The Injuries Return Because You Aren’t Fixing You

Does this pattern sound familiar?  Injured…Rest…Return to activity…Injured…Rest…Return to activity…Injured… 

Or maybe this is more like it.  Injured…See (insert clinician)…Return to activity…Injured…See (insert clinician)…Return to activity…Injured… 

This pattern is all to common.  I talk to people every day who are stuck in this pattern.  Many people never break out of it and if they do break out of it, it takes years to do so. 

So why isn’t it getting better when you are taking the necessary measures to take care of it? 

Three BIG reasons: 1) The root cause has not been addressed, 2) The movement patterns have not been corrected, and 3) High stress and low sleep 

Root Cause 

Bodies are tricky.  They are a complex, interconnected puzzle.  Just because you have pain in a certain area of your body, does not mean that is the area that is causing the pain. 

If you have had a traumatic injury – ankle sprain, hard fall on your shoulder, twisted your knee – you know exactly what caused the injury and where the injury is at.  When you don’t have a traumatic injury like that, injuries can be distorted and cloudy.  Here’s why… 

Referred pain 

Referred pain often comes from a nerve being pinched somewhere in the body, which sends pain signals further down the pathway.  Referred pain can also come from trigger points in a muscle, which essentially are those painful areas you push on and describe as a “knot” or a “ball.” 

With referred pain, the pain feels very real and local to the area, which is why it is easy to miss as being referred pain. 

Compensations 

Our bodies are amazing at adapting, but sometimes to a detriment.  When we need to perform a movement to complete a task, the body do everything in its power to figure out a way.  If we have areas of our body that don’t move well (for any reason), our bodies find a way to move around that issue without us even realizing we are doing it.  For example, if the hip is tight and you need to squat, your pelvis and spine may rotate and shift to enable you to get to full depth, which may result in pain in a number of different areas. 

Layers 

This happens most often when pain is ignored for long periods of time.  As stated above, the body is great at compensating.  If we have pain that we are ignoring, the body discovers ways to move around that pain as best as possible so we can function without pain.  The longer the body compensates, the more issues build up.  What started as one issue may develop into a number of issues. 

It is necessary to peel back all the different layers in order to uncover what the true root cause is.  This can take a long time when multiple layers exist. 

Movement Patterns 

Many issues we create in our bodies stem from habitual movement patterns – patterns we developed in our teenage years most likely.  The movement patterns feel normal to us, therefore we don’t realize we are doing anything incorrectly. 

As long as you continue to move in a way that got you injured in the first place, you will continue to reinjure yourself.  Correcting movement patterns is essential to clearing up your recurring issues once and for all. 

If you are seeing a clinician who is only doing manual therapy or very simple exercises, you are doing yourself a disservice.  It is worth your time and money to invest in someone who is able to break down how you are moving and retrain your body how to move better. 

High Stress, Low Sleep 

This is a frequently forgotten area to address (or at least assess) when it comes to injuries.  High stress causes elevated cortisol, as does lack of sleep.  Many people are living in this state constantly without thinking (or perhaps knowing) about the impact it can have on your body.   

High stress and/or little sleep keep our systemic inflammation levels high and do not allow for full recovery of the body.  Constantly living in this state will often cause injury after injury if not addressed properly. 

Which of these scenarios sounds like you?  Want help breaking the cycle?  Schedule a call with me to discuss you situation and see what can be done about it: https://ocrtrainingsystem.mykajabi.com/booking-page.