TL;DR
Turn your quiet moments into listening time
- Thousands of audiobooks, podcasts and originals
- Listen on your phone, tablet or Echo — also offline
- Cancel anytime
A writer for The Good Trade says a hamstring tear sustained at Venice Beach led to surgery and a demanding recovery. She describes the injury as bringing her attention into the present while she was recovering from depression, but that account reflects her personal experience, not a general medical finding.
A woman writing for The Good Trade says a hamstring tear sustained at Venice Beach led to surgery and a recovery that reshaped her daily routine. She described the injury’s immediate pain as pulling her attention into the present while she was coming out of a five-month depressive episode, a personal account that does not establish injury as a treatment for depression.
The writer was at the beach with her friend Peggy during a visit to Los Angeles for her 56th birthday. She said a wave hit as she tried to lift a foot buried in the sand, triggering severe pain from her buttock down her right leg. Unable to stand, she crawled and called for help. Bystanders and lifeguards assisted her; lifeguards examined her and said they found no break, suggesting it might be muscular, according to her account.
She declined an ambulance ride to an emergency room and returned to her hotel with Peggy. The next morning, unable to drive, she hired a tow truck driver to take her home, about 160 miles away. An MRI several days later showed that she had torn her hamstring from her sit bone, she wrote. A doctor told her that without surgery she would lose 50% of her right-leg strength for the rest of her life. She was referred to a sports medicine surgeon in Southern California.
The writer said the surgery was successful and that she could walk short distances with a limp within a day. Recovery has gone better than she expected, but she cannot use regular exercise—walking, hiking and swimming—as a coping tool. She described adapting her home before surgery with a shower chair, raised toilet seat and grab bar because she lives alone and wanted to remain as independent as possible.
Recovery Disrupted Her Coping Routine
The account connects a physical injury with the practical demands of recovery and an ongoing mental health struggle. The writer said that being unable to exercise removed one of her main ways to regulate her nervous system, while appointments, surgery preparation and changes at home added new demands. Her experience illustrates how an injury can affect daily routines and emotional wellbeing at the same time.
She also described drawing on writing, art, reading, breathwork, physical therapy, psychotherapy, time in nature, friends, meditation and music. These are the approaches she says she is using; the article does not report clinical evidence that the injury itself improved depression. Her interpretation of the recovery as a reason to slow down is presented as a personal belief.
Depression Before the Beach Injury
The writer said she was beginning to improve after a five-month clinical depressive episode when the injury occurred. She linked the episode to major changes earlier in the year, including leaving a special education teaching job she described as toxic, a breakup and strained relationships. She wrote that these events left her questioning her purpose and sense of security.
She said she has dealt with anxiety and depression since childhood and has tried several forms of support, including antidepressant medication, EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, Gestalt therapy, somatic therapy, guided meditation and mindfulness classes. In June, she began conscious connective breathwork and Spravato, a prescription esketamine nasal spray administered in a clinic under medical supervision. She described journaling before and after treatment and said she believes Spravato helped her cope; the supplied account does not include an independent assessment of that effect.
“The physical pain of my hamstring injury suddenly snapped me into the present moment.”
— The writer, in The Good Trade
Medical Details Remain Limited
The supplied article does not name the writer, give the date of the injury or surgery, or provide the MRI report or surgical details. It also does not specify the exact recovery timeline, the surgeon’s assessment after surgery, or the writer’s current level of mobility. The reported 50% strength loss is attributed to what her doctor told her about the outcome without surgery; no additional clinical records are provided.
The account describes one person’s mental health experience. It does not establish that acute pain or an injury can treat depression, nor does it offer a clinical evaluation of the effects of Spravato or the other supports she mentions.
Rehabilitation and Daily Adjustments
The writer said she is using physical therapy and other forms of support as she recovers, while adapting to limits on exercise and preparing her home for daily tasks. The article does not give dates for rehabilitation milestones or say when she expects to resume walking, hiking or swimming.
Her next steps, as described in the account, include continuing recovery and relying on alternative routines such as creative work, therapy, meditation, music and time with friends. Any further medical or mental health progress was not included in the supplied material.
Key Questions
What injury did the writer sustain?
She said an MRI showed a hamstring tear from the sit bone after she was injured at Venice Beach. The article does not include the MRI report.
Did she have surgery?
Yes. She said the surgery was successful and that she could walk short distances with a limp within a day, though her recovery continued to limit her daily activities.
What did the writer mean by being snapped into the present?
She said the injury’s intense physical pain shifted her attention away from depressive thought loops and anxiety. That is her personal description, not evidence that injury treats depression.
What support did she describe using during recovery?
She listed physical therapy, psychotherapy, writing, art, reading, breathwork, time in nature, friends, meditation and music. She also said she began clinic-supervised Spravato treatment in June.
Source: rss
Products Worth Considering
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
