Injuries are probably the most over-estimated and over-rated cause of pain in our cultural pain paradigm. And scar tissue may be the most under-rated and under-estimated cause of pain in our world. This can seem like somewhat of a contradiction in terms unless you understand that scar tissue can often come about as the result of repetitive strain and persistent lifestyle factors like poor posture.
A true injury is when we are 100% healthy one minute and then broken the next. Many of the back injuries, ankle injuries and knee injuries we experience are however a little more complex than that. It is often our weaknesses that come to the surface during relatively minor incidents, which masquerade as true injuries. This being said there are obviously many other occasions when we sustain true injuries.
Regardless of whether they come from weakness or genuine bad luck, many of our injuries leave us with lasting challenges. This is obviously true of the majors like back pain and whiplash injuries after major car crashes, but it is in many ways just as true of the common garden variety ankle sprains.
Physical injuries cause chronic pain through the legacy of scar tissue and muscle wasting. Ineffective rehabilitation is injury management that doesn't deal effectively with the scar tissue and muscle wasting left by classic ankle sprains. And – For Your Information - effective injury rehab is the exception not the rule in our society. These principles where chronic pain is the long term result of an injury applies to all pains in your body.
The point of this info series was firstly to acknowledge what a pain pickle we are in as a society, and perhaps reassure you that you aren’t alone if you are struggling with chronic pain. And secondly to demystify all this pain, as a start point on the journey towards full rehabilitation and recovery. Because the good news I have to share is each and every one of the lower body pain causes I have touched on here comes with a wide range of reciprocal and effective solutions.
The scar tissue that causes so much of our knee pain and ankle pain can be broken down.
The muscle wasting causing our back pain can be sorted with the right exercises.
The impact of hard surfaces can be mitigated with exercises and custom orthotics to provide support and shock absorption to our joints.
We can learn about how to take better care of our muscles, joints and soft tissues.
And our trauma can be healed and released, often with surprisingly simple tools and exercises.
And when we put all this together for ourselves in a way that works for us - we will have taken a small but hugely meaningful bite out of the largely silent pain pandemic we are living in the midst of.
Now that you are armed with all this information it is time to take some action on your journey to recovery from your Lower Back Pain.
Make sure you listen to episodes 1,2,3 and 4 of this information series to get the full picture of the Pain Pandemic you are living in right now.
