Had a very interesting conversation at the chiropractor’s office this morning. It focused on why folks who have corrective surgery go back to old ways of walking and moving. The staff was struggling to understand why after much healing and physical therapy work would someone choose to go back to old habits. That is where I had to chime in and say what a challenge it was after corrective surgeries for your muscles to know how to do things “normally”.
For any of us who have had to modify the way we get around because the “normal” way is too painful, this new way becomes the norm for our muscles and brain signals. I know after my first hip surgery, I had no idea how to do things the proper way. It had been to long since I could move some muscles without pain. Physical Therapy helped to strengthen muscles, but those muscles had some bad habits. I would spend a lot of time just watching how people did simple things like get up from a chair, get into a car or even bend over. And it was only by observing others that I could tell my muscles that is what I wanted them to do. And it was sounding like a foreign language to them at first.
I can see how to an outsider it does not seem logical and maybe even seems lazy. Our muscles may have the capacity to move in new ways, but they need to go back to school and be re-educated. Have you had any experiences with being physically able to have more range of motion but feel like the communication lines between your brain and muscles needs to be reopened?
Mary Byrne Eigel 