Movement Myth 1: Time Heals All, or Does It?
Movement is so important to supporting or improving our health!
However, our brains are filled with stories of why we are limited to the way we are.
This series will discuss common myths and the micromovement counter-perspective.
Read on …
Movement Myth: “After an injury I just need some time to let things settle, and then I’ll be fine.”
Statistics of accidental injuries are huge! Whether it’s slipping and falling, an auto accident, or getting hit by a ball playing sports, these incidents can be traumatic to the way the body works.
Some statistics on injuries
In the US annually, there are millions of injuries mainly from vehicle, workplace, and recreational accidents. Source: here
The main types of injuries are sprains, strains, and fractures.
What does an injury really do to your muscles?
When you’ve had an injury, you know something bad happened but can’t really sort out all the effects. Multiple parts of your body may hurt. Or, if not hurting, they just don’t feel right or move easily.
The ability of our eyes and brain to process and recall details about what happened in an accident can be limited at best.
When objects are hit, there is so much more happening on a micro level than you can ever see or feel. When watching the The Slowmo Guys YouTube videos you begin to realize how complex the effects of an impact trauma can be!
These same sort of forces and crazy movements happen to your body in an injury. There are twists, turns, bounces, compression, and stretches all happening in short order. These each disturb and disrupt the organization of your muscles, and their micromovements.
After an injury what do you usually do?
You shake it out. Or you roll it. Or you use hot or cold compresses. You may generally feel ok after some amount of time, but it doesn’t mean your body is working well.
If you seek traditional medical treatment, you may be prescribed a course of steroids to reduce swelling. This will help you feel more comfortable.
When you find yourself taking Advil/Tylenol and/or using CBD oil or cream to relieve pain or soreness day after day, this is a clue that your body is still off-kilter.
You may do a series of physical therapy using stretches and exercises with the goal to rebuild strength or reduce tightness. These can help you feel better. But, in reality, how often do you do them? Or, do they end up exacerbating the pain?
So, how CAN you get better?
Why is there more to getting back to ‘normal’ after an injury?
Your muscles learned to work together in finely developed sequences way back when you were teeny tiny.
Once disturbed, these muscle sequences do not automatically come back online. Your tightness, poor balance, or odd pains are the clues that the sequences aren’t working well.
Can these muscle sequences get reset?
Yes! There are three steps to the process of getting your muscles back online and working together.
- Assess: We assess the foundational passive movement symmetry and flow which comprise your micromovements.
- Analyze: We synthesize the assessment findings and details about the disruptor event to determine the best path for resetting your muscles.
- Muscle resets: In the position from the analysis, we ‘rewind’ the trauma from the disrupted groups of muscles. Next is a series of guiding movements to gently remind the muscles of how they should be working together.
Once your muscles are reset and working like factory-original, it’s time to add in the Physical Therapy exercises to strengthen and rebuild endurance.
Story of the Week from Cara
After your injury heals, you’re fine. Maybe not.
This week we meet Robyn once again. We worked together several months ago to help with pain and posture following a hysterectomy. Her hip pain was gone, and she has been back to yoga.
What happened? Why is she back? Vacation, and a close encounter with a bike in Europe. Spoiler — the bike won.
Although she healed from the abrasions, two months later she really didn’t feel like she was moving well.
What did we find?
To start with, she literally was standing crooked! (Photo is before/after. Arms are straighter, shoulders more level, and legs better aligned.)
We also found that her body’s postural sway reactions were not keeping her safe from falling to one side. It happened to be in direction she was hit from the bike.
Her head was off center too. This was causing headaches and visual stress when working.
How did Bridging® help?
The video shows it best. We recreated the angles of impact, both from the bike and the ground.
Some of the clues used in our problem-solving?
- the locations of her bruises and scrapes
- what Robyn remembered about the impact
- what we found in our assessment
How did she change?
By unwinding the impact, and then supporting the proper muscle relationships, her micromovements bounced back quickly.
She wasn’t falling to the side any more, and her posture looked strong, grounded, and erect! Best was the head tension, which melted away. Each of these were so important for Robyn!
Why? Because she leads a social-media business appearing on camera often which means that her posture is important. The neck strain and headaches affected her ability to concentrate and stay on-task, impacting her efficiency. All are better!
Can Bridging® help your prior injury?
Had an injury sometime in the past and suspect it’s still causing issues for you? There is still time to schedule a session and get your muscles back on track.