TL;DR
A Good Trade personal essay recounts how its author tore a hamstring at age 56 on Venice Beach and later underwent surgery. She says the injury focused her attention on the present while she was recovering from a depressive episode, though recovery also kept her from using exercise as a coping tool.
A woman writing for The Good Trade says a hamstring tear she suffered at age 56 brought her attention back to the present while she was recovering from a five-month depressive episode. Her account describes the injury, surgery and disrupted routine, but offers a personal reflection rather than medical evidence that injury or pain treats depression.
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The writer says she was at Venice Beach in Los Angeles with her friend Peggy, who had come to celebrate her birthday. After a wave hit as she tried to lift a foot buried in sand, she felt sharp pain from her buttock down her right leg and could not stand. Bystanders helped her from the water, and lifeguards examined her. They said they found no break and thought the problem might be muscular, according to her account. She declined an ambulance ride to an emergency room.
Unable to walk, she returned to her hotel with Peggy. The next morning, she could not drive home, so she says she rode 160 miles with a tow truck driver. An MRI several days later showed a hamstring tear at the sit bone. The doctor told her that without surgery she would lose 50% of her right-leg strength for the rest of her life, she wrote. The essay says she was referred to a sports medicine surgeon and that the operation was successful; it does not identify the surgeon or give the exact surgery date.
The injury came as she was beginning to improve after a five-month period of clinical depression. She writes that the pain focused her attention on the immediate moment and that depressive thought loops and anxiety eased. Recovery has also limited her usual coping practice: walking, hiking and swimming. She says she is relying instead on writing, art, reading, breath work, therapy, physical therapy, friends, meditation, music and time outdoors.
Recovery Without Her Usual Exercise
The account describes a double disruption: the injury required surgery and curtailed activities the writer used to support her mental health. She says exercise had been a main way to regulate her nervous system, so losing access to walking, hiking and swimming made recovery challenging. Her experience illustrates how a physical injury can affect daily routines and emotional coping, without establishing that the injury itself improved her mental health.
She also describes practical preparation for recovery as a person who lives alone and wanted to remain as independent as possible. She ordered a shower chair and raised toilet seat and had a grab bar installed. Those details show the planning she says was needed alongside appointments, medical clearance and surgery. The piece does not report clinical outcomes beyond her own description of a successful operation and recovery that was going better than anticipated.
Her reflections should be read as one person’s account, not a recommendation to treat depression through injury, pain or any particular therapy. She describes a range of supports and interventions over time, including psychotherapy and medication, and says she began Spravato treatment in June. The essay does not establish which, if any, intervention caused a change in her symptoms.
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Depression Before the Beach Injury
Before the injury, the writer says major upheavals had contributed to a decline in her mental health. She had left what she describes as a toxic special education teaching job, gone through a breakup and experienced strained relationships. She writes that these changes left her questioning her purpose and feeling that her sense of security had been compromised. She also says she has dealt with anxiety and depression since childhood.
She lists past and current approaches to mental health care, including antidepressant medication, EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, Gestalt therapy, somatic therapy, guided meditation and mindfulness classes. Earlier that year, she also began conscious connective breathwork and Spravato, the brand name for esketamine nasal spray. She says Spravato is administered in a medical clinic, with a two-hour period of supervised rest, and that she journals before and after sessions. These details are her description of her care, not independent clinical findings.
The injury followed an initially reassuring assessment by lifeguards but proved more serious after imaging. The sequence in her account—from the beach, to severe difficulty walking, to an MRI and surgical referral—shows why the early impression of a muscular problem did not settle the diagnosis. The report does not include medical records or an independent account from the clinicians involved.
“The physical pain of my hamstring injury suddenly snapped me into the present moment.”
— The writer, in The Good Trade
Medical Details Not Reported
The essay does not state the exact date of the injury, MRI, surgery or publication, and it gives no detailed rehabilitation timeline. It does not identify the surgeon, specify the precise operation or provide follow-up measurements of strength and function. The reported 50% long-term strength loss is attributed to the doctor by the writer and is not independently documented in the source material.
Her description of feeling more present after the injury is subjective. The essay does not show that pain caused the improvement in depressive symptoms, nor does it say that her depression resolved. It also does not explain how her mental health changed over the full course of recovery or provide an update on her current mobility.
Rehabilitation and Ongoing Care
The writer says she is continuing physical therapy while using non-exercise activities and support from close friends to cope during recovery. The essay does not give a date for when she expects to return to walking, hiking or swimming, or describe a planned return-to-activity schedule. It also offers no later update on the surgical outcome.
She describes ongoing mental-health care, including psychotherapy and clinic-supervised Spravato treatment, but does not report a future treatment milestone or a final assessment of its effect. The next developments in her account are therefore the course of physical rehabilitation and how she manages mental health while her usual exercise routine remains limited.
Key Questions
What injury did the writer suffer?
She says an MRI showed a hamstring tear from the sit bone after she developed severe pain and could not walk at Venice Beach.
Did she have surgery?
Yes. She says she was referred to a sports medicine surgeon and that the surgery was successful. The essay does not specify the operation date or give detailed medical records.
How did she say the injury affected her mental health?
She writes that the pain brought her attention into the present and that depressive thought loops and anxiety eased. This is her personal account, not evidence that an injury or pain treats depression.
What has made recovery difficult?
She says she has been unable to rely on her usual activities—walking, hiking and swimming—as coping tools. She describes turning to writing, art, therapy, physical therapy, friends, meditation and other practices instead.
What remains unknown about her recovery?
The essay does not provide a rehabilitation timeline, a return-to-exercise date or a later assessment of leg strength and mobility. It also does not say whether her depressive symptoms fully resolved.
Source: rss
