I’m sure you’re thinking “what the heck is that picture all about?” Well, it describes what happens in someone’s brain that is not in chronic pain, and what happens when you’ve had pain for a long time.

Here’s the idea: When you’re feeling good and you’re healthy but then have an injury, your brain releases a bunch of chemicals to fight things off and address the issue. Chemicals like serotonin, endorphins, etc. BUT, when you’re in chronic pain and you have a new injury or have some danger messages coming in, your brain does not release the same chemicals in the same volumes. So, your body’s ability to fend things off and regulate the response diminishes.

So, what do we do with that? Well, knowing this, and knowing what things you can do to increase those chemicals is a good place to start. I’m going to give you 3 things you can do right now to increase your body’s production of these positive chemicals.

1. 
   

   NUTRITION. Eating foods like turkey and salmon that are high in tryptophan can help increase your serotonin levels. These foods have high concentrations in other amino acids as well, which will help the tryptophan get absorbed.

   
   
2. 
   

   SUNSHINE. Typically these ‘happy’ chemicals are higher in summer and lower in the winter. Getting outside and enjoying a lot of natural light will help increase your positive chemicals and potentially regulate your pain better.

   
   
3. 
   

   EXERCISE. Studies show that exercise can have a lasting effect on your endogenous chemicals and help fight chronic pain as a first-line defense. Be sure to find the exercise that you tolerate well, enjoy, and don’t flare up your pain.

   
   

Try these few things to begin feeling better and taking control of your chronic pain, but understand that dealing with chronic pain is an exceptionally challenging and complex feat and won’t be fixed with some simple advice. It takes a specialized approach, time, and hard work. Please let us know if you have any questions about your chronic pain.

In the last video, you heard me describing the crazy notion that pain can be GOOD! Though that is absolutely true and though we can all appreciate how pain can inform us and shape us in the positive, it’s much easier to FEEL and KNOW that pain SUCKS!

Especially pain that LASTS! Tearing a ligament in your knee chasing after your grandchild can really hurt, but what is much worse is having that pain for a long time, and ultimately it affecting how you walk. Then it affects how well you can get out of a chair. And before you know it, 5 years later you’ve realized that you’ve stopped chasing your grandkids, had to crawl up the stairs at your house, and you can barely get off of the toilet without a hoist!

Here is the message. Don’t think you have to live in pain. No one should be relegated to a life of ongoing pain. The pain will change how you move and ultimately rob you of the FREEDOM to do whatever you want.

The first step is deciding to do something about it. Get fed up, and then act! Find someone that can help you. Try something. And keep trying something till you find what works for you. We know a lot of our patients that have tried a LOT of different things to overcome their pain. And many things didn’t work. But they still kept searching for a solution. Know that though you may have tried a bunch of different things, you haven’t tried EVERYTHING. So don’t give up. There’s a way out of chronic pain. I promise!

In the next video, you’re going to hear what happens in chronic pain and what you can do about it to start reversing the process and taking back control of your pain and your life.

In the last video, you heard me describe how pain and injury are not synonymous. You can have pain without an injury, and vice versa.

Well, this video describes how some pain is GOOD and can be a really positive, helpful teacher. Without pain, we’d be touching hot stoves and continually getting burned, walking into walls, and stepping on nails all day. It’s important to understand that all pain is not bad, especially if you have chronic pain. If your perception of pain is all negative, you may be experiencing more of it than you need to.

So, pain is important and helpful. Until it’s not. When pain persists for too long, our brains have a hard time distinguishing what is potentially dangerous and what’s not. In the next video, you’ll hear about when pain is NOT helpful, why that happens, and what you can do about it so that you can get back to doing what you love.

POSTURE! ????

3 months of social distance and staying at home has been hard for many reasons, and one of them is the pain that’s arisen due to immobility and poor posture while working on your computer or phone, slumped on the couch!

The tip in the video (stand in a doorway and lean forward) does TWO things for you.

1. Reverses the poor posture position you’ve been sitting in for most of the day, and restores proper alignment.

2. Brings AWARENESS to what’s happening in your body. This is KEY! You won’t be able to make any lasting changes to your posture, or any other habit, if you’re not aware of what’s going on. When you begin to notice you’re doing something you don’t want to do, you can change it. Not until then.

Try this position for 30” and do it as soon as you begin noticing you’re slumping forward again. If you have to do it 100 times a day and you don’t have time for anything other than stretching, you will be highly motivated to return to work and sit up straight!

In all seriousness, give it a try. You’ll feel better, and your muscles and joints will thank you! ????

We have a lot of content coming related to our brain and emotional state’s role in how you feel physically.

Suffice to say, your youth league football or softball coach may not have been far off when he or she said “this sport is 80% mental!”

Truth is, there is a mound of scientific evidence that lays out our brain’s role in the experience of physical pain, and is massively influenced by our emotional and psychological state.

If your ???? isn’t ready for change, your body will never follow, because you won’t be able to make the changes necessary to improve.

We’re looking forward to sharing with you so that you can understand what’s essential to make the changes necessary to become a healthier and happier version of you. ????????

What to make of Telehealth?

What is it?

Who should receive it, and who provides it?

Here at WPT, we’ve been doing telehealth for over two months now, but we certainly do not know all of the answers to every telehealth question. COVID-19 has dramatically shifted healthcare in MANY ways. Telehealth has been one of the biggest changes we’ve seen, outside of the front line hospitals and staff that are directly treating people with Coronavirus. Medicare has gone from not recognizing telehealth as a paid-for service by many healthcare providers, to approving it conditionally and with several strings attached, to loosening up the restrictions even greater. So naturally, it’s been a constant process of learning, evolving, and re-learning. So, what does all of this mean to you?

Here are some big takeaways that will affect a lot of people in how they access medical providers and seek solutions to their healthcare problems.

1. 
   

   This is likely here to stay.

   
   

Covid-19 forced the hand on healthcare to adopt more digital communication with their patients, but it was certainly coming prior to this. So much of the industry has moved and is moving toward digital technologies, and healthcare is no different. Whether you’re a tech-savvy millennial, or someone who’s absolutely intimidated by technology, this is going to be the way a lot of our world moves forward.

1. 
   

   Telehealth will improve access.

   
   

Considering the locale of your doctor or physical therapist will become less important with time. The internet and digital communication have made access to people much easier. Many people will eventually choose healthcare providers that are more regional than local. For example, if you expect that half of your doctor’s visits will be done digitally, you may be more inclined to seek out the specialist that is 2 or 3 hours away than the less renowned and less capable local physician.

1. 
   

   Telehealth will cause a craving for authentic, in-person interactions.

   
   

There is likely to be a large dichotomy that arises from this pandemic. On one hand, we will want more communication to be done via Skype or Zoom, and yet, there will be longing for in-person interaction that we simply can not yet achieve with a computer or smartphone. We believe this will result in people expecting a more personalized, REAL experience when they are receiving their healthcare in person. There certainly are some things that just can not replace a physical shoulder to cry on, or an ACTUAL hand to help you up when you’ve fallen down.

We hope this email finds you healthy and well. We also help the content is relevant and helpful. Please let us know if you have any questions or needs, and we’ll be happy to help out!

What an incredibly simple idea.  Get 1% better.  But why is it so hard?   Most of us try, fail, and get discouraged.  We feel hopeless.  Like we won’t be able to make the changes necessary to feel and move better. 

But, the only necessary thing is to focus on improving your health just by 1%.  This could literally mean eating 3 Oreo’s before bedtime, as opposed to your typical 5.  And that is a VICTORY!  I’m serious here.  If you can make small, consistent, incremental changes, you will IMPROVE.  That’s what it should be all about.  Don’t focus on where you aren’t, just focus on getting 1% better.  

Here is the 3 step process:

1.  DO NOT TRY TO RE-INVENT THE WHEEL.  MODEL SUCCESS.

THere’s likely someone that has already “succeeded” in the area you’re looking to improve.  Follow that person/people, and learn from them.  They likely did the same exact thing when they were on their path to improvement (Here’s a secret though, they haven’t arrived either – The successful people you see – they’re still focusing on trying to get 1% better too.)  Read, listen to, and study from those who have obtained success in the domain you’re wanting to improve.  Don’t get nutritional advice from the dietician that says “me too!” when you say to them, I’d like help in losing 20# and decreasing my sugar intake to manage my Diabetes.  

1. ACTION PLAN!

Knowing what to do is almost never the hardest thing about making a change and improving in an area.  It’s most often a problem of poor implementation.  Professionally, I know this has been a struggle of mine.  If I put HALF of the knowledge I’ve gained through going to continuing education courses, I would be one of the PT greats.  Yet, I’ve often done some average job at implementation, which eventually results in me going back to my old ways of doing things.  Not to say that I’m a poor PT, but I know it would be better if I was better at implementing the knowledge I’ve consumed.  

1. “PLUSSING”

Plussing is what Walt Disney referred to as continuous improvement.  Disney loved the idea of Disney World so much, in part because he said: “it would never be complete”.  When Disney made a movie, once that movie went to the box office, it was totally finished.  But his amusement park, Disney World, would always be on a journey of getting better, 1% at a time.  He loved that each year the trees would grow and become more beautiful!   And to this day his legacy continues, as Disney World is always focusing on making things more appealing, and more compelling.  

In essence, this is how we need to view our lives.  Do not focus on what others are capable of, or are accomplishing.  Only see how you can get a little better, each and every day.  Some days you may slip, but if you are always pursuing 1% better, your life and your health will look dramatically different over time.  

So it’s that simple.  It’s not easy, but it’s simple.  Start TODAY!  Think about the above 3 steps, and don’t hesitate. You won’t be perfect, but you’ll be on the way to a better you.