Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist:Albania, Rehab VS British Weather & Listening
Welcome to Motion Forword - Words of a Therapist! Number 35!
Motion Forword is about discussing the combined benefits of movement with a positive mental attitude. Using my personal/professional experiences, evidence-based research and some of your own experiences.
Bringing some hope, positivity, happiness and maybe usefulness to those, perhaps like yourself, that needs a pick me up.
Something about me… Albania Trip
Albania is a beautiful country of mountains, lakes, castles and river canyons.
As is custom, we like to have active holidays combined with afternoons of chilling in the wonderful aircon (I know, you must be so jealous!)
We off-roaded and hiked to Lake Bovilla in Mount Gamti north of the capital city of Tirana, enjoyed a bike tour around the capital with an evening cooking class, hiked the Mount Dajti to get another view of Lake Bovilla and also kayaked along Osumi Canyon.
All provided us with beautiful architecture, natural breath-taking scenery and delicious authentic food.
The most bizarre part of the holiday was when we decided to wash the rental car of the evidence of off-roading in the pouring rain to avoid getting a fine!
The onlooking locals must have thought we were mad.
But was a peaceful holiday and we didn’t get fined! Horrah!
Something for you… What does Rehabilitation & British Weather have in common?
June was a roller coaster of weather.
After a very dry spring, June initially brought intense rainful and now… well…
But without getting too political about the state of the world climate it made me think of the similiarities between British Weather and Rehabilitation… it can be unpredictable or at least… not what you might expect.
How often have we checked the weather to find that it is not quite what we expected it to be a week or so later? Maybe even in a few hours!
We have a rough idea, but a prediction may not meet the reality. A cloudy day can become glorious sunshine. Or expecting sunshine in the middle of June becomes days of heavy rain. Or expecting snow in January but its mild at worst. A famous and unfortunate blunder when the BBC weather forecast didn’t meet reality in 1987.
The same I feel is true in rehabilitation and recovery from injury.
We have guidance/protocols for tissue healing timeframes and what we might expect based on studies with large groups of people. But when dealing with one individual with their specific injury, their specific circumstances and their specific attitude towards recovery, suddenly there is far more variability in projections.
A bit like the weatherman saying ‘We can expect sunny skies along the South and South East Coast’ but doesn’t necessarily tell us what the weather is specifically like in Southampton.
In rehab, this is why it is important to be patient, diligent and consistent. Our individual recovery journeys can be unpredictable and variable to others’ but we have to stay the course, otherwise we may never find our way out of the storm.
Factors that impede our recovery (keeps us stuck in the storm) include smoking, poor sleep, poor social connections/support, stressful work/home life, poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle. Whilst the converse is true (help us weather the storm).
These are not trivial things to ‘fix’ and most people can attest to or appreciate how difficult it is to keep to a good sleeping schedule with a newborn baby or a nurse on shiftwork. Or cooking fresh meals whilst working long days on the road or not having a budget to buy quality products.
It is often much easier to say, than to do.
But I believe we can improve our recovery projections and meet those improvement expectation timeframes in our pains and injuries by having these good foundations to start with. Or at least making a start on them.
We cannot always predict the weather accurately like we cannot always predict accurately how someone will respond to treatment and rehabilitation. However it’s a good place to start and gives us direction and sets expectations.
Because no one likes to be caught in the rain without a raincoat.
A story… Just Listen
‘I am so sorry I rambled on!’
One of the best parts of my work is when I have the time to give someone the space to be heard.
This month, I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman whose job it has always been to provide a listening ear and offer support to his community.
He was humble, charismatic and immediately brightened up the room with his presence. His 40 years of working with people had done nothing negative to his sense of optimism.
We talked about the problems you would expect me to talk to him about: his pains, how it started, how long it has been going on for… you know… bread and butter stuff. All with an accepting smile.
Yet, in his retirement, he expressed a sense of social isolation and how he missed having some purpose in his life (outside being a father, husband and grandfather!)
It seemed like he hadn’t been given the same support he had offered countless people during his work.
Of course, I helped him understand the issue he came to see an Osteopath for. But, we also got into the importance of finding that purpose again. This would naturally bring with it meeting and helping new people in a way where he may not have to be a professional offering support (as with his work) but a friend lending an ear. A dynamic where I could appreciate the difference.
After our first meeting, he was very grateful for my time but mainly for letting him speak.
He later messaged: ‘Most importantly you were really welcoming and I felt well and truly listened to! I am sorry I rambled on’
I simply replied:
’It wasn't rambling. It was insightful and helpful to me to understand you as a person.’
Sometimes, listening is a powerful medicine.
Thanks for reading.
Until next month…
Motion Forword ⏩⏩
Nathan