Injury Recovery

Pain and swelling are good.

No, that wasn’t a typo. It’s true.

After you sprain your ankle, your body protects you. The pain and swelling keep you from putting pressure on it and causing even further injury.

Yes, it’s ugly. Yes, it hurts! But this is precisely the response you want.

Your body responds, and you act accordingly.

But sometimes, it’s too good.

Sometimes, we get so good at accommodating an injury that we forget to stop doing it once the ankle has healed.

At that point, healing becomes a hindrance.

And the accommodation becomes a habit around which you begin – perhaps without even noticing – making even more accommodations. Accommodations you don’t need.

Catch them before they become “blind spots.”

“Blind spots?” you say. “I thought we were talking about my pain and recovery.”

And we are.

Accommodating when you no longer need to do so is like trying to drive with potentially dangerous blind spots. If you don’t find a way to expose those blind spots, you could end up in a serious accident.

It’s important to catch your postural blind spots before useful accommodations become limitations.

And it’s most effective to catch before they settle in as the new normal.

Life happens.

When Scott was 20 a serious car accident injured his right leg.

Doctors immobilized the broken bones with a cast to prevent further injury. It was a helpful solution at the time, but those couple of months in a cast had a significant effect on Scott.

A Cast in the Brain

Decades later, Scott was experiencing severe back pain.

When I touched his right leg, it felt as stiff as though I were touching wood.

He had become so adept at his leg not moving that it was as if he were still in the cast.

Shedding the Cast

As we worked together, Scott became aware of his habit of restricting movement in his leg and hip.

As he softened, his leg and hip started to move in relation to each other.

And as we clarified the remnant of his long-ago car accident and removed the blind spot, Scott’s back pain melted away.

You can’t change the past, but you can change it’s impact on you.

When recovering from an injury, this approach prevents the accommodations from becoming habits.

It uncovers what’s in your way – and helps shed the impact that old injuries might still be having on you.

And leaves you free to be present for the important things.

Let’s get clear about what’s still in your way – so you can get on with living your life! (971) 279-7110