What if you're wrong?
But of course a total knee replacement surgery was the only thing that could "fix" her knee and allow her to be pain free again. Unless it wasn't. What if that line of thinking was wrong?
What if you're wrong?I recently had a client who was told by her doctors that her knee was bone-on-bone and she had no cartilage left in her knee. Her doctors and her both bought into the idea that the lack of cartilage was the reason for her constant pain. But she wasn't ready for a knee replacement. She was referred to me by a good friend. She understood that her posture imbalances made her movement less efficient. She also understood that those imbalances might put increased pressure on her knee. And she even entertained the idea that maybe those posture imbalances were the reason her knee cartilage wore out in the first place.
But of course a total knee replacement surgery was the only thing that could "fix" her knee and allow her to be pain free again. Unless it wasn't. What if that line of thinking was wrong?
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I recently received the Oregon Health & Science University spring magazine in the mail and when flipping through it saw in the Question & Answer section this question: Let's examine what is said here and what part is true and what part is not true and how you can figure out the best course of action to become pain free.
Don't Believe Everything You HearHow do you tell the difference between a myth and reality? Fact and fiction? A story and the truth? Words like objective, data, authentic, science, validity, and proof come to mind. We all love stories, fairy tales, gossip, urban legends, hoaxes, and fantasy but they do a huge disservice to us, our bodies, and our health.
If you have heard any of the following things, think twice before you believe them. They are more than likely not true, even though they are commonly held beliefs. These are the 10 biggest myths about your body and health: I have written many articles about how what you think and what you believe and your mindset will determine whether you become pain free or not. I wrote the now famous article "The 3 things you must do to be pain free for life" in 2004 and the first of the 3 things you must change is: your mind or mindset. This starts with moving away from the "what's wrong with me?" questions to "what's my body trying to tell me?" Moving beyond thinking "my back hurts because I have a herniated disc" to thinking about "why did the disc herniate?"
I'm guessing that most of you reading this post have at one time or another been injured or have had some type of chronic pain. Right?
Think back to that time when you hurt your knee, threw out your back, had chronic nerve pain, or couldn't find enough pain pills to stop the pain. I'm assuming you probably went to see your doctor about the pain to figure out what was wrong and what was causing the pain. Correct? You might have been told you have a torn ligament or meniscus in your knee, or herniated a disc in your back, or have bone spurs or stenosis causing the nerve pain. The big question comes next...What can I do about it? How do I fix it? As I have discussed many times, the human body is built by movement for movement. "We have a brain for one reason and one reason only - and that’s to produce adaptable and complex movements." - Daniel Wolpert Humans evolved to move: Running after food or away from danger. Climbing trees to gather fruit. Digging up roots to eat. Carrying firewood and food long distances back to our family. Throwing rocks or spears to kill animals for food. Walking long distances to follow migrating animals, ripe fruit, or water sources and to avoid predators, bad weather, and lack of food and water. Our bodies are designed to do all these activities (walk, run, climb, throw, carry, etc) every day of our lives. The human body is maintained by movement. Use it or lose it. If we don't walk, run, climb, throw, and carry on a daily basis our bodies start to fail. Muscles become stiff and weak. Bones loss density and become fragile. Cartilage becomes thin. Ligaments and tendons become stiff and prone to tears. Skin becomes thin and sensitive. Blood vessels become smaller, stiffer, and less resilient. Digestion slows and becomes incomplete. Immunity weakens. Brain function deteriorates. The signals for cellular repair and rebuilding slow. Most people call these changes "normal" aging, but they have very little to do with age and everything to do with lack of movement. How can we reintroduce a variety of functional or evolutionary movement to our lives? An easy way to start getting back to our roots is introducing easy, simple obstacle course workouts. Egoscue affectionately calls these "Patch" workouts or "PatchFitness". Below is episode 6 of Sonima's "Becoming Pain Free" video series that follows Steven as he uses the Egoscue Method of Postural Alignment Therapy to help him overcome chronic pain and become free of pain and limitations. Enjoy! If you missed any previous episodes of Sonima presents "Becoming Pain Free" you can find them here:
Episode 1: Taking the first steps toward pain free living. Episode 2: The surprising factors that contribute to chronic pain. Episode 3: Continuing the journey to become pain free. Episode 4: Seeing the effects of posture on pain relief. Episode 5: Why total body balance is crucial for pain relief. The human body is designed to move. In fact the human body, like all creatures on earth, is a direct reflection of the requirements of movement. Form follows function and our bodies were designed by movement for movement. When we stop moving, we start dying. The more we move, and the more variety of movement we do, the healthier we become. Follow the example of kids everywhere: move, run, jump, play, dance, have fun.
Related articles/videos: The kidding around workout The difference between play and sports training Form follows function in the human body 10 design perfections in the human body If you've heard of Postural Alignment Therapy or read Pain Free by Pete Egoscue and are trying to understand how personalized one-on-one therapy in a clinic works this video by Somina is a great starting point in understanding how therapy works. When you have any chronic pain symptoms the most important information for you to understand is what is causing the pain and what can you do about it. And when I say "what is causing the pain" I am not talking about things like "you have moderate osteoarthritis in your hip" or "you have a herniated disc at L4-5" or "you have a partial rotator cuff tear".
To find the underlying reason for the pain you have to ask the next question:
These questions help you dig much deeper than the easy answers (that are often not true at all) and get to the root cause of your pain. After asking these questions you can begin to look at your postural alignment and movement patterns to see why you were wearing the cartilage away in one hip and not the other or why you herniated a disc at a certain level. These questions, answers, and solutions take more effort than the easy ones, but the results are much better and longer lasting. If you think age caused your arthritic hip, there's nothing you can do about your age, so your only options turn into live with the increasing pain and disability as you get older, take pain medication to hide the pain, or get a hip replacement (which will limit your activities, often not relieve all the pain, and sometimes has complications). But if you ask more questions you'll discover that the reason why your one hip is arthritic is because the other hip is not helping. Strengthening the weaker hip and restoring normal range of motion to the arthritic hip might take a year but if you're able to return to your normal activities without pain and avoid drugs and surgery most people will say that's worth it! When you're ready for help contact me and I'll work with you on asking and answering these questions and finding the way for you to get well and return to a pain free and active life. Related videos/articles: What is "normal" aging? Orthopedic doctor and postural alignment specialist discuss osteoarthritis Knee joint osteoarthritis Could a simple misunderstanding really cause all my pain? Cause of back pain is never found in 85% of patients. Really!? Why? Having a tough week? Stressed out? Feeling overwhelmed? Dr. Mike Evans has some easy things you can do to feel better, calm down, and get through a crappy week. One more thing I would add to this list is doing your Egoscue Postural Alignment Therapy menu from Oregon Exercise Therapy.
Related videos/articles: Low back pain video by Dr. Mike Evans Why sitting is bad for you Could a simple misunderstanding really cause all my pain? Doctor's miracle drug: the exercise cure Do you skip workouts because...
Try it and your body will thank you. Trust me. Do it now. Have fun. Related videos/articles: Functional Bodyweight Workout The Feel Good Workout Couples Strength Workout The Cause of Back Pain is Never Found in 85% of patients |
About Matt WhiteheadI'm an Egoscue Institute® certified Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) and Advanced Exercise Therapist (AET), certified personal trainer, PatchFitness performer, ultra trail runner, mountain biker, dad, music lover, environmentalist, and wanna-be slam dunk champion. I will be providing you with the latest posture exercises to help you live, play, and be pain free. Archives
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I really just wanted to express my gratitude for what you do and your great help. And, great help it was!! When one is in constant great pain for as long as I was and so desperate for help...words cannot express what I want to say....how can I thank you enough? You helped change my life. |
I feel soooo limber and free in my hip movements and relaxed in my low back. Outstanding and I'm very impressed with the pdf's and the videos, great support to the client. Wonderful job, keep up the great job. – Mike |
It is amazing! I've been in pain for 5 years and worked with other therapists and no one has been able to help me. Working with you I am 95% pain free! It feels so good to not have any pain and be able to walk and do things I haven't been able to do for years. Thank you so much! - Joni |