Movement is a key part of recovering from an injury

During the past few years, I have had more than my fair share of cycling accidents: a broken femur in 2010, a compressed L1 in 2011, and repeated shoulder dislocations. (No biggie. It just pops back in right?) The femur, and eventually the shoulder, needed surgery. In both cases, I was blessed with speedy treatment by superb surgeons. The morning after the femur was operated on, I was able to hobble to the bathroom to take a pee. Amazing!

In addition to the great surgeons, I have also been supported by my athletic therapist, Kevin Jardine at the Urban Athlete, who has put in many hours to keep my body working. With Kevin’s help, I am working consistently to maintain the ability of my body to perform athletically. One of Kevin’s mantras is that movement is medicine – without movement there is no recovery.

Kevin says that when you injure yourself, you not only injure your body, but you affect your brain. The injury impacts your brain’s ability to communicate with that part of the body. That part of the brain that communicates with the injured area actually diminishes and starts to loose touch. When I came out of surgery for my shoulder, I definitely did not want to move it. That feeling stayed with me for several weeks. Kevin explained that rehabilitating the shoulder wasn’t about doing weights; it was about activating the small muscles that in turn help to re-establish the pathways of communication to the brain.

Now, I am not saying that the day after you have surgery or injure yourself that you should go out and try to start moving. Doing little in the way of movement can also have a place in the recovery process, as it did with my shoulder. But at some point, it will be necessary to start re-establishing your neuromuscular pathways and that is where movement is indispensable.

When you injure yourself, most likely you will see a therapist. The therapist will help you with some work on your body to help alleviate some of the tension in your muscles. This is important stuff. But just as important, or even more so, are the exercises that the therapist will give you to help with your rehabilitation. This is where you start to be in control of your health. Doing the exercises diligently, progressing through a variety of phases and taking the time to heal yourself are the keys to well-being. You want to perform well again in the future and this is the time to control your fate.

Ultimately, through a variety of choices, our health is largely in our own hands. Kevin truly believes that with movement we can overcome recurring pain and improve our quality of life. It is also the means to maintaining our health and improving our athletic performance.

This is a video of Kevin’s speech that inspired this blog.

And if you want to check out some of the projects that Kevin has been working on in regards to movement and health check out:
CrossBell and Feeling Pretty Remarkable.