Part I — The Strategy

You always have choices.

Let me present a choice, though, that you might not have even been aware you had to make:

Reduce symptoms…Or…Solve the Real Problem.

They aren’t one and the same.

But you can have both, of course.

To do that you’ll need to seek treatment methods that go deeper than “typical” therapy. Beyond Quick & Easy.

But that’s assuming the activities you’re missing out on are important enough for you to make that extra effort…

Choices

Over the years, I’ve noticed that pain on its own isn’t a strong motivator for action. The emotions tied to doing, or not doing, important activities seem more motivating.

My oldest daughter, Lindsey, is a good example of this.

In high school, long distance running evolved into something that touched her soul. It became her sense of self. It gave her strength, confidence, and purpose like nothing else had before.

At one point during her cross country season, she hit an unfortunate cycle of recurring ankle pain.

She was faced with a choice…

She could stick with the Quick & Easy treatments (stretches, strengthening, ice) that her school’s athletic trainer started.  Or she could shift to more involved work to correct the Real Problem — the true source of her pain and diminished performance.

She chose to target the Real Problem…

Because it wasn’t the pain that she was most concerned about.

In fact, the pain had been there for a while without her ever mentioning it to my wife or I, let alone her coach…

It turns out the pain wasn’t a concern to her until her running performance began to decline.

It was the prospect of losing running that created her determination to fix the pain.

She needed running because that’s when she felt the most like herself — strong, capable, driven.

Running functioned as her “escape”.  The daily stresses in her life were more manageable when she ran well.

In her mind, running provided the spark to be the best version of herself. Extending beyond sport, it influenced her everyday activities and how she interacted with others, too.

And it showed in her effort with the exercises I gave her. She was detailed in the performance of each exercise. She committed to doing all she could to get her season back on track.

I can’t express how impactful her mindset was. Addressing the Real Problem resolved the pain quickly AND lead her to say “I’m running stronger.” The in-season and all-time PR’s she set in the remainder of her season were proof of her efforts. It was a beautiful life lesson for her.

But keep in mind, her mindset and actions were a choice.

What if the pain had involved a body region that had no impact on her ability to run? How motivated would she have been to solve wrist pain, for example?

Again, the pain in and of itself serves as only so much motivation.

I’ve worked almost 25 years with clients wanting to regain control over how they feel and move. I’ve seen firsthand how motivating Sense of Self is to drive solution of the Real Problem…

More so than the actual intensity of pain, the severity of the injury, or the talent level of the individual.

The Hardware (Typical Therapy)

To be honest, when pain has been present for only a few weeks, many different forms of therapy can reduce it.

And there are options where to get those therapies: the hospital system, a large corporation with a dozen facilities, the local Mom-and-Pop clinic, the orthopedic surgeon’s therapy, or the chiropractic clinics.

The “typical” therapy clinic usually blames the symptom on either weakness, tightness, or irritation. Probably even a combination of all three.

If a muscle tests weak…You’ll likely be shown how to strengthen it.

If a joint doesn’t move well…You’ll likely be shown how to mobilize and stretch it.

If tissue is inflamed and irritated…You’ll likely receive passive TLC treatment. Maybe ice or heat. Maybe ultrasound or lasers or LED red light treatments. Maybe electrical stimulation from pads placed on your skin.

These typical treatment methods are addressing symptoms. Many people find success in reducing their symptoms with this kind of treatment.

But it’s important for you to realize something…

Pain, muscle weakness, joint stiffness, muscle tension, tissue inflammation and irritation — all symptoms. The Real Problem is driving these symptoms.

There’s nothing wrong with therapy that treats symptoms so long as the symptom reduction is your end goal…

However, if your definition of success is solving the Real Problem, then symptom-based therapy won’t be enough.

And that right there, is why typical therapy is so frustrating for The Minority Who Need More.

I consider symptom-based treatments to be hardware “upgrades” — the hallmark of most therapy clinics (big and small) in the Quick & Easy healthcare offered today.

So what’s the hardware?

It’s what we can see and “touch” — the muscles, bones, connective tissues, and even the nerves and brain tissue.

It’s like the analogy of fixing the hardware of a computer, whether that be a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone.

You can upgrade the components of these devices — the keyboard, mouse, monitor, touchscreen, and even the CPU and motherboard.

Much like how typical therapy approaches “upgrades” of strength or flexibility for you.

Of course, that’s oversimplifying the problem…

Which is good for their business. Also fine if you’re someone only interested in Quick & Easy…

But not too useful if you’re interested in solving the Real Problem. Especially if your goal is to thrive within your active lifestyle for years to come.

Consider this…

Your mobile phone’s screen may crack due to heavy use. Or perhaps an oops! moment involving gravity and the cement sidewalk.

No problem — the cracked screen can be replaced and the phone returned to you “good as new”. The symptom is solved. There’s no further problem.

But it’s much different in the human body…

For example, if I break a bone — whether it’s put in a cast or requires a surgery — it will heal. And the tissue around it will heal.

But even if I strengthen and stretch to “upgrade” the healed tissue, I’m not guaranteed to function as well as I could (and should!) unless I address the software, as well…

Because the software holds the solution to the Real Problem — the operating system within you needs a reboot.

The Software (Solving the Real Problem)

In my opinion, no assessment is complete until the software has been addressed.

The software’s influence is essential when your needs go beyond just reducing pain…

Or when your issues don’t respond to “typical” methods within a few weeks…

Or when your issues are more complex, longer-standing, or seem to come and go…

Or, like Lindsey, when something very important to you depends on the fastest solution possible of the Real Problem.

I’m sure you’ve guessed that your software is your nervous system. It’s your brain and its parts, plus the nerves and receptors that transmit information.

But it’s less about the physical structures, and more about the information processing carried out in those structures.

Your software is constantly directing your hardware.

To do so, your brain processes huge amounts of sensory information (and at lightning-quick speeds). It finds the best way to complete the desired task. Then, it sends signals to your muscles to carry out that task.

That’s movement, in a nutshell.

In other words, your muscles don’t move in a meaningful way without instructions from the brain.

So it doesn’t matter if your muscles are big and “strong”. They’re still at the whim of your nervous system.

Your software’s operating system chooses how and when to use your hardware to complete a movement.

In other words, as one muscle is turned on, its opposing muscle must be turned off (even though that’s not a technically correct way of saying it).

Your software — your brain — does this through patterns of movement.

The brain doesn’t “think” in regards of individual muscles. It thinks in patterns.

One muscle may be highlighted in multiple patterns. A different muscle may be “put on the shelf” in those same patterns.

So, getting back to the drawback of addressing only “hardware” without the “software”…

That muscle you’ve been “strengthening” will only show its strength in sports or daily tasks if it is part of the brain’s chosen movement pattern.

For example, strong buttock muscles don’t ensure your hip pain will resolve when you stand.

Your brain may use a less efficient “pattern of stance” in which the buttocks are “subdued”.

So endless exercises targeting the muscle (hardware) don’t give you the results you want…

Unless your therapy methods also address how the brain (software) finds a better “pattern of stance”.

While that itself is tremendously important, it gets better…

Because when your software is shown how to use a better pattern, you instantaneously feel stronger, more flexible, and function with less pain.

That’s the beauty of addressing the software.

Continue to Part II — Solving the Real Problem