Book Cure Frustration
Book Cure Frustration
A guy came to see me recently for a bilateral Achilles tendon problem that he's had for two years. On his assessment four weeks ago, he explained that he understood the link between stress and pain and had recovered from 5 years of low back pain as soon as he read John Sarno's book 'Healing Back Pain' a few years ago.
Achille’s Pain
He'd been okay with his back since then, but a couple of years ago developed Achilles pain with running. Unfortunately, this often presents at stressful times because we overuse our favourite de-stressing activity. Suppose this is an inherently adrenaline-based behaviour, making us feel safe in the quickest way possible; it is easy to see how it can be overused.
Unfortunately, the body feeds back that overuse with pain. Then we become fearful of that pain because we may worry about not being able to use that behaviour to soothe ourselves or feel frustrated at our inability to deliver on high exp[ectations we may set for ourselves.
He recognised this pattern that had led to this pain in his Achilles.
The Book Cure
It was fascinating to hear how he'd recovered from reading a book, and I know this can feel frustrating for those to whom this doesn't happen. We'd all love pain to switch off just like that.
Recovery, however, is a process that we need to go through and feeling frustrated means that we're not following the procedure, just old patterns of conditioned thought, which is usually feeling not good enough at recovery as someone else.
Follow The Process
So follow the process. Notice if frustration pops up with your progress and think, breath, move or feel calmer at that moment if you can create a moment to allow yourself that. It symbolises that in the presence of physical or emotional pain, you are worth a different mechanism to your defaults of the past.
Your recovery will begin to get momentum with practice.
Interestingly for this guy, as soon as I'd checked his Achilles and told him the mechanism, he said that his pain turned off the next day after being constant every morning for two years.
Reinforce the Safety
However amazing that is for both him and me (and maybe frustrating for some reading this), that still means he has to follow a 4-6 week period of sustained rest and recovery to reinforce the nervous system safety that he initiated. Then he must follow a 4-6 phased return to adrenaline-based activities so his nervous system can adapt again to enjoyable behaviours without provoking the pain of the past.
When you are in pain, follow the process because that's what the nervous system dictates, whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not and whether you're frustrated or not.
Do the work.😀
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