Movement Is More Than The Sum Of The Parts!
I often speak to people who have had ongoing pain for 10, 20 years or more. And they can list all sorts of treatments - some help, some don’t - and all have not helped them move away from pain.
I recently read a paper from a person on their experiences of finding a path to move away from hip pain. I found it very impactful as it beautifully illustrates a focus on the parts and not movement.
After all movement gives us the ability to engage with life.
Here are a few of the comments…
‘When you look at my medical records, it tells a story of a painful hip. I'm nowhere to be found.
In fact, my medical record doesn't seem to be about me at all. It is not my story.
The only story I was allowed to tell in my care was very clinically-centred, made up of pain scales, marked up body charts and questionnaires, rather than person centred.
My goals didn't much matter either. Goals like being able to drive my car, go camping, go out to restaurants again, sit on the couch to watch a movie. Rather clinically relevant goals were assigned to me, such as increasing my range of movement of motion X degrees, doing many sets of Y exercises, improving strength.
There was a disconnect.’ [1]
To me it seems they experienced hypothesis chasing consultations and at no point was the impact of difficulties of their movement on their life explored. Movement/activity goals.
Looking a bit more at movement… Movement is complex and is emergent
Movement emerges only when the parts interact. It is not the sum of the parts. And there are SO many elements that influence movement:
...what we are doing,
...our environment,
...and our own individual elements which can include the familiar joint range and strength but also other physiological and emotional elements. And the history.
Movement at any given time is the outcome of these factors interacting together. Some days we move better than others.
We can’t just think about the parts… range of joint motion, strength, pain scales. We need to evaluate the outcome… MOVEMENT. The interactions of all elements, including the brain, body and the environment.
Healthy Movement Insight
Linking movement to a person’s goals can be the starting point to finding solutions to moving out of pain.
Understanding movement and restoring the health of movement is the basis of The Healthy Movement Programme.
It’s tailored to you.
It’s based on movement evaluation.
We consider the parts.
But it’s more than the parts.
It’s movement.
It relates to what you are not able to do and then we explore solutions.
Are you ready for movement solutions?
[1] Belton J et al. (2022) Patient-centered consultations for persons with musculoskeletal conditions. Chiropr Man Therap. 2022
The Movement Works is here to help you move away from pain. We’re here when you’re ready.