A few weeks ago, I spoke to a friend on the phone about her post-pregnancy neck, shoulder, and back pain.
During our conversation, she said “Rikhi, my body is broken” to which I responded, “No. Your body is not broken…it just needs some fine-tuning.”
She really appreciated that and to be honest, it got me thinking too. Why did she like that? What does that tell us about pain? Our bodies? And how do we use our knowledge to help people?
I’ve done quite a lot of thinking about this since then and I wanted to share with you my current understanding of pain and the topic of being broken vs. needing a fine tuning.
Sometimes you just need fine tuning
Imagine a list of all the activities that we do such as sitting, sleeping, walking, jogging, exercising, going up and down the stairs etc. To perform these activities, we need a certain level of strength and tolerance.
Occasionally, we do too much of an activity at a level that is beyond our tolerance. As a result, things can go wrong. In contrast, sometimes we do too little and during that time, our muscles and joints become weaker.
In this case, our baseline strength and tolerance level drops, and as a result, when we suddenly do certain activities again, things can hurt too.
Essentially, whenever our activity level exceeds our tolerance level, or our tolerance levels fall below what is required to perform our activities, things can begin to hurt. But other than some extreme scenarios, this does NOT mean anything is damaged or broken!
Our body has simply sent us a message that we need some fine tuning by adjusting tolerance levels to a level that can match the activities we want to perform, thus restoring the balance in our body again.
The way I see it, we’re lucky that our body gives us these reminders!
So really, the question here is…will we listen to these reminders? Will we accept them? And will we take the necessary steps to fine tune the body before the balance is too far off?
If we ignore the warning signs and we continue with the activities anyway, the warnings quickly turn into something else. Every time you avoid dealing with the warning given by your body, you increase the risk of injury and once you get an injury, rehabilitating from it takes up a lot of your precious time and energy.
Avoid long-term issues and get the fine tuning your body needs
Instead of risking your movement and freedom with problematic injuries, all you have to do is get checked up at a physiotherapy centre you trust.
Schedule a telephone consultation with expert physiotherapists at Form Physio and Rehab and we’ll determine what exactly you’re working with and how best to take care of these issues. After working with us and getting fine tuned and back up to speed, you’ll be able to do everything normally again, pain-free and without hesitation!
Author
Kodchakorn (Ked) Tawonsupajalean
Head Therapist at Form Recovery and Wellness
Kodchakorn received a Degree in Physiotherapy from Mae Fah Luang Univeristy in Chiang Rai. Kodchakorn is the Head Therapist at Form Recovery and Wellness and works closely with all the therapists from all departments to ensure that every single client who comes to us has the highest chance of success.
