We all love to run around and have a good time, being involved in all aspects of what life has to offer. It might be going jet skiing with our mates, playing sport or just mucking about on the weekend. About every 10 years or so, we notice that there are some things that we are just not capable of anymore. This hurts, and some of us don’t want to believe it, and that can be a painful experience.
When we are young, we think we are 10 feet tall and bulletproof and will do most things to keep up with pace & the excitement of trying new things. We hurt ourselves and never let anyone see just how bad it is.
Suck it up and move on. This can be the beginning of something you may never get the opportunity to forget. As a young adult, it’s just not important to take care and get issues addressed.
We just live with the discomfort and adjust. The kicker is, that as we age, the little adjustments we made as a youngster, start to grow into dysfunctions, and this is where we start to notice what we think is aging.
I call it the domino effect. For example; you hurt your ankle pretty bad when you are 20 years old and don’t do anything about it. You hobble around for a few weeks and have started to walk and hold yourself differently.
This then becomes a habit and is now your new style. This may put pressure on the knee joint, as it is lining up differently. When you reach 30, you may suffer from knee pain and keep telling yourself you’re getting old.
By 40 you might have started with cortisone injections for the pain or physio, but have noticed that your hip or back discomfort is getting stronger. By 50 you could be looking at seeing someone about different surgeries.
Do you see where this is going?
It started off with an ankle injury, and like the domino, one thing led to the next, slowly knocking them off their perch. This all could have been avoided if the person had seen someone or gotten some advice to heal the ankle all those years ago.
So when you hurt yourself, even just a minor imposition, where do you go and what do you do? There are so many options out there now, the list is too long to mention them all, so I will just touch on a few that are the most accessible and related to the story above.
- If there is any indication of a break or severe injury, present to hospital or your GP.
- Initially would be first aid. Most people have to have this for work now, so possibly someone you know could advise on first aid and the R.I.C.E. method. Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate.
- If things don’t seem to be getting better after a few days, the next step might be to see a herbalist.
A herbalist can make, and show you how to make, a herbal poultice or advise on supplements for the injury to help with healing or inflammation.
- A chiropractor may be able to help realign anything that is out of whack.
- A physio can help with movements to stretch and strengthen the area so that you will keep your normal patterns of movement.
- A podiatrist could help with footwear to assist in your healing journey.
Everything is dependant on what kind of injury it is and how it has effected you.
By nipping it in the bud, so to speak, and with a little TLC, you could avoid the issues in later life, mentioned. It is so very important to keep moving and keep doing all the amazing things our body lets us do, but it is more important to address any issues that may arise to keep us being able to keep playing for a very long time.
Having a massage from time to time can also help to maintain the body and reduce restrictions caused by everyday life and repetitive activities from work and home duties.
Herbalism can help you to maintain optimum health, improving all the body systems by simply adding a herbal tea to your daily intake.
