TLDR: You will have ups and downs throughout your physical therapy journey, but you will still be making progress throughout! Your new "lows" won't be as low as when you first started your journey, and your "highs" will continue to climb! Read below for more information!
When we are recovering from an injury, pain, or surgery, in the ideal world, we would have the issue that sets us back and then we would just keep getting better every day, with no issues. It would be a straight line upward, like on an upward trending graph. But as much as we wish that were true, that is just not how the human body works. You have to go through the ups and “downs” of the recovery process in order to reach your full potential and healing.
Let’s talk about my hip labrum repair surgery as a specific example. I had the surgery completed and that first week was specific to pain control and swelling control and doing what I could and just making sure I was comfortable and resting. Rest is so important when you have a surgery, resting is when our bodies heal, so you have to listen to your body and rest when you need. If you are anything like me, resting can be tough, and can feel like you aren’t doing enough and that you are not going to make progress, but it is so important to have that rest to actually make that progress you want to make.
As the days progressed, my goals were to spend more time sitting up, riding the recumbent bike and doing specific exercises. There were days when I could do this and I felt pretty good! Sure, my body would remind me that I had just gone through hip surgery, but I could do it and not think about it too much! Then there were days where I would try to do something that I had done the day before without any issue, and suddenly I would have more pain and be uncomfortable and have to rest for a little bit. For many people, myself included, this feels like we are going “backwards”, when in reality, this is just a part of the process.
If you think about it, the down parts on the graph are never as “low” as when you first started your recovery process. Those down parts or backwards feelings, are your body’s way of telling you that you are pushing yourself too hard too quickly and you have to listen to what your body is saying and follow your own healing timeline and process. It doesn’t actually mean you are going backwards and you have lost the progress that you made. It just means that you have to slow down and listen to what your body is telling you in that moment. When you are feeling better from that minor slow down, it is so important to take notice of where you are. You will notice that you are not back at the beginning of your recovery. You will be back where you had last gotten to before you started slowing down. And that’s okay! That’s how the human body works and heals!
I haven’t had one injury myself, or worked with one client, ever, who has had a fully linear progression. These ups and downs are expected and normal! You will not end up back at square one in a typical nonlinear healing progression. Your “high” point will eventually become your new “low” point and you will continue to make progress from there.
Still unsure why I say this all of the time? Emaill me today at livewithoutlimitspt@gmail.com and give us a follow on Instagram (click below) for more information!
Thanks for being here!
Dr. Katie
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