Why Are My Aches & Pains Not Going Away?

Plus - An Exciting Announcement…

Have you ever heard someone tell you not to focus on the hurt or the pain, but instead on the lesson it taught you? This can be a really great way to shift a preoccupation with the negative aspects of an injury to an opportunity for learning and growth. But what do you do if the aches and pains don’t go away and maybe are a constant reminder instead? Experiencing persistent discomfort and pain is not good and can also alter how your body and brain behave, not to mention just really mess with how you feel overall. We will share some of our go to strategies and treatments to deal with nags and maybe even ones that feel a little worse.

During our athletic careers, and even as trainers and therapists, there were times when we would get injured and cast to the sidelines. One of us (who will remain nameless) got injured A LOT (arguably this also made them a much more empathic therapist). And there was nothing that brought the good times rolling to a faster screeching halt than an injury. Some of those times it would take longer than others to come back. Sometimes what felt like a small niggle at first continued to snowball into something worse. While at times these injuries came from an unplanned event like getting taken out by a slide tackle or errant wave, other times it came from pushing too hard past envelopes that in those moments our bodies could handle without repercussions.

Sound familiar? Undoubtedly if you have been a human in motion for any amount of time you have experienced pain and perhaps an injury or two that may or may not be still plaguing you as you read. Whether it’s cricks in your neck, nagging lower back pain, or maybe a tweaked shoulder; it’s likely that there is something not 100% at this moment. And that’s okay because it can likely improve!

Did you know that your shoulder (technically your glenohumeral joint) is made to have the most range of motion out of any joint in your entire body?? What’s that you say? Yours doesn’t feel like it has so much? Well, that can also likely be improved! Pain doesn’t need to be what motivates you to change.

Pain Isn’t Always the First Sign, Sometimes it’s the Last…

The thing is, it doesn’t have to be some sort of horrendous accident that is the cause of tweaks and pain. Sometimes it’s the things that are more constant and not as obvious that are more damaging. We’ve all heard about “text neck” at this point and the not so great repercussions of a sedentary life at the computer; and the fact is that much of that is becoming more and more apparent. However, It’s not just tech and sedentary living. ANYTHING you do daily that you do OFTEN in a REPEATED fashion when done in a way that your body isn’t well designed for can lead to pain and disfunction. Now that isn’t always the case because if it were we would all be a mess. Your body is incredibly capable of adapting to patterns and even ones that it may not favor. The body (and mind) is a great compensator after all. But take for example, if you run every single day for some aerobic gains and health, but you are also running in such a way that your hips and low back are barking at you. You may take that as a sign for some change, right? However, the signs for change aren’t always obvious or perhaps painful as some angry hips after a run.

Sometimes we may not even be aware of the problem or where the problem is, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t one. Pain is often the last sign and it doesn’t take a noticeable injury either. The key is to not chase pain around and instead head it off at the pass. If you can prevent injury or reverse the path, that will always be the way to go. Additionally, if you literally chase the pain by going to the source of it and treating it, it may not be helping. More on this shortly.

However, some of you reading this may be in pain right now or maybe you have been in low grade pain or discomfort for a long time. Achy, inflamed or crunchy joints? A low back or hip issue that jumps up there on the pain scale from time to time? These longer standing issues can often be the most frustrating and disconcerting especially when you feel like you have tried so many different things to help (and even if you haven’t). The good news is that you can indeed assess and address these types of chronic issues and pain and find tremendous relief with the right treatment.

RB Philosophy & Treatment:

At Resilient Body, we don’t believe in a one-sided approach and often times we see clients that have tried that before. Maybe you have tried to Swedish or deep tissue massage your way out of low back problems or keep your fingers crossed that if you just keep working out and getting a stronger core it will go away. Sometimes this will indeed provide relief and in some instances resolve, but most of the time it does not. The reason for this is that these techniques when used alone can be missing a part of the picture required to fully address the true root issue let alone fully resolve. What ends up happening is a band-aid gets slapped on and it may work for some time or each time, but it isn’t lasting.

Sometimes certain techniques to resolve pain don’t work by themselves or end up working only temporarily rather than solving the root cause

One reason for this is the nature of how the pain that finally brings you to get treatment came to be. Pain is often a last cry once the damage has been done (sometimes for a LONG time), and the site of where the pain is felt is not always the culprit, but sometimes just an innocent victim.

What does that mean? Well, if the painful lower back is coming from stiff hips that don’t like to rotate or stabilize in a specific direction or position as much as your low back needs them too, then the low back may get victimized every time you go run or squat.

How do we do this?

A blend of different therapies and modalities…

We like to treat the actual culprits and not chase the victims around as much as possible; and that often requires a multi-modal (some would say holistic) approach. Rather than massage your low back over and over again, we like to find out why and how it keeps getting picked on. We like to use thorough assessments and tools that many folks are just now finally starting to get hip to using at the same time. We combine these tools because we know it will provide a more lasting solution to the pain and discomfort now and down the line. Ideally after some consistent work (or sometimes much more quickly) you can get to a place where you are back better than before the issue. Our goal is to create relief and resiliency beyond what you had coming in, and with the right tools and work, beyond what you may have ever had before.

We use a combination of different assessments and tools including ones we have hybridized and see what the full picture is. We will analyze not only how you hold yourself and how you move but also the quality of your soft tissues and joints. No- we don’t have “MR-Eyes”; but we do have some pretty sensitive and intuitive hands along with experience and we like a few techniques in particular for our hands on modalities.

FR

Functional Range Release treatments help identify areas of abnormal tissue tension which can often be areas of fibrotic tissue. Fibrotic tissue is scarring of connective tissue and that tissue isn’t as elastic or as good at doing things (think poor loading capacity, which is why it keeps getting injured in part due to the poor elasticity). This can occur due to repeated bouts of inflammation, or being constantly inflamed which is why other approaches that we can use to go with will help much more.

We often combine PAILs & RAILs (types of isometric loading in increasing ranges of motion) with FR, in order to:

• Produce internal load to stimulate remodeling of connective tissues

• Aid and speed up soft tissue healing and repair since blood flow isn’t always as great in some types of tissue versus others (capsules and ligaments don’t get flow like muscle does)

• Very importantly, overcome neuromuscular barriers that develop post injury (think muscle guarding and spasms)

• Expand the usable range of motion by developing angle specific strength (teaching the nervous system how to control expanded ranges of motion in ways it didn’t before)

What we use FR combined therapies for:

·  Tendinopathy or Tendinosis, Tendonitis

·  Muscle and tendon strains or tears

·  Ligament sprain

·  Instability or hypermobility

·  Fascial tears

·  Post-surgical rehabilitation

·  Joint restriction

·  Postural de-compensation

·  Movement dysfunction

·  Motor control dysfunction

ART

We also use Active Release Techniques (ART) to identify irregularities in tissue texture, tension, and movement. These treatment protocols use very precise touch with specific patient-initiated movements to restore function and relieve pain.

What we use ART for:

• Headaches

• Back and neck pain

• Shoulder strain

• Tendinitis

• Carpel tunnel syndrome

• Sciatica

• Bursitis

• Knee pain

• Shin splints

• Plantar fasciitis 

NKT

We will also use Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT) to help better tease apart where dysfunction is arising. It can be very easy and tempting to go in and treat where the site of pain is (as you may find yourself doing instinctually) but that is not always what is causing it. NKT addresses how dysfunctional movement patterns are stored in the brain to better get at the root cause. We can utilize this technique in conjunction with all of the techniques mentioned above when needed.

What you will feel after treatment:

• Less muscle stiffness

• Restored feeling in your fingers and toes

• Improved strength and flexibility

• Relief from joint pain and inflammation

• Less pain during exercise and physical activity

ALL of these modalities are great for people with chronic pains, acute injuries, limited range of motion during exercises or daily movements, or looking to reach maximum gains in their sport, lifting, or even their gardening game.

You do not need to be in pain to benefit from these types of treatments and using them preventatively is often a wise choice.

Remember that treatment alone is one part of the puzzle. “Homework,” daily activity or inactivity adjustments, and movement that addresses what brought you in for treatment are key.

Strength Training

While passive modalities can be tremendously helpful in healing and staying healthy, we like to encourage strength training for everyone not just for muscle, bone and joint health, but for resilience and better overall health. Strength training can improve metabolic health, heart health, mood, sleep, and cognition. It will help keep you out of the doctor’s office but if you do end up there it will be MUCH easier to bounce back.

Last, But Not Least…Some Exciting News!

We have moved and are excited to announce our new treatment, office and gym space at 320 Tesconi Circle, Suite A in downtown Santa Rosa!

If you have been contemplating coming in for treatment for a current ache or pain or getting started with us for your personal training or nutrition we would love to see you!

Please shoot us an email or hop online to book and if you have any questions, as always, feel free to reply to this email.

While we are already open, a grand opening “open house” is slated for March 19th. More to come…

 We look forward to seeing you soon!…