Five pillars of health: your health is in your hands.
2022 has been an interesting year personally and professionally for me. As a Physiotherapist of over 15 years, I have seen my fair share of injuries, pain and conditions. However, this year I have been floored with the sheer number of patients who are walking into our rooms with severe, unrelenting pain with no clear mechanism of injury.
In the past, Physiotherapists have been trained to assess and treat injury from a biomechanical perspective. A person starts to run for exercise, and they begin to experience knee pain. Or a patient lifts a heavy couch and strains their back. We were trained to assess the area, diagnose the injury, give appropriate treatment and prescribe some exercises to assist recovery. But more recently, it has become evident that so much more is at play. How are people waking with pain, that just does not go away, with no clear reason as to what caused it?
Inflammatory pain
Perhaps as a mother of three little ones (where I have felt sleep deprivation, stress and less time to look after myself) or after treating our community through the last three years of COVID stress and lifestyle changes, it has led me to become increasingly obsessed with learning more about inflammatory pain and how the effects of stress, trauma and lifestyle is creating pain and injury in our community.
The more that I learn about it, the more excited I become, as it is clear that we have so much control individually over our own health, than we have been led to believe. It is exciting as a Physiotherapist to realise that the very advice that I need to be giving for joint pain can also have a profound effect on my patients’ overall health and longevity in life.
What is systemic inflammation?
The truth is that we cannot separate our muscle, joint and spine health with the health of the rest of our body. Pain can be the result of systemic inflammation.
What is systemic inflammation? Systemic inflammation occurs when the immune system is constantly defending the body. Stress, infection, or chronic diseases can put the body in a pro-inflammatory state. When this happens, the immune system becomes primed and ready to create an inflammatory response.
Think of it like strumming a guitar. If you strum an acoustic guitar, it creates a sound. If you perform that same action on an electric guitar with the amp at max, it creates a response that is 100 fold! This is what the effects of inflammation can have on your body with your usual day to day input, causing pain, poor health or fatigue.
What can cause systemic inflammation?
Research has shown that there are 4 primary triggers:
1. Perceived stress. This includes both emotional and psychological stress.
2. Glycaemic dysregulation. This includes both high and low blood sugar or alternating between the two.
3. Circadian disruption. This includes sleep deprivation, too much exposure to light at night, not enough exposure to light during the day, shift work and frequent travel across time zones.
4. Inflammatory signalling. Inflammation caused by poor diet, physical inactivity or overtraining, gastrointestinal dysfunction, autoimmune disease and a variety of other modern sources of inflammation.
What can be done about it? The five pillars of health
We can build increased resilience to systemic inflammation through the five pillars of health.
Nutrition. Stop thinking of food in regards to calories and consider it as nurturing your body. Nutritionist Christine Smith has provided a wonderful information sheet regarding this. Click here to read it.
Sleep. The brain and gut both thrive on routine. Turn off all blue light devices by 8pm. Get at least 15 minutes of daylight exposure each morning. Sleep in a dark/quiet/cool room. Have a bedtime routine. Limit caffeine.
Movement. Exercise does not have to be structured. It should be enjoyable and for those whose body is already under stress- it should be low intensity/impact to reduce cortisol, not increase stress. A gentle 10 minute walk after meals can help to regulate blood sugars. Movement is imperative for all of us for good health, mental wellbeing and longevity in life. Being realistic as to the barriers that are preventing your movement goals can assist you to create healthy habits. An Exercise Physiologist is trained to help you to achieve your goals.
Stress regulation. Interventions that elicit the relaxation response such as breathing techniques, meditation, mindfulness and time in nature are crucial to mitigate the stressful effects of our modern day life.
Positive relationships. Positive social interactions have a huge impact on our health. Prioritising time to enjoy a hobby or sport with others, meeting with friends or putting down our phone and conversing with family will have a huge impact on your overall wellbeing.
If you are experiencing ongoing pain or fatigue and want clarity on how to start feeling better, all of our Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists are highly trained to help. Make a booking online or call 07 5337 9853 for more information.