Does Your Body Know Who’s in Charge?
If you complain about having balance issues, back pain and general weakness, you’re not alone. Though that probably isn’t a surprise if you’ve been following along with us for a while now, here’s something that might be:
Your problems do not come from where you think they do.
Not for the most part anyways. Many people will come in and tell us they have knee pain, low back pain, general muscle tightness or weakness but so often there is a long pause when asked “why do you think you struggle with that?”. There are an abundance of cases where people tell us it’s just something they’ve dealt with for their entire life which may sound like the end of the story, right?
Wrong.
Let’s go back in time a little shall we?
All the way back to when you were learning to walk, yes, that far back in time.
As children, everything is new to us, there is a lot of trial and error that goes into the whole “existing” thing. Learning to walk is a huge milestone! Most children begin walking with an unsteady gait, just trying to stay upright and put one foot in front of the other. Gait abnormalities are fairly common in young walkers but when does it become a cause for concern?
Though many children learn to walk by posturing funny or positioning their feet to what is comfortable and manageable for them, this can cause a plethora of issues down the line if there is not a shift towards typical posturing.
If children continue through their life walking with out-turned or in-turned feet, bow-leggedness or knock-knees, they are being set up for poor balance and back pain, among other issues.
But how does the way you walk affect these things? It’s all about your physiological chain of command. Starting from the bottom: if your feet are positioned abnormally on the ground beneath you, the rest of your body is forced to adjust.
Your knees begin to take on unwarranted pressure because they are being forced inward or outward.
Your pelvis then tilts up or down to even the score with your knees.
What happens next?
Your spine becomes compressed or manipulated to accommodate every odd adjustment below it. Now your spine is more stressed out than a pig that just found out where bacon comes from.
This out-of-whack chain of commands sets you up for tightness and pain in your knees, hips, and back. This problem is not irreversible, but it does need to be addressed, remember the three D’s and DON’T ignore it! And, don’t get hung up on the idea that this is simply an old man’s game, gait issues can affect anyone at any age.
If you’re just now realizing that maybe your knees do feel a little tight or that perhaps you tend to stand with your feet turned outward, don’t worry, being aware of your body is step one of learning how to help it.
Now what?
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For starters you have to decide that you are going to be proactive in your health and do something about it.
If back pain is your main concern check out my previous blogs that talk about dealing with back pain and some of the Biggest Mistakes people with back pain make
If balance inconsistency is the bane of your existence check out my post on what exactly balance is and what the lack of it could mean for you
Now, if you need something more, we can help with that too.
It starts with our simple 3 Step Process.
- Schedule a FREE Discovery Visit with one of our experts.
- Receive a Customized (Individualized) Treatment Plan
- Get Your Life Back and Do What You Love
It really is that simple!
The first step is the hardest and I can’t take it for you but I can make it as simple and easy as possible.
“A healthy man has thousands of wishes, a sick man has only one”. –Agnes Karll Schwest Krankenpfleger
You will work with one of our experts to design a customized plan specific to your needs and conditions.
Next Action:
I have talked about this for years. I call it The 3 D’s. You can learn more about it HERE. Follow The 3-D’s to handle your issue and you can’t go wrong.
- Don’t ignore the problem—A problem could be pain, weakness, frequent falls or trouble recovering from an injury or illness. It is a signal from the body that something is wrong. Hoping and wishing will not make it better. Try to ignore it and hope it goes away –almost never works and usually makes everything worse.
- Don’t mask it—getting injections, taking pills, wearing a brace or using a walker only masks the problem and doesn’t fix the underlying cause. I have several examples in my personal life where this did not work out. Trying to mask it and not truly addressing the underlying issue makes the problem cost more (time, money and stress) to fix in the long run.
- Do something about it-–If addressed properly most problems can heal conservatively, naturally without injections or surgical intervention. Doing something about it – addressing the issue head on, while it may be tough at first it will get a better result in the long run.
Pro tip: Get it looked at by the experts at MOSS Rehabilitation Center.
Follow The 3-D’s to handle your issue and you can’t go wrong.
Becoming aware of your body and its chain of command can ensure that you are truly in control of your body. Practicing daily mindfulness exercises could be the right decision for you. Try sitting in a quiet space and focusing on your breathing, where do you feel your breath? How are you sitting? What does the room feel like?
Answering these questions may sound silly; but these simple practices of mindfulness help you to understand where your body is in space so that when or if there is a problem, you’ll be attentive when your body tries to alert you.
Remember the KEY is to start so small that it is impossible to fail. –Kaizen
At MOSS Rehabilitation Center we make it easy for you to get started. We even have a simple 3 step process.
1. Schedule a FREE NO Obligation, Discovery Visit with one of our experts. During this visit, you will talk with one of our friendly experts about your issues. This is a safe and confidential visit, you can trust that your safety and privacy is important to us. We are taking extra measures to ensure that you remain safe during this pandemic.
2. Receive a Customized (Individualized) Treatment Plan. Based on your free discovery visit, we will put together a custom, unique to you plan that will address all of your nagging pains and issues. The goal is to get you back to your healthy self as soon as possible while also addressing your issues for the long term.
3. Get Your Life Back and Do What You Love. The best result for us is a patient who tells us they can finally do what they love without the constant pain, stress, or issue they were facing. Together we can get you back to living life without worry.
So what do the most successful people do when they have health concerns? They address their problem.
NEXT ACTION: If you are really serious about showing your body who’s in control, call our office at 817-220-6677 today to schedule your FREE NO OBLIGATION Discovery Visit.
To your health,
Dr. Robert Moss PT, ScD, OCS, FAAOMPT
