injury, your loved one may become confined to a hospital room, a bed, or their own living spaces. Odds are, they won’t be as active as they were before their injury. So that may mean you need to look for new ways to spend time together. As they struggle through adjusting and recovery, you want to be there at their side. But that may just mean watching a movie together, reading a book, or playing card games. Try to find new and fun ways to spend time together now that your loved one cannot go as much as they would like.
Make Sure You’re Taking Care of Yourself
Taking care of an injured loved one can be hard and taxing on us, both mentally and physically. While you may think that pushing yourself to take care of that person is the best thing, you won’t be able to do that if you wear yourself out. So when offering injury support, it’s important to make sure you are still taking care of yourself. Take some time to do things you enjoy and that are good for your health.