Do you have an injury that still lingers? Prevents you from doing certain activities? Or that keeps getting re-injured?
A sprained ankle, twisted knee, or broken bone?
How about something a little more severe? A torn ACL, torn Achilles, or a herniated disc?
If you are an athlete or physically active, then injury is inevitable
No matter the injury, or severity, there is always a period that you may not be able to do your normal activities at the level that you are accustomed to.
What about the weeks, months, and years after you have been cleared to return to normal activity?
Have you ever found yourself saying to yourself or others “I can’t do _________ (insert activity) because of _______________ (insert old injury)?”
I have been there and had those thoughts, so my guess is that you may have been there too.
My story began on November 11th, 2011 - the day of my worst injury and the day my life changed forever
Keeping a very long story short, I herniated 2 discs in my lumbar (lower back) spine while deadlifting. I was halfway up with 315 pounds on the bar and BOOM! The bar hit the floor, and I was stuck bent forward at 90 degrees. It was the worst pain I have ever felt, and I can't even begin to explain all the thoughts racing through my head at that time.
Following the injury, my recovery began. After some time, I was cleared for "normal" activity...or so I thought.
I “threw it out” again.
Was this my new normal? A bad back? Every so often "throwing it out" and avoiding certain activities?
I wasn't giving up just yet! And this began my next journey...
As the years passed, I learned more about the human body, my body, healing potential, and myself. The things I learned are outside of the box of normal western medicine, and not the status quo when it comes to bouncing back from a major injury.
When it comes to injuries and recovery there is a plethora of information out there. All you have to do is google your injury and you will know what I mean.
I am not going to give you more of that here. I am going to give you a short list of the biggest things I learned on my journey.
holistic healing principles to injury recovery and prevention
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The body is VERY intelligent
So intelligent in fact that it can coordinate 100,000 chemical reactions in each of our 50-70 trillion cells every second! All happening without us having to think about any of it. Pretty sweet, huh?
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The symptom is not the problem. It is a result!
The human body is designed to correct and adapt to the world and its stressors (physical, mental, emotional, chemical).
The body will continue to do so until its system is maxed out. Once we are “maxed out” we are at risk of injury, sickness, or something less than healthy.
Fixing the result, or symptom, may be a short-term solution - a much needed short-term solution in most cases. But this will not fix the root cause issue.
Healing the root cause of the result is an entirely different approach and outcome.
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There is no instant solution to healing
It takes time (weeks, months, and sometimes even years) and effort for an injury, sickness, or disease process to occur. And it takes just as long, if not longer, to recovery from it. Patience and consistency are key if you want to truly recover.
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The human body is a whole, treat it as such
I invite you to consider that the human body is much more than the sum of its parts. It is NOT comprised of all these different systems that act independently of one another. Everything - every cell, every piece of tissue, every organ, etc. is connected and acting as one organism - the human body. Truly amazing!
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You’re not broken
The way I see it, you have two ways to view your challenges (in this case, injury.)
It took me quite some time and a ton of effort, but I overcame those herniated discs. I went to doctors, I did the exercises, I ate healthy, I worked on myself, and eventually I got to a point where I wasn’t limited by that injury.
And guess what? I am not lucky or special.
You are capable of doing the exact same things.
You can do the work, take the time, and overcome.
Go on. Get after it!
About the Author:
Dr. ZachThomas - A Reynoldsburg native, 2012 graduate of The Ohio State University, and 2017 graduate of Life University. Dr. Zach is now a chiropractor serving the families of Columbus.