One Body - Breakaway Physical Therapy
Shaina Clemons Health Tips

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One Body

One Body

I talk a lot about how we have ONE body, and we need to take care of it. Also, that relates to how our whole body is connected and if you are having some knee pain, then we also need to look at what is going on with your hip, your feet and your walking because the entire body is affected in time.

The longer that we live with our injuries, aches, and pains, the more that the body compensates.

I always say that it’s amazing that the body compensates and terrible in the same breath. Its incredible how our body can use other muscle groups and other areas of body to make the same movements happen when we are injured.

The downside of compensations is that the longer we deal with injuries, the longer that our body compensates. Meaning that not only is the area that hurts a problem, but surrounding areas most likely need attention too.

So, taking a broad look at the body is important when we are suffering with aches and pains. We need to take a step back, check many areas along our body to see what is not working well. What muscles are tight, what muscles are weak, what muscles are strong and what muscles need to work on coordination to fire properly?!

There is a lot to address and it’s important for you to remember that when you start to deal with an injury, the longer that you wait, the more your entire body will be affected.

It also is a good reminder to think outside the box.

In working with patients for many years, you start to hear a story and your brain starts thinking about where the problem is coming from. I had a patient tell me that she was dealing with general hip pain, but all her imaging reports were normal.

She had been to many doctors for them to tell her that everything looked great. Except that she did not feel great. She had terrible pain, was unable to sleep on her side and was unable to be intimate with her spouse. As she was telling me her story, I told her that I knew where it was coming from, and I also told her that her symptoms were REAL.

The longer that we deal with aches and pains, the more that we start to think they are being made up in our brain and sometimes our patients are told just that from their doctor.

Well I am here to tell you that you are not making up your symptoms, they are a real problem and there is a root cause to find, we just have to search for it.

For that patient that I was telling you about, the problem was coming from a very deep hip muscle that was next to her pelvic floor. It was not an area that anyone had checked and was the source of her symptoms. She needed focused treatment to be able to get her back to doing all the things that she loved and she was really empowered with her physical therapy treatment.

When we talk about healing and the road to recovery, the first phase is focused on reducing your symptoms. So that entails identifying ALL your symptoms and starting to see a change in them.

If you are doing the correct exercises, getting the hands on care that your body deserves and working with a provider that is listening to YOUR story, you should start to see a change within a few sessions and definitely in the first month if your symptoms are more chronic in nature. It is important that you start to feel a change in your body so that you can understand what is going on. When our pain and discomforts are so high, it can be difficult to even realize what is happening or where we are noticing our symptoms. A breath of fresh air is the goal of phase 1 in the recovery process.

Then we get to my favorite phase of the journey which is identifying the root cause.

This is where we ask a lot of questions, we look at how your body moves, we check to see how strong your muscles are, we assess the mobility in your joints, look at your posture and more. Then we check your muscles and joints with hands-on treatment to see where the problem is coming from in the first place.

I always say that pain lies. That is because we can have pain in one area of the body, but it is originating from another area. We think that our pain is coming from the spot that hurts, but sometimes it can be coming from the other side of the body or a totally different area. Referred pain is interesting and can be hard to track down, but a good challenge that we accept in order to help out patients each day.

We have some cool charts that show common trigger points in the body and then where you will feel the pain. Normally they are close together, but it’s interesting to see how the body works and sends signals to different areas of the body.

So, once we have established the origination of your symptoms, then we are that many steps closer to fixing it! We work through what we find as we then move to the best phase of the road to recovery for you…getting you back to doing ALL the activities that you love.

Now a lot of people like to stop before this part of the journey because they are feeling better. They think that they will be able to manage their symptoms on their own and things are feeling SOOO much better than they were before.

The danger of stopping too soon is that your symptoms can come back.

That is the last thing that anyone wants is to spend 6 weeks in therapy to stop too soon and for all your aches and pains to return within a month or too. The biggest frustration with this happening is that you really want more than your symptoms to resolve or reduce. You may not have realized it, but your symptoms are affecting your life in a bigger way.

When we deal with aches and pains, it stops us from doing the things that we love, spending time with the people that we care about and enjoying our life. Meaning that our symptoms start to affect our relationships with others, our relationship with ourselves, our confidence in our body, our quality of life and more.

So, there is a lot more to gain when working through these problems that will improve your life as a whole. It is very important to move through each phase so that you can really get back to doing everything that you love for the long run!

I love to see patients get back to running, hiking, sports and more while we are still working together.

The reason is that if they have a set back or something just does not feel right, then we can work through this together as a team. We can talk about what went wrong and how to fix it so that this does not keep happening in the future. We can tailor their exercise program to address that specific concern to make sure that it fully resolves.

Set-backs are disappointing and rough to work through, but I see them as a positive. This give us an opportunity to figure out what is still not working well and how can we make it better. Also, life is far from perfect! So, what better time than to have that happen when we can work through it hand in hand.

We can figure out what is the best exercises or stretches for your body to do if this happens in the future. And take all steps to prevent it from happening in the future.

So, what are you waiting for to take care of your ONE body?!

Each injury affects us in a unique way and the sooner that we get real help, the better.

If you are looking for a road to recovery where your symptoms will be taken seriously, your story will be heard, then you are in the right place.

I recommend you start with our FREE Consultation where you will sit down with one of our specialists to be able to figure out what is going on with YOU. There is no obligation because we want to first make sure that we are the right fit for you. Send us an email to get you set-up: getbetter@breakawaypt.com

Health care is a special area, and we want to make sure that you not only get the best healthcare, but that you also have a team that works with you to support you on your road to recovery.

Then we can discuss if you would like to move forwards and talk about an evaluation where we delve deeper into what is going on with your body and you leave that visit with a home exercise program that is specific to your body! It’s such a great visit because we get to learn so much about what is going on with your body AND how to improve things.

We all just want to enjoy our lives, spend time with the people that we love the most and not be held back by our body. Aches and pains are not worth struggling through when you can get the help that you deserve. One body that is connected in so many ways to what has happened in your life and all the scars that we accumulate over time.

What are you waiting for when you can start your road to recovery today?! Can’t wait to help get you back to doing all the activities that you love!!


Shaina Clemons

Shaina Clemons

Shaina is the founder and owner of Breakaway Physical Therapy.  She received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of Maryland Baltimore, along with a Bachelor's degree from Towson University.   Shaina is an Ironman triathlete, with a love of all sports. Exercise is her passion, which plays an important role in both her personal and professional life.  In her free time, Shaina enjoys spending time with her husband and three young children.  Shaina's love of snowboarding led her to her career choice many years ago. 
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