The worst pain of the year

A physio blog in January… Oh no. You’re probably expecting to be told to forget about all the good food that you had over Christmas and cast your mind bravely ahead to the exercise that you plan to do this year. In fact, the opposite is true.

Think back to the best meal you had at Christmas. It might have been the turkey which went so well with the cranberry sauce or the cherries which were the deepest, richest red you’ve ever seen. It could have been the pudding that came just after you’d had enough time to digest the main meal or even the leftovers on Boxing Day that tasted so much better once all the fuss was over and you could finally put your feet up on the couch to watch the cricket.

In thinking back to your best meal, it’s likely that your most intense memory doesn’t just involve your memory of its taste alone, but also of the smells, the setting, the people you were with, the time of day, the drink in your hand. And that’s not surprising given the fact that it’s well known that all the sights, sounds and smells associated with food are part of the experience of eating. In fact they can make all the difference as to what type of flavour the food produces.

What does that possibly have to do with physio?

The truth is, the same is true of pain. Your experience of pain is one that draws on all kinds of sensations that the body takes in. This includes what’s going on in the injured body part, what’s going on in the rest of the body as well as what’s going on in the world around you.

Okay, but still, what does that have to do with physio?

Your physio is able to help you to identify the different factors that may be contributing to your pain, including ones you might not have thought about much. Your physio is then able to help you to improve these factors. That’s because your physio recognises that pain (like flavour) develops out of a variety of processes and so it will also be reduced by a variety of strategies and methods.

This means that when you see a physio about your pain, you’ll almost never just get one thing to solve the problem. You’ll get multiple strategies which will all work together to help you to heal and to minimise your pain.

So next time you eat a brilliant meal, think about all the things that are making it such an intensely enjoyable moment. And next time you’re in pain, think about all the factors which are making it such an intensely painful moment.

If you need help with reversing this pain or want to understand why it hurts so much, just give us a call on 9364 4073 and we’ll be more than happy to help.