Episode 16 | Have I Done Irreversible Wear And Tear Damage? | Pr1me Time

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​All right, everyone. Welcome back to Pr!me Time and I'm stoked to take on a pretty big topic today. We're going to talk about, "Have I Done Irreversible Wear and Tear Damage to My Body?" So this is a question I get asked a lot and it really puts people into a tough mindset and unfortunate mindset. 

It puts them into fear. It puts people into the state where they all of a sudden don't even feel like themselves anymore. They don't think that they can get back to doing the things they love anymore because they've got this visualization in their mind of a quite horrid picture. Let's say it's in their shoulder joint. Just for a second, imagine if this was your shoulder, what you would paint the picture as as to what irreversible damage looks like. 

I know if I think about that I view that the cartilage is kind of gone. I might feel some bone on bone in there. I might see a labral tear, it might be red due to inflammation and pain. And we don't really talk about this kind of stuff in terms of what we visualize that to look like. 

But quite honestly, that's the way I would picture it. And you might have your own kind of story on it, or maybe you have had pain, or may have been told this and you've already pre-thought about it. But I think the big takeaway right now is, A, this puts people into fear. And we also have to, you know, discuss the truth. We have to be honest with ourselves. If there was a significant trauma, let's say you're skiing, and you've really landed hard, and let's say you tore your ACL, and MCL, and LCL, and you really did a good number to that. 

But the question is, did you do irreversible damage? We've gotten so much better in even our surgeries, you know? Even though I'm one to help avoid people from surgeries as best as possible, surgeries have gotten a lot better. So, you know, let's say that person that tore those three ligaments, they go into surgery. It's not really like they've done irreversible damage. 

On the research in that case, they might have a chance to have more arthritis in 10 years, but is arthritis irreversible wear and tear damage? As we get older, we're all heading toward the same space. I think we tend to neglect that sometimes. We have to be honest with ourselves. 

We are all heading to the same spot, right? We don't really like to think about that. What that does mean is that there will be natural wear and tear into our bodies, which is shown in the forms of arthritis, shown in the forms of disc degeneration in our spines, maybe even disc bulges, natural cartilage loss. Those kind of things. 

I still wouldn't call that irreversible damage. Now, I know that I can't reverse arthritis, okay? I know I can't reverse arthritis. I know I can't go in there and put more cartilage, more disc height in there. There are some promising signs to stem cells, which I think is probably the closest thing that we get. 

But even then, I think most people would agree, you wouldn't go back on an MRI and see that there's increased space in there. So where does that leave us? Well, I think it goes back to, what are we able to do, still? Despite MRIs, CAT scans, and x-rays, previous trauma, what are we able to actually do? 

I think for me, this boils back to trying to regenerate confidence in movement. I try to get my clients away from thinking about that irreversible damage. Because it...you know, I've just realized helping people get back to doing their thing, the things they love, is so much more than just the mechanics of it. 

So much of it is in between the ears. So much of it is our mindset. So I find myself constantly battling clients who are coming from other health professionals. A lot of times it is their doctor and the doctor has told them, "Listen, you know, Judy, you've got significant irreversible wear and tear damage in your knee.You're 65, you're not getting any younger.You want to get back to walking three miles, but you're going to need a total knee." 

And granted, there are times when the arthritis is so significant and osteoarthritis has really flared up to the point that maybe she does need it, but I'm going to say that that's lesser than more often. I think that more often than not, she's able to actually get back to doing the things she loves with really good care. And maybe it won't be overnight. 

Maybe it'll take 12 weeks to 16 weeks, and she'll have to put work in, and maybe relearn how to walk, and do some stretching programs, and really start to strengthen her body, but to maximize her quality of life without going underneath the scope, because she's trying to regain the confidence in movement. And she's not going to just give in to the fact that just because she's been active all her life, that suddenly just all of a sudden she needs a total knee surgery. 

In fact, in this case, I would strongly encourage her, if nothing else, to go through six to eight weeks of care. You could call that prehab if you needed to, if she ended up going into surgery, but to try to maximize her prognosis or ability to get better even following her surgery. So we use that as a 65-year-old, but that could be the case of having a significant knee surgery when you're 25. 

I actually had a hip surgery when I was 23, right? And if I were told, "You've done irreversible damage just by having a surgery." And I was told that I'd never squat below 60 degrees again. What kind of mindset is that? What kind of a life can you live if you're shackled in fear all the time because you've been told by someone who you had a lot of trust with, right? 

They've got their doctorate and they sat there and told you. They looked at the MRI, or CT scan, or x-ray and they looked at that diligently and they showed you the results and they say, "You've got irreversible damage. You can't get back to squatting, and lunging, and working out again." Those are really impactful moments for people, where you've really got their attention. 

You're in pain, so you're sympathetic system's up, which just mean you're kind of in the fright or flight stage, right, where you're caught up in that moment. So you really record that well in your brain and you'll record that for maybe ever, honestly. I mean, I've had clients that have told me 20 years after their back surgery, or their hip surgery, or their knee surgery, and as I started to examine them, it's like, "All right, Lawrence, let's see you do your squats." 

"Oh, I didn't tell you, Chad, but I had a back surgery 20 years ago and he told me I'd never squat again.He told me that I've done irreversible damage.I shouldn't do that." It's like, "Well, how have you been moving around on a daily basis then?How are you sitting down?Isn't sitting down into a standard, 18-inch chair a squat?" "Yeah, it is. It really is." 

So my take-home point is irreversible wear and tear really invokes a lot of fear, and I tend to help try to get people back to being confident in movement as best as I can. We want to acknowledge if there is a point where someone may need that MRI to see how significant and severe their arthritis is. There may be a point where that comes, but more often than not, we're able to help people really maximize their quality of life without going underneath the scope because of just doing simple things the right way, you know, kind of relearning how to walk or relearning how to stand. 

We catch ourselves doing these small daily micro traumatic things that eventually add up and compound themselves, and we start to walk way differently than we did even 10 years ago. So overall, I want people to continue to be more confident. I want doctors out there, and even just health professionals, to be more aware of how profound it is when we tell our clients and tell people that, "You've done irreversible damage in wear and tear." 

We've got one life to live. I want everyone to really, you know, attempt, if nothing else, to do the things they love, to be as active as possible. You've only got one life to live, so let's shoot for the stars. That's my motto. So thank you guys so much for tuning in to our podcast and vlog today. If you guys have any other questions or topics of interest you'd like me to tackle, shoot it at chadk@pr1memovement.com, that's chadk@pr1memovement.com, just feel free to shoot me an email. 

Until next time guys. Thank you so much. ♪ [music] ♪