Injured Athletes and a New Invention of Relaxation Techniques

Sport injuries threaten athletes' career and success. An injury does not affect exclusively physical capabilities, but also contextual and psychological aspects. An injured athlete will experience a range of stressors associated with the competitive and organizational environment. These stressors can be temporally defined across three phases of injury: onset, rehabilitation, and return-to-play. Athletes may experience similar psychological reactions similar to Kubler-Ross's FIVE stages of grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. Relaxation techniques such as breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and meditation are useful strategies to help with emotional regulation and hereby promoting optimal healing and timely return-to-play. The new invented relaxation technique: Aqua Relaxation Technique will be another option to help the athletes to speed up the healing process by reducing pain and stress.