Is There a Mental Roadblock for Your Results?

“If something is wrong, fix it now. But train yourself not to worry. Worry fixes nothing.” – Ernest Hemingway

A lot of times, our mindset about certain back issues can do more harm than good. From my perspective and what I’ve seen, this is most commonly seen in worrying about how the rehabilitation process is progressing. We want to be aware of if we’re on the right track or not, for sure.  But funny enough, mental turmoil can actually slow us down from getting the end goal that we’re worrying so much about!

Usually when someone comes in, I’ll give recommendations and an overall timeline for the first stages of healing. Unfortunately there’s not a crystal ball when it comes to healing, though. Sometimes progress might take longer than expected. Sometimes it’s like the stock market, where there are ups and downs to endure while on the way up.

We can control our behaviors and how closely we stay towards proper spine activities. If we do those activities, the results will be a natural by-product. But when we start to worry about the exact timeline of results, that leaves us vulnerable to go outside of those principles. We start to try to rush results, push our bodies beyond their limits, and that winds up slowing progress down even more. Even worse, if we do something rash like push into a workout program too aggressively, it can even flare up an injury and leave things worse off than before!

We get the most out of our health when we fix and maintain the health of our spine. All of the patients in this office are rewarding their bodies in amazing ways, because they are moving along the right path. But if you’re worrying about where you are in that process, just know that your mental focus would be better served on focusing on each correct next step. One step at a time.

- Dr. Scott Minton