Health & Fitness
March 2019
The Newsletter About Achieving and Maintaining Optimal Well-Being
Last month we touched on the hidden costs of pain. We listed 10 hidden costs which, in some very real respects, rob a person of their enjoyments or rewards in life. At times we see financial cost as the most important factor in how we decide how to handle a physical problem. In last month’s article we were trying to help someone see the full picture of what they were losing when not taking appropriate action to handle a body pain problem. As much as all 10 effects can be real costs for a person, they actually do not compare to what could be described as the biggest cost of all with persistent pain. The biggest cost to a person is one that is more subtle, but for those who love their independence and seek in life to be active, it is perhaps felt the most. The hidden cost relates to a person’s loss of their own personal control over their body. This is a quality they had when younger, but through events that occurred in life, their body developed problems that never resolved. There are tendencies in our medical model where those in chronic pain (back pain, neck pain, shoulder, knee pain, etc.) are managed more by passive methods (medication, injections, surgery, massage, adjustments to name a few), and never learn how to treat their physical problem with an active program of specific exercises and education to overcome the problem’s underlying basis. This does not imply passive methods do not have their place in the recovery process, but ultimately what a patient needs is an understanding of their Into The Hidden Costs of Pain DIVING DEEPER
problem and its solution. This would include a specific set of exercises which gives them the tools to address the underlying reasons for the pain. What this ultimately does is transfer the control process back to the patient and gives them the understanding and resources to personally handle the majority of their problem. Being more in control and having the personal tools to help yourself is a valuable feeling as one goes through time. The most artful aging is where the person is empowered to be able to help themselves. Yes, additional passive help is needed at times too, but the ratio of help is much more like an 80/20 % with the patient being the big contributor to their health, because they know how to address their body’s problems with an active program. For example, a person goes out this spring and hits the yard work with full enthusiasm. Eight hours of raking, mowing, mulching and the like, and that night the lower back is not happy. The key question is “what does that person know how to do to help themselves?” Know is the operative word here. Do they reach for the Ibuprofen or that leftover Vicodin from some prior injury? Or do they reach for more specific exercises, ice and stretches to relief the true source of the discomfort which could quite easily be tight, tired and overuse muscles?
www.fullpotentialpt.com
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker