Don’t Call It A Comeback

By Shane Sauer

There are few things more frustrating than being injured. Depending on the injury, it can affect everything from your favorite activities to day-to-day chores.

When we’re young, bouncing back from an injury tends to be easier. The healing process is shorter, and the effect an injury has is typically less broad.

Believe it or not, it doesn’t always have to be that way. There are things you can do today to be more like your younger self – more resilient!

A few months ago, I tweaked my back which caused some symptoms of sciatica – numbness and weakness in my foot and pain in my leg. It’s not pleasant!

This wasn’t the first time I’ve dealt with sciatica, though. I had my first real bout with it 14 years ago with some small relapses following the first one.

Believe it or not, I've had a much quicker recovery this time around. It took me about 6 weeks to get back to all my activities, compared to 6 months the first time.

Three main factors, that anyone can use, contributed to my recovery:

1. Removing compensations from my body.

2. Patience.

3. A willingness to do the work.

Over the years we all develop habits and compensations that come about because of the things we’ve done. Some are helpful. Some are not. But just like your body adapted to create compensations, your body can be readapted to remove them.

Returning to activity too quickly can cause a relapse. When you’re starting to feel good again you get excited. That’s when patience is needed the most. Especially as you get older, when the healing process is slower.

The biggest challenge that comes with age is the willingness to do the work. Removing compensations is an ongoing, maintenance-like activity. Injury rehab requires time and repetition. The older we get, we typically have more compensations and more time constraints. You’ve got to be willing to make your health a priority.

My father also suffered from sciatica. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the knowledge to undo his compensations and didn’t have the patience or willingness to do all the work required for a full recovery. He ended up having to manage the pain and deal with a drop foot.

Not all challenges are created equal. And sometimes, a full recovery can’t be expected. These things you can’t control. You only have control over the actions you take.

Are you willing to do the work? I encourage you to start making yourself more resilient today. This will help you prevent the worst and recover more easily when something does happen.

If you want some help identifying your compensations and learning how to work on them, consider doing an Injury Prevention Screen at MATRIX. Use the link or send us a message to book one right now.