Ever since last year’s injury, consistent self-care has been at the forefront of my mind. From December,
2021 through February, 2022, I did more for my own self-care in those 3 months than I had since my
college athletic career. Between chiropractic care as needed, acupuncture twice a week, physical therapy twice
a week, mobility work, and home exercises, I was able to avoid surgery and have been able to return to
my normal lifestyle, including weight training. I am still taking it easy in terms of weight and overall
volume, but I have been ramping up training intensity and instead, chasing the “pump”, which has been
fun.
With that being said, I recently backslid and became inconsistent with care. Back in April, I
started experiencing a return of my disc injury symptoms. I experienced pain shooting down my left leg and
was became antalgic as a result – leaning forward and to the right was the most
comfortable position for me to be in. I was starting to limp as well, which was especially frustrating
considering the initial inflammatory reaction due to injury was over and done with. I had no idea what was causing my symptoms to return.
Lo and behold, I was experiencing nerve entrapment and muscular adhesion. I felt like I was a giant knot from my left hip down through my calf. I
reincorporated acupuncture with Darlene at Balance Acupuncture once a week and layered in weekly massage therapy to take care of the muscular issues. Our massage therapist, Dean Lupo, found some rather unpleasant points that needed some…ok a lot of attention.
Within a few weeks, my symptoms were basically gone. I was good to return to normal activity and I told myself the plan was to do acupuncture and massage therapy every 2-3 weeks like clockwork and chiropractic as needed. Unfortunately, that lasted only about a month. As luck would have it, I haven’t had any symptoms return, but I’m not looking to wait around and see. I would rather stay one step ahead of the injury. So, this past week, I went back to acupuncture and massage therapy and I feel great!
Moving forward, consistent self-care is non-negotiable! I HAVE to do my self-care. No excuses.
I’m wondering, what have you done for your own self-care recently?
