You can’t always do it alone

Fellow pain sufferers, here are some tips that could be helpful to you.

You can’t always do it alone. Sometimes you need help even when you are an expert.

I healed myself from chronic back pain five years ago, and I was sure I had mastered Diversion Pain Syndrome (DPS). I coach others so I must be an expert right? Not quite. Earlier this year, I tore my calf muscle playing pickle-ball. It was eight weeks months of pain and hobbling around and physical therapy. But after I got better, I did a jump and felt a stab of pain. “I must have pushed myself too early and re-injured myself,” I told myself. The physical therapists told me to slow down. But this time, the pain wouldn’t go away. Another two months passed and I just wasn’t getting better. And the pain was moving to my knees. I was sure I was connecting to all my emotions, what was wrong?

I finally went to a different physical therapist, and she looked at me and said “You seem to be a person who’s in his head?” I said “Yes, I am”. I knew I found the right person. (By the way her name is Nima Zaal and she practices in Michigan). She did a thorough examination, asking me to stretch and do several different movements. She said if I was injured I wouldn’t be able to do those movements. My injury had healed and I could start loading it and increasing activity to build back the muscle, despite the pain I was feeling. With her help over the next several weeks, I came back to full strength and the pain is gone. What mistake had I made? I didn’t believe I was healed. Without her help and expertise I would still be in pain.

There are really two steps to healing.
1 — Belief that there is nothing structurally wrong.
2 — Acknowledging your emotions and not giving them any meaning.

It was a lesson to me that no matter how well I know DPS, I may still need help.
If you’re not getting better, seek more experts, ask for help, we’re here to help you.
It reminds of the quote by Ram Dass : “We’re all just walking each other home.”