pain-pathways

On the subject of activities you love doing, for me that sport is kite surfing.

Now, from the outside, kite surfing is slightly more extreme than golf, but since it’s all done in water, it’s a relatively safe sport.

But it does have its frustrations – mostly around waiting for the right kind of wind.

The other day, I was considering whether to go out or not.

The wind was sketchy – not quite enough for good kiting, but I was still hopeful.

While I was waiting, I saw 4 kiters go out, and proceed to flounder around in the patchy wind.

Why, I thought, did they go out? One of the disappointed returning kiters answered me.

‘What happened? It was supposed to be windy!’

We human beings do this all the time.

We disbelieve the evidence of our eyes in favour of what we think is ‘supposed’ to be.

I’ve seen this time and time again in medical practise.

Professional athletes return to their sport despite the fact that they were supposed to ‘never play again.’

Courageous people walk – even run marathons – despite the prognosis that they’d ‘never walk again.’

And it can work the other way too.

Some people never recover from minor injuries because they believe they have irreparable damage.

Other people guard their back movements so carefully because they believe they will damage themselves with even basic movements. This inactivity leads to stiff muscles and trigger points – a self fulfilling phrophecy.

Some people run on injured knees – ignoring pain messages, because they believe they should be better already.

Knowing when to rest and when to exercise is one of the keys to recovery.

The skill to master here is to listen to what you actually are feeling – not how it’s ‘supposed’ to be.

Learning to trust and listen to your body is one of the major parts to recovery – and this skill will stay with you once you’re fully recovered as well.

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