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Pain
Pain is strange.
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If you’ve had it for a while, you’ll already know this. If you’re new to it, left me share some insight into the world of pain. First of all, pain isn’t well understood in the medical community compared with other conditions. We have multiple tests for a variety of conditions that allow us to see with certainty where a problem is coming from and how to treat it. Blood tests, CT, MRI, Xray, PET scan and a list of specialty testing that goes on. However, we don’t have a test for pain. Not a real test. Not something that can show us right where it’s at and how bad it is. All we have are subjective testing.
"Rate your pain on a scale from 1-10."
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"Look at these drawn faces and choose one that
reflects how you feel."
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"Fill out this form that compares activity
to how much you can do and how much it hurts."
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It’s subjective. We have to talk about it. No blood test, no
scan. This is a telling reminder about how little we
understand about a condition that effects nearly
everyone on this planet. There is certainly work being done but we are still without a definitive exam that exposes pain at it’s source. Pain is strange and complex and individualized. What hurts me will hurt you, but not at the same intensity or maybe for as long.
Additionally, we have a negative culture of pain. Most of us, not all, were likely taught to ignore pain, to push through it from the time we were children.
"What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger."
"No pain, no gain."
"Suck it up and keep going."
The idea of even talking about pain to people is taxing. As an adult if you express pain to people more than once or twice you might feel like you’re burdening them. People look at you strangely like why are you still hurting. You might be thought of as a hypochondriac, seeking pain medication or simply weak. It’s horrible, unjust and unnecessary.
What is offered at Source Therapy Solutions is an alternate vision of pain. Pain as a warning from your body that something is wrong and needs to be fixed. Respect for pain as an indicator of a problem that we don’t completely understand and therefore should be appreciated and not ignored. Seeking to work with pain and not against it in an effort to reach a state of health using pain as a guide post for recovery is our goal.
If we see pain as a protective instinct, something present meant to keep us safe then we can draw a different picture of it and from that a unique approach to how we work with it and not against it.
Let’s look at an abstract example; As a parent with a young child you hear a lot of sounds from them play to arguing. However, there’s one sound that will propel you from wherever you are to them as fast as you can run. When you hear a child screaming in pain, it is an instinctual response to reach them as fast as you can. Heart racing, eyes wide and fearing the worst. It’s panic and horror. Seeing that child and hovering over them, scooping them up ready to do whatever it takes to fix what happened. This is pain. Pain as a parent ready to do whatever it takes to fix the problem. Imagine then if someone were to come up and try to pull that child away from you forcibly. More panic, more horror. You pull in tighter; you fight, it goes from bad to worse.
So, how do we get that pain to let go and let someone who can help get their hands on that injury? Softly, slowly you show the injury that you’re here to help. You treat it with respect and recognize that pain plays an important role in providing information that can actually guide you through a healing process. It becomes a participant in the recovery and not an obstacle or adversary. This is the approach that is employed at Source Therapy Solution. A new approach to injury recovery that minimizes pain and improves functional recovery faster through education of the nature of pain specific to your body and injury type. Focused activity and intervention that will benefit you now and into the future.
Muscle Pain
Muscle pain, particularly the low back, is the second most common reason people see their MD. Here at Source Therapy Solutions we offer a unique and practical method to address immediate pain relief and plan for long term progress. Getting better from an injury changes as we age and you will benefit from the skills of a Physical Therapist to guide you through the process. Muscle pain is typically characterized by pain that exists with specific activity like standing, walking, sitting or pushing, pulling, lifting or simply moving the part of your body that is injured. Muscle injury can happen in a few different ways. Traumatic injury where healthy tissue is damaged through excess force like picking something up that is too heavy or falling. Overuse injury where one area of your body has been used too much at a lower load over a longer period of time. Surgical injury where tissue is damaged in order to get to another area of the body. Regardless of how you got hurt, we have a plan to guide you through the healing process.
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Surgical Precare and Aftercare
Surgical preparation and recovery is a realm that Physical Therapy is uniquely fitted for. Only a PT can guide you through the proper steps that will help you reach maximum recovery with guided intervention both before and after a surgery. Pre surgical intervention, or pre-hab, is accomplished by assessment of the current injury, functional ability and surgical procedure with treatment sighting the areas of the body that are most typically affected and addressing them through specific exercises before surgery.
After surgery care may also be necessary and is best administered by a Physical Therapist. Aftercare will involve solutions for pain reduction, control of excess swelling, circulation and restoration of motion along with progressive strengthening.
Stroke
Recovery from stroke requires the distinctive guidance a Physical Therapist can offer. Since the effects of a stroke can vary greatly from person to person, a thorough assessment is required as the first step in recovery. Based on those findings, a plan will be developed to provide the best route to restoring safe, effective motion with initial emphasis on being able to take care of yourself. Treatment can include instruction on how to change position in bed, how to sit up, stand, walk or use an affected hand or arm to lift and use objects in your home environment. Because a stroke is first a brain injury, it takes specialized care to address this condition as a brain injury expressed through weakness and difficulty moving your trunk, arms and legs.
Balance
Balance issue arise from a variety of sources and can be one of the hardest areas to correct. We have all fallen at one time or another likely with little impact besides feeling embarrassed. However, as we age falls become increasingly more dangerous and can threaten our independence and ability to care for ourselves. Because balance is a multi-system function of our body incorporating both higher and lower brain function along with muscle strength and coordination it can be difficult to restore balance once it has been damaged. Again, physical therapy is suited to address these issues and guide you back to a place where you feel confident and safe in doing the things that you need to do.
