Hello beautiful friends,
Many times over my years as a Physio including recently, I've had clients come in to see me thinking that they've got joint problems when they've been experiencing constant or regular pain in the region of a joint. The two most common stories I hear are "I've got a sore shoulder" when pain presents in the upper arm or, "I have hip pain" when the pain is experienced in the outer thigh. But is it the joint? Down the Microscope
Our bodies are so complex! Layer upon layer of connective tissues shroud every inch of our being, penetrating and encasing, interconnecting and regulating the movement of our spine and limbs from head to toe. Every muscle is wrapped and interwoven with connective tissue.
When injuries occur these intricate networks are interrupted, fibres tear, cells spill their contents, other cells flood the area to commence mopping up and chemicals are released that create swelling and inflammation as part of the healing process. It's busy in there! All Freeze... No Flight. Our natural and quite healthy response to pain and injury is to "freeze"... immobilise... slow down.
We move less.
Movement however, is integral to the healing process. Healing happens well when movement has been commenced at the appropriate time, in the appropriate way. Often however that doesn't happen. Also we may compensate for the pain by changing our natural movement patterns, adding tension, over-protecting and partially immobilising an area, however subtle that may be. This means that healing may remain incomplete... even for years! Large or small, whatever the degree of limitation, remnants of the injury may remain embedded between the multitude of layers of connective tissue. In many instances too, movement may be fully restored but thickening remains within the fascia with other areas compensating for this limitation.
This is what I call "Debris."
Debris
"Debris" can be considered as original trauma which is still being held in the tissues. Sometimes it can even exist in the form of bruising, but most often in the form of connective tissue tightness and cellular matter. Sometimes we're still able to return to our usual activities (photo below- we can dream!) but the subtle "holding" that remains, means that the memory of the injury is still locked into not only our musculoskeletal system but also our nervous system. This neural aspect may further contribute to disturbances in our movement patterns.
We may live with debris for many years without any symptoms. However, years later as tissues lose their elasticity globally, the debris in "stuck" areas can become symptomatic causing pain and limiting even the most simple of daily movements such as lifting your arm or walking.
Hence a new pain may not mean that we have a new injury to a joint or muscle. Instead, an old injury and subsequent restriction of tissue pliability may have become symptomatic.
To heal fully we need to commence movement - both from within (muscular activity) and externally (massage) as soon as possible after an injury. Movement commenced and performed appropriately facilitates the flow of blood, nutrients and connective tissue fluids. As does massage. The flow of fluids through the body is integral in cleaning up the debris of injury as well as nourishing the area for optimal cellular repair.
Internal AND external movement combined also helps to align the healing fibres in a functional manner that provides maximum strength and freedom of movement.
Of course some injuries WILL leave a permanent mark.... a scar or wrinkle in the system.
But quite often, the pain you're experiencing may be a simple case of not enough movement or the right type of movement at the right time.
However, it's not too late. That's where I come in.
Righting Movement With my hands-on approach and years of practice I can easily feel the difference between healthy and unhealthy tissue.
Moving the connective tissues with soft or deep tissue release and specific passive stretching will assist the body to release and absorb the aftermath of previous injuries.
You may notice an improvement in your function after just one session. Also with the enhanced freedom of movement you experience, you may suddenly become aware of how you've been compensating in your movement patterns all these years.
We may all have some degree of debris in our bodies and as we live longer, we all develop compensatory adjustments to our daily activities and movement to avoid placing strain on our tight and weakened areas.
So I encourage you, if you have pain, perhaps a recent or old injury, and you're waiting and hoping for it to go away, instead book an appointment today and start the ball rolling to a more complete recovery.
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Unfortunately as we age all of our previous injuries can come back to haunt us. And we definitely can't quite get away with what we used to!
But with regular movement and massage it's possible to remain open and to move freely as we age.
JOY ... moving freely,
