What To Expect From Team Peak

I had a brilliant conversation with a client today about what he expected vs what he’s experienced having had 3 months of care with us so far. 

This particular gentleman is in his 60s and has experienced progressively worsening lower back for years to point where 3 out of every 4 weeks he was in pain struggling to put his socks and shoes on in the morning. He’s stopped every hobby and activity he’d enjoyed; golf, squash, biking etc and didn't want his retirement to look like the path he was on. 

He’s towards the end of chapter 1 of care now and is significantly better, the only thing he's after now is more confidence in his body, which he says will come the longer he is pain free for. 

When i asked him how he’s found his care so far , he said it is completely different form what he had expected. 

He said he’d thought it was going to be lots of back cracking and crunching and very physical. Where as its actually been very gradually, lots of small adjustments that have gradually let him to the possession he is now.

He’d had some experience with physiotherapy before where he had lots of very physical work for a few weeks then was given some exercises to do at home, just for the pain to return and him be in the same position as he was before hand. 

From the hundreds of people we speak to this is a very typical experience and one that is called pathogenic, meaning the prevention of pathology or ill health. This approach generally means once a person is out of the most intense portion of their pain, care stops or reducing significantly  until the pain returns again, then this process is repeated again. 

Eventually as the condition worsens the same intense period that once helped no longer does and the client loses all confidence and belief anything can be done to help. 

The reason why people have a much different experience when they have care with us is because we follow a salutogenic approach. This means we are not avoiding pain or ill health, instead we are promoting and working towards optimal health. This means  we do not stop at the first sight on improved and wait for it to return, instead continue to work and progress the health of the client until the concerns of pain and ill health are a distant memory. 

Not only does this build the confidence this client wants, it also means they benefit from a whole host of improvements they would have otherwise missed out upon from a pathogenic approach. 

Improvements like; a full finger to floor, increase oxygen saturation, reduce blood pressure, improved lung function, better sleep, more energy, increased mood, better cognition, better emotional regulation and improved digestion.

I like you to notice how many different areas or systems can be optimised, we are limited to pain relief. The human body and brain is one living organism. If one area is suboptimal and struggling then all areas will be. This does not necessarily mean all areas will be symptomatic or not. However there is a large percentage of people with lower back pain that also suffer from IBS, acid reflux, low mood or libido, anxiety or outbursts, high blood pressure and poor sleep. 

Instead of treating every symptom as an individual issue, why not as “why am i having the issues?” and discover the link between them all, your nervous system.