Signs and Symptoms
Welcome June! We are in the final days of spring and warmer weather is finally arriving here in Colorado. Last month, the Mile High City experienced bomb cyclones of snow, heavy rains, hail, and sunny 80 degree days. It’s part of what makes living here so special.
It also means that we can choose from any number of activities. My patients are enjoying bonus days skiing and snowboarding, hiking any clear trail they can find, biking, gardening, swimming, or retreating indoors for rock walls, weight lifting, and yoga. There is truly no end to the number of ways we can move ourselves - even if you don’t get to weather the unpredictable Colorado spring.
There is also no end to the number of unique injuries finding their way into my office. After a cozy winter, some of us may be stretching and moving for the first time in months. This often leads to aches and pains, and all sorts of things feeling “not quite right.”
The prevailing trend is to treat the symptoms we experience as an enemy that must be squashed so that we can continue on with our day. Evident by the over $13.7 billion in analgesic (painkiller) sales in 2018 alone, Americans aren’t interested in putting up with pain.
But what if symptoms weren’t our enemies to be destroyed, but rather messengers sent to encourage us to take better care of ourselves? Symptoms are our body’s way of telling us something isn’t working. If we turn off the signal, we only get rid of the irritation, not the problem itself. It’s like putting a piece of tape over your “check engine light” instead of taking your car to the mechanic
Occasional aches and pains are sometimes the cost of “over doing it”. It’s easy to point to ‘leg day” when we are limping around. Or more obviously, the slip, fall, tumble, that leaves bumps, bruises and breaks. Another easy origin story. But what about the pains that are so constant that they have become part of our new normal?
Doesn’t everyone get headaches and backaches? Doesn’t everyone fall apart as they get older?
The fact of the matter is, no- just because it’s ‘common’, doesn’t mean it’s ‘normal’.
No matter what your age is, these aches and pains of everyday life are simply signs that something isn’t working and it’s time to get curious.
Maybe it’s a simple answer like dehydration causing a chronic headache (and we could all use more water). Or, perhaps, the answer takes a little more work to uncover. Chronic pain can be due to faulty movement patterns, lack of strength in key muscles groups, or even inflammation due to food allergies.
Turn to your care team to help uncover answers that will help you live your best life. We believe in your ability to see yourself with a growth mindset, and know you can do more of what you love without putting up with the pain.
Always in Service,
Dr. Carly