How Your Family Can Cope With Trauma and Build a New Normal After an Accident

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More than 50% of U.S families have experienced some disaster, and two-thirds of children encounter a traumatic event by age sixteen, according to SAMHSA. If you or a family member is involved in an accident, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable, confused and stressed. However, individuals react differently to traumatic events, and that may lead to disruptions in the family, including a lack of proper communication and lapse in daily routines. Luckily, your family can overcome post-traumatic stress by practicing daily habits that put your life back on track. The key is to ensure the entire family is committed to building a new healthy lifestyle.

Seek Legal Assistance

When dealing with the aftermath of an accident, it is easy to overlook the importance of hiring a personal injury lawyer. Keep in mind an accident of any nature will not have a psychological impact only, but also hurt your finances. According to the professionals at https://personalinjuryattorney-fresno.com/, if the injuries you or a loved one experience following an accident are due to someone else’s negligence, you are entitled to compensation.

Legal experts at JJS explain that if you have a high-stake personal injury case, an experienced attorney will assist you to hold the party at-fault accountable and seek a fair amount of settlement. Although filing a personal injury claim will not alleviate the pain and suffering, it will bring financial relief to settle medical expenses and compensate for lost wages. That way, your family can focus on healing. 

Stay Active, Together

Physical activity promotes the production of feel-good hormones to reduce stress, speed recovery, and improve appearance. Simple activities like playing soccer, basketball, swimming, and dancing with the kids enhance mood. Nonetheless, it is essential to learn how to exercise after an accident to ensure the injured person does not strain. Make sure to consult a physician about the best workout routine to keep your family healthy and safe.

Encourage Communication

It takes time to recover from post-traumatic stress, but you can help your family cope by creating a supportive environment. Your children, for example, may not feel comfortable talking about current events. In that case, encourage them to draw, write, or paint to express their feelings. Self-expression is particularly important in dealing with traumatic experiences, so encouraging your family to work through their emotions in whichever way works for them is key. 

Engaging in activities with loved ones is another excellent way to enhance communication. Start dialogues that are less serious and stressful. Then listen to your family’s concerns, do not judge, and reassure them it’s not their fault for the accident. But most importantly, manage your stress to achieve positive outcomes.

Keeping Your Hearing In Tip Top Condition

Let’s face it; our ears are incredibly important. Those who struggle with their hearing will bear witness to this. Without the sounds penetrating our brains, we will function much more slowly and less efficiently than usual. It is something that most of us without a hearing impairment take for granted, so we only tend to do something when a problem comes up, and sometimes, that can be when it is too late.

See, that is the thing about our hearing. It generally is not something that can be completely resolved if something goes wrong. Once you have done significant harm, it may be the end of full use for one of your primary senses. That is why people need to be diligent to make sure their ears are kept safe to maintain their health for many years to come. Here, we look at some of the ways in which you can look after your ears and hearing.

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Keep away from loud noise

This is pretty obvious, but important nevertheless. Loud noise is never going to be good for your ears, so avoid it as much as possible. Sure, we all like to have the occasional song on a bit louder, but be sensible. If it hurts your ears, it is probably hurting your hearing. Stay away from loud bangs and crashes that will damage your hearing in both the short and long term, and where possible, wear ear defenders if you have to work around noisy machinery or equipment.

Visit a hearing specialist

A hearing specialist, or an audiologist, will be able to give you advice on your ears and how to prevent further damage to your hearing. If you already have a hearing impairment, they will be able to discuss things like hearing aids and help you to learn more about how to manage them. 

Treat any illness or infections appropriately

Damage to our hearing is not always caused by loud noises. Sometimes, illness and infection can cause both short term and long term problems with our ears which can affect our hearing. Sometimes, it can be easier to allow our bodies to fight infection and for it all to blow over by itself, but other times, further action is required to protect all aspects of our health. If you are unwell and are worried that it may affect your ears, make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible and find out what they suggest as to the most appropriate form of treatment.

Don’t put anything into your ear

The general rule of thumb is not to put anything smaller than your elbow into your ear. It can be tempting to want to clean or scratch your ears with an earbud or q-tip, but this can push any was further down into the inner ear and compact it. To clean your ears, wipe a damp flannel around the outside of your ear. If you are having issues with ear wax, talk to your doctor or audiologist, or purchase some ear wax softener, which will remove it safely.

Taking Care Of Your Hearing

It is an unfortunate truth that hearing is one of those senses, once it is damaged, that damage is there for good. That is why it is essential that you are more aware of what is and isn’t good for your hearing health. 

And it isn’t just for you, it is for your family too.

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Photo by Alex Gruber on Unsplash

Although you should wait until you need a hearing solution before you take steps, you should always learn more about your option should you ever need. 

Dry

If you are a swim loving family, then there is always a risk of swimmer’s ear. Swimmer’s ear is where water gets trapped in the ear canal. This is the ideal place for bacteria to thrive. It doesn’t take long before that turns into an ear infection – causing a lot of pain and inflammation. One of the most simple ways to help the water out of your ear is by tipping your head to the side and waiting for a few moments. Failing that, gently pull your earlobe down, and that can usually help any water out. 

Stress

Many people don’t realize the reach of stress in terms of physical issues. But stress has been linked with temporary and permanent tinnitus. The higher your levels of stress, the more likely your body will settle into fight or flight mode. And as that is designed to protect you from danger, it floods your body with adrenaline – putting excessive pressure on your body heat, blood flow, and nerves. 

Volume

This tends to be something that teenagers do. They often turn their headphone volume up too high for too long. 

There are over 1.1 billion teams and young adults that are currently at risk of noise-induced hearing loss.

You can take preventative measures when talking to them about the safest levels of the volume when using headphones. There is a very simple rule that you can apply to the situation, and it is called the 60/60. It is very simple to remember the 60/60 rule – it just means you only have the volume of your headphones on at 60% of the maximum for 60 minutes a day. 

Of course, there is a high possibility that they would like to listen for longer or at a higher volume, so you need to find a compromise that works for you. But in general the 60/60 rule is highly recommended.

Rest

Believe it or not, you actually have to rest your ears. Much like every other muscle in the body, they work very hard. If you happen to have a job that is pretty noisy, then you’re going to have to give yourself a couple of hours rest per day. If you enjoy live music, nightclubs, or going to bars, then you will need to have at least 16 hours of rest for your ears the following day. This will help you recover from prolonged loud noise, And it is actually noise-induced hearing loss that comes in at number one for damaged hearing and hearing loss cases.

An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.