RECURRING PAIN (AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT)

I haven't done a pain post for a while so here's a quick reminder of how recurrent pain works via the work of Nick Efthimmiou:

#1 - Pain is a protective output of the brain

#2 - The pain loop is the onset of pain - brain takes action to reduce symptoms - symptoms reduce - stops action - no meaningful or lasting change

#3 - What's MISSING is CHANGE

#4 - Resiliency is about being able to withstand a variety of stressors

#5 - Adaptability is about being able to respond to a variety of stressors

#6 - Desensitise your body to pain through graded exposure which is putting your positions to scare you in a manner that allows you to control your fear

#7 - Optimise your senses by putting more positive input into your system than negative input

So using the squat movement as an example you might have a pain experience after a squatting motion and now you avoid that movement like the plague.

That might reduce symptoms in the very short term but you can't avoid squatting your entire life and like medication, avoiding 1 issue will result in another 3 new one's popping up over time.

So you're starting point would be a movement resembling squatting that you're comfortable with doing and you'd perform that for low volume but with moderate to high frequency.

We're talking 3 - 5 sets of 5 of getting up and down in a chair throughout the day here, not a 10 x 10 GVT weights session.

It's important that you nail the initial training because starting at too high a level will place too much demand on the area too quickly, the slower the better here.

Once you've worked through that little sequence your symptoms will have reduced as you're body starts to desensitise from pain as positive input and put in to the system at a slow, but consistent rate.

This will take disciple, consistency and patience and most people will stop doing the work once it's manageable but you've really only managed the bleeding at that point, the band aid still needs to stay on so full repair can occur.

Do you have recurrent pain? Let me know and maybe I can help.