Three things to consider if you are struggling with your recovery

You must know by this stage that recovery is no easy feat. Quite often patients think of their condition as just back pain or neck pain. However, your condition is often a lot more than just pain alone. Today, we go through the reasons why you may not be getting meaningful, long-term results from your treatment.

You exercise too much or too little.

We all know exercise is important for us to be healthy. So much so that sometimes we shame people who live sedentary lifestyles. The problem, however, is not that simple.

It’s true that exercise is important, and that we all need exercise to be healthy. What we don’t talk enough about is that too much exercise or the wrong type of exercise can be harmful for you.

With COVID, doctors are seeing an increase in sports injury from Singaporeans over-participating in HIIT workouts. Some of the people we personally know were hospitalised for rhabdomyolysis. At the end of the day, exercise is good for us but too much of it can also be harmful.

If you are not getting results from your treatments, it’s important to reflect on your own physical activity. If you have been largely sedentary, you can increase physical activity by just choosing to take the stairs instead of the lift. For those who are exercising too much, try taking a two-week deload. It can help you more than you think.

You are overwhelmed, and you don’t know how or where to start.

You probably already know this but the only way to start is to start. No, we are not saying it will be easy. We are saying there’s always somewhere for you to start.

If you have given a self-directed recovery a couple of attempts, and you find yourself getting nowhere, then perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that you need professional help.

We all have our strengths and skill set, and it’s important that we accept that sometimes we do need extra help. By choosing to get help doesn’t mean you are giving up or weak or lousy. It means you are giving yourself a good shot at recovery success.

Working with Square One Active Recovery is never about you being dependent on us for pain-relief. With our exercise plus education approach, we empower all of our clients to find their own freedom from pain.

The traditional approach of recovery does indeed require you to be dependent on something or someone for relief. This can be anything from regular chiropractic adjustments or massages to over-the-counter painkillers. These treatments yield very poor results because it encourages dependency. Your pain comes back once you stop treatment.

Research has shown us that there is a better way for you to get better. With exercise and education, you can train your own body so it becomes more robust and resilient. In becoming so, you get less pain and won’t require treatments anymore! For us, this is true recovery.

You are unwilling to change.

As a chiropractor, we do sometimes see patients who want to get better but yet at the same time are not willing to make any changes. This is impossible!

If you want to have better finances, you would have to change your spending behaviour or even sign up with a robo-advisor.

If you are not happy with your child’s grades at school, you may have to spend extra time to help them with their homework — the average Singaporean parent spend 7.9 hours doing just that. If that’s not enough, you may need to engage a private tutor.

In all of these situations, there is a change. You must be willing to change your behaviour or your lifestyle if you want good, long-term results with your recovery.

When it comes to aches and pains, the change can be as simple as to exercise more or to exercise less. Just adding walking to your daily life can be enough to help with your back pain!

If you have been trying to get better to no avail, do reach out to us via the contact form below to find out more about how we can help you help yourself find freedom from pain.