About 8 years ago I suffered an injury to my right leg while working out. I'm not entirely sure if the damage was to my glute or hamstring - there was an definite popping sound 😳 - but the result has been a literal pain in my butt ever since.
As someone who has worked in the health and wellness industry for almost 10 years, I have collected quite a roster of practitioners to refer my clients (and family) to when their issues are outside of my scope of expertise.
After years of tight, sore, muscles and an ache that never really went away, you would think at some point I would refer myself.
But I could probably figure this out on my own, right? Except I couldn't.
And the pain wasn't really that bad. Until it was.
Hiring someone to help could become expensive! As someone working in wellness, didn't I value my own health and wellbeing?
So off I went to my #miracleworker Dr. Christine Col. After some preliminary questions and a careful examination of how my body moved and where I experienced tension, she determined that the root cause was likely "myofascial pain due to insufficient active ROM in the hip" 🤔. Basically this means that my body has been compensating for the injury and my hip is weak as sh*t. 😕 So how does the pain in my butt relate to you? 1) Just like you, I've tried and failed attempting to solve this problem before. I saw a physio after the initial injury, worked on stretching, and went to a massage therapist. Though there were benefits from all of these treatments, I didn't see enough improvement to continue any of them consistently and was still in pain. Did that mean there was no solution? No. It simply meant I hadn't figured it out yet. You may have lost and gained many pounds over the years with different diets and eating protocols. Just because you haven't reached your goal doesn't mean it's not possible, it only means you haven't found the right plan that works for you and your lifestyle. 2) What I thought was the problem wasn't actually the problem. What I was experiencing as tightness that I thought needed more stretching was actually weakness and lack of mobility. I have many clients who believe they need to do more cardio or eat less carbs or commit to intermittent fasting in order to reach their goals. Because they're focussing on the wrong thing they're not getting any traction which leads to a ton of frustration. 3) Money is a great motivator. Now that I've invested money to solve the problem, you better believe I'm going to do my homework! Like most people, when I pay, I pay attention. Free online resources or cheap apps don't often result in a high level of commitment - you just don't have enough skin in the game. More money invested = better adherence = improved likelihood of success. 4) Hiring an expert saves you time, energy, and effort. (Which actually equates to dollars). In a world of free DIY guides and low-cost online solutions, it's easy to think you should just figure things out on your own. But the time - and mental space - spent gathering information and researching who to trust is often not worth it. How often have you spent a day "fixing" something yourself, only to end up tired, frustrated, and calling in a professional anyway? 5) Progress isn't linear. Dr. Chris was clear that it's going to take some experimenting to figure out exactly what's going on. I have exercises that I'll be working on for the next few weeks and then we'll evaluate progress. Along the road to recovery there may be will be setbacks, so I need to be prepared to work through those. It will take time before you find the right fitness and nutrition plan that works for you and your goals. Even then you'll have good days (weeks!) and not-so-good ones. As life ebbs and flows, so will your progress - have patience and compassion with yourself.
Admitting you can't do it all isn't always easy. As a definite DIY-er it's taken me a long time to learn that leaning on others isn't a sign of weakness - sometimes you just need a bit of support.
I'm sure, like me, you could benefit from a little help now and then 🥰. So go ahead and hit reply or book a consult call and let's chat.
(And if you live in the Kelowna area and are experiencing pain or mobility issues, give Dr. Chris at MoveRX a call and tell her I sent you 😁).