The One Trait That All of My Successful Rehab Clients Share
I’ve been doing this for years and this one thing has never failed!
If you’ve read my work for a while, you’ll be aware that I frequently address pain in the context of physical therapy. Developing one’s relationship with pain is one of the most overlooked aspects of a successful recovery, regardless of what you’re going through.
Throughout my time working as a kinesiologist and trainer in this field, I’ve come to recognize that it’s the patients who understand and work to improve their biases and relationship with pain that heal the fastest and go the furthest.
To give you some background on where I stand on this topic, I want to share a few lines from my newly released book, How To Heal the Body Through Movement. Making the shift from fearing pain to becoming more curious about it has changed my life and I’m confident it will change yours too. Enjoy this brief snippet! ⤵️
Think about pain for a moment. What thoughts and emotions surface at the mention of the word? If it brings about fear and apprehension, you’re not alone. It’s very challenging to not have a negative perception of it, especially if you find yourself on the battlefield.
There is, however, another side to pain that we don’t pay as much attention to. It’s not the big, bad monster that it’s often portrayed to be, at least not all the time. We could all use a little reminder of just how valuable it is when viewed through the right lens.
Just think. Without pain, you’d be completely hooped.
Yes, it can be scary and intimidating, but it plays more roles than meets the eye. It’s a teacher, a guide, and an accountability partner. It helps us learn about the body, gauge progress, and direct habits.
Sure, it can come about at the worst of times, but it’s always for a reason. It gives us a chance to address neglected areas of health and come out the other side stronger and healthier.
At the end of the day, a lot of the pain you experience is influenced by two factors: memories and emotions. This realization shouldn’t undermine situations when you are in real danger and discomfort, but I hope it can give you clarity in the moments when things are blown out of proportion.
In every second, you’re at the mercy of your nervous system’s perception of your lived experience. Your brain wants desperately to protect you, but sometimes it’s too good at its job. Oftentimes, your pain is far worse than the tissue damage you’re experiencing. Once you take a step back and restore a more neutral, productive relationship with pain, things will start to change for the better. While this mindset shift won’t immediately heal you from head to toe, you’ll be taking a step in the right direction.
The next time you run into the ‘big, bad monster’, take a deep breath, and remember that it’s just trying to get your attention. When functioning at its best, your nervous system is there to help and guide you, not hurt you.
Don’t let pain drive you to fear and worry. Let it inspire you to take charge of your health by focusing on the things you can control.
Now of course it’s not always realistic to expect pain to magically disappear when you improve your relationship with it. That would be delusional. While building better systems to frame it can certainly help in the process, I want to address one other strategy that has helped all of my successful rehab patients overcome their difficulties.
“A large part of overcoming persistent pain is learning how to continue enjoying life even when you still hurt. This doesn’t mean you just need to “suck it up”, but rather realize that although pain is a part of your life, it doesn’t need to CONTROL your life.” — Caleb Burgess, DPT
The people who have the most successful rehab path are the ones who don’t let pain get in the way of life. They’re the ones who don’t ride the highs and lows of how they’re feeling physically but rather focus on ability rather than disability. It sounds so incredibly cliché, but this really comes down to having a glass-half-full type of mentality.
To nail this point home, let’s look at a pretend case study of two patients…
Patient #1 — Greg, 34, has debilitating back pain. He’s so hyperfocused on getting back to skiing as soon as possible that he’s been rushing his rehab exercises and feels an elevated sense of stress due to his lack of progress. He feels like if he can’t ski, he’s not functional or capable physically. This has led him to become extremely discouraged and impatient, resulting in poor adherence to his rehab plan over time.
Patient #2 — Rachel, also 34, also has debilitating back pain. She, however, has allowed herself to be more flexible about rehab-related expectations. While she would love to be able to get back to playing soccer, she knows that she must be patient and progress up to higher-intensity physical activity over time. In the meantime, she’s been really enjoying going for walks and performing light mobility routines that allow her to be active and contribute to her overall recovery.
A huge part of being in control of your pain (rather than it being in control of you) is to let go of being stubborn and adapt to your current circumstances. This may look like taking a break from your job, sport, or hobbies, for the benefit of your long-term wellness. It’s not always easy to do this, and it may even feel like the pain is winning, but if you can continue to do activities that foster movement and progress while living a balanced life that prevents further damage, you’ll be far better off in the long run.
In Closing,
The most successful pain patients are the ones who are willing to adapt to their circumstances. While it may not be realistic to do everything you want to achieve when you're at your lowest points physically, that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative about finding other methods for staying active and getting the most out of the functionality you do still have.
This mindset shift from piling on the pressure and being stubborn about your pain to taking a breath and productively problem-solving has the power to change your life. Are you willing to put in the work to enjoy life despite your pain? It’s an uphill battle, but one I know you can conquer.
You’ve got this!
-David
