Recovery operates on a spectrum.
Why this matters:
The tissue healing process and our brains can make recovery seem long. Our pain relief operates on a spectrum: feeling better, worse, or the same. In order for us to figure out where we are on the spectrum, we need to set some clear rules. Establish your baseline (how did you feel yesterday) and your current state (how you’re feeling today); determine what is better and determine what is worse. The great thing is that it’s simple, and the following action steps can help guide your treatment.
Action steps:
Compare yourself to how you felt yesterday.
Better: pain intensity goes down (closer to 0 out of 10), pain area reduces in size (it becomes more localized), pain area moves up towards the back (aka centralization), you can do more activity before pain comes on, and if the nerve pain seems to feel different “in a good way” (Here’s the spectrum of nerve irritation: numbness->tingling->sharp shooting->deep ache->heaviness->no pain)
Worse: pain intensity goes up, pain increases in size, pain moves further down the leg, unable to do the same activity as yesterday without pain, and the nerve seems to get worse (exact opposite of the arrows above).
Once you determine if you are better or worse, then you can play detective and do more of those activities that made you feel better, and less of those that hurt more.Do you need more help with how to figure out what the right stretches/exercises are for you? Check out our 12 week course, where you’ll learn everything there is to know about sciatica pain. We just made a price drop from $999 to $79 for this week. Check it out here.
