#3 - Knotted Physio - Stuck on the Trailer
Welcome to the Knotted Physio blog! In the last post, we talked about launching a boat. We learned that there are four levels in boat launching skills. We talked about being stuck on the trailer, rough surf, white capping and smooth as glass. Do you know which level you are? Today, I wanted to expand on the first level a little bit more so that you have a better idea of where you are and you can set your sight on which level you want to be at. I will give you simple strategies along the way so that you can move forward.
In this level, stuck on the trailer, you may be injured or recovering from surgery. Or maybe you are just so out of shape, you physically can’t do it. Does this sound like you?
Let me share a story about one of my past patients. This guy was a young, healthy college student. He was working part-time in construction to help make ends meet. He felt that life was pretty good and that everything was going in the right direction. Well, it was, until that one day, when no one could have predicted that he would have gotten injured on the job. He fell off a roof and happened to land just so that multiple vertebrae in his neck broke. He literally broke his neck. His whole world came crushing down on him. Now what?
During this part of his life, he literally could not get off the trailer. He had to have emergency surgery, was placed in rehab where he had to learn to walk again, and then decide how to move forward. Now, how does this relate to being stuck on a trailer. He LOVES fishing! Now he can’t do it. How on earth could a guy who just underwent emergency surgery because of a broken neck be able to fish again? He had to basically start over. He realized that he wasn’t going to let this get him down. He knew what he wanted- it took quite some time but he started at “stuck on a trailer” and is now pushing so hard, he is past “rough surf” and is in the “white capping” level. He knows that he may never get back to smooth as glass, but he decided where he was and where he wanted to be. He made it happen!
So what does this mean for you? Your story may not be quite as extreme as his, but you do have a story.
How do you start? It is really quite simple; you have to take the first step. Let’s look at this systematically: what do you struggle with the most? Have you had an injury? Have you lost motion? Have you lost strength? Do you have the balance necessary? What about the know how to do it?
For each of these questions, there are a few little steps that need to be taken. If you have been injured? How severe is it? Are you seeking the medical attention that is needed to heal properly? If you are like me, you wait too long and let things go, thinking they will get better with time. How much time is really needed for things to get better? This depends on a number of factors. 1. How old are you? 2. How is your general health? 3. How is your nutrition? 4. Do you drink or smoke?
The older we get, the slower it takes for our bodies to heal. If we generally are unhealthy, our bodies aren’t very good at healing themselves. Eating a balanced diet with proper portions of fruits, vegetables and proteins help bring the nutrients to our cells which allows them to heal faster. Drinking reduces the liver’s function and causes more toxins to remain in the body longer- thus slowing down healing. Smoking reduces the delivery of oxygen to our cells- kind of like suffocating them and there by slows healing?
Sometimes getting a healthcare professional to look at an injury may seem unnecessary, but if you want to get better faster, they can take a snapshot look at you and provide valuable advice. Don’t let it go too long without getting outside help.
Let’s make a plan. Write down three things that you could do better at. Focus on those three things and figure out how to make each of them a little bit better day by day. You should be able to stop and think about exactly where you are and what areas you struggle with.
If you are struggling with figuring out where you are and what to do, join the Knotted Physio Facebook group, where we as a community can help each other along the way.
I hope this has given you a new perspective on how to progress through the lowest level of launching a boat. Until next time, go enjoy the outdoors!