Thank you for joining me again this evening for our nightly podcasts. I perform these podcasts in the hopes that you will be able to education yourself on the topics discussed so you can make better informed medical decisions regarding your health in the future. I am doctor Harrison Campbell of Restoration Health a premier sugar land chiropractors office. Previously we discussed joint dysfunction and the symptoms associated with this condition. Tonight, we will be discussing the the importance of motion while healing.
At first glance, the thought of moving an injured part of the body to heal seems counter intuitive. Most people would assume that letting the inured area of the body rest would be the quickest way for you to heal. It is naturally what we fall into as well. If it hurts when I move my arm this way or in this motion, I will stop moving my arm that way and start doing this motion instead. This means my arm no longer hurts and I still retain the function I need.
I will say if there is one thing thing the body is good at, it is adaptation. If you ask sugar land chiropractors they will say we will adapt to continue to function as best we can for as long as we can until we no longer can function. Using the shoulder example again, I can honestly say that people have come up with creative ways to maintain shoulder mobility when faced with an injury. Most people do not even realize the extent of the shoulder problem until I have them perform certain functional movements to demonstrate how bad they are actually doing with that shoulder.
Now, I am not saying our ability to adapt is a negative thing, quite the opposite actually. However, we need to be aware that limiting motions to avoid pain is not going to lead to a good quality of life in the long term. This is why sugar land chiropractors advocate that motion heals and to start therapy on problems before they get out of hand.
Now twenty years ago the treatment doctors would provide for a low back injury was bed rest. At that time, this was the standard treatment for any condition affecting the lumbar spine. If you ask sugar land chiropractors today if bed rest is the best answer for low back injuries, you will get a resounding no. What we do while the tissue is healing influences the structural nature of the tissue. Like we have stated several times tonight, the body is very good at adaptation. This goes beyond the example of maintaining function though. How we use the body we have determines how our bodies perform and repair as well. A common saying people have when speaking of muscle is if you do not use it, you will lose it. This statement holds true not just for muscle gain, but for resource management in our body. Why would our body spend finite resources to perform an activity we are not performing?
Similarly if we are not moving while healing, why would the healing tissue repair in a manner which allows motion? We have discussed disc herniations at length not long ago. Recall the tough fibrocartilage that forms the outer shell of the disc? We want those fibers to be strong and flexible. Flexible tissue is the key in order to move. Tissue which heals while not moving is going to be strong, that is not the issue. The issue would be the flexibility of the tissue. Will this tissue be able to move? Because if it can not move it is not flexible tissue, and sugar land chiropractors will tell you that tissue which is not flexible is not functional.
Let dive deeper into this concept of tissue needing to be flexible and functional. Fibrocartilage is a tissue which is involved with ligaments, tendons, and the outer shell of the discs just to name a few of the anatomical structures. When we have injuries this fibrocartilage tears and our body goes through a remodeling or repair process to fix these tears. In order to do this the body forms scar tissue. Now scar tissue has a mostly negative connotation to most people, but sugar land chiropractors can yell you this scar tissue is an integral part of the body while healing. This scar tissue patches the tears if you will and help restore the tissue to as close to normal as possible.
This is where motion during the healing process comes into play. While this scar tissue is being placed, if we are sedentary and not moving the tissue heals strong but the tissue will not be flexible. This is because there are different grades or types of of fibrocartilage. Now sugar land chiropractors will tell you that depending on which type of fibrocartilage is placed determines the physical properties of this scar tissue as a whole. If we are active and performing rehabilitation while healing the is ongoing, the fibrocartilage will be a type which is capable of motion while remaining the tensile strength required to be strong. If we sit around while healing the type of scar tissue will be strong but rigid, which will tear when it undergoes to moving.
This is why the medical advice has changed over the last twenty years or so from bed rest to rehabilitation exercises. If we move while healing we will have functional tissue during the repair process. If we sit still, the tissue will be strong but inflexible and it will tear when tension is placed upon it during motion.
Thank you for joining me again this evening for another great podcast. I hope you enjoyed the discussion on motion during your healing process. As always should you or someone you know require a sugar land chiropractors services or simply have more questions on what was discussed please call Restoration Health today. We would love to schedule you an appointment and get you on the path to better health today. Thank you once again for joining us. Have a good night.