Your body does not know the right way to move. It is incredibly intelligent and we are able to do incredible movements, complete challenging tasks, and achieve excellent feats without having to individually control each individual muscle in our bodies. We tell our body to run, bike, climb, swim, drive, & sit; it will accomplish the task. But that comes with a caveat, it does not ask permission or ensure that you move in the most efficient or mechanically advantageous way. Your body likes the path of least resistance.
What does that mean?
Chronic pain can be simplified into two categories: Structural/mechanical pain and pain from dysfunction. Think of structural pain as a damaged puzzle piece, broken or non functional (i.e. a rotator cuff tear). In the event of a structural issue, our body adapts and attempts to promote function while limiting pain or further damage. In our example of a rotator cuff tear, our body might use muscles like the trapezius to compensate for the damaged rotator cuff tendon. This compensation can result in the second type of pain–pain from dysfunction.
Just as square tires are not the most efficient shape to move your car, the way your body compensates is less efficient but it gets the job done. This is where pain from dysfunction begins. When our body creates new movement patterns, we wear down different structures as they work double duty for something that is damaged. When this happens, muscles become stiff due to compensation and can become pain generators that reduce our function and our ability to complete our tasks.
The answer:
Damage to a muscle/structure/tendon is not final. With our natural healing process our body can often get close to full function again. Sometimes it needs a nudge in the right direction. With effective intervention and meaningful movement and exercise, we can retrain a dysfunctional pattern, foster an effective healing process, and promote reduced pain and improved function.
Therapeutic dry needling is one of the most effective interventions to create tissue changes. The doctors at Precision Osteopractic are able to facilitate your body’s healing process with Western trigger point dry needling through three key mechanisms: 1.) Stimulating a new inflammatory process, 2.) Create an immune response, and 3.) Activate our built-in pain killing process. With this new input into your system we can promote a change in the painful compensatory patterns. We can eliminate your pain and optimize your performance so you can get back to living your very best life. To learn more or schedule your appointment head to https://www.precisionopt.com/ . Precision Osteopractic is located on the ground floor of the River Valley Club. Precision offers evening and weekend hours and free 15 min screenings. Easy self-scheduling at https://www.precisionopt.com/.
