From the show notes:
Join Industry Veteran Anthony Carey and Jason Stella Discuss…
1. Why he has spent the majority of your career working on how to help people decrease their pain.
2. Discuss his PRACTICAL book called: “The Pain-Free Program: A Proven Method to Relieve Back, Neck, Shoulder and Joint Pain.
3. WHAT have you found to be the best ways to help, staying within the scope of being a trainer?
4. Explain the following concepts in his book
1. The Body’s Interrelatedness
2. Our Self-Healing Bodies
3. The need to take responsibility
4. Anthony’s unique way of putting exercises is specific groups called Form & Category
– What’s the differences between them
– Show some of the exercises within each area and how they may be able to help specific people?
5. Explain and show your invention, The CORE-TEX.
a. Why and how did you come up with this?
b. Can you show us some of the common ways you use this to help clients improve
3. Explain the course that you put together called the “Pain Free Movement specialist
Posts Tagged ‘chronic pain’
An Overview of a Function First Initial Visit
Sunday, June 3rd, 2018We are regularly asked, “what does a visit at Function First look like?”.
Function First founder Anthony Carey takes you through an overview of what that first 2 hour appointment is all about and why it is so pivotal for so many.
Be sure to take note of the differences of how we approach our process compared to what you might experience elsewhere. Even if you are an existing Function First client, this video will be great to share with friends who you know can be helped by what we do.
Please pass along to those that are ready to take a powerful step forward with a movement based program that is backed by science.
Compartmentalizing Chronic Pain
Thursday, May 26th, 2016When an individual’s identity and belief about who they are is based around their capacity to be active and athletic, we can predict his or her fears. So what happens when chronic pain no longer permits an active lifestyle?
What happens next is an internal dialog of perception and meaning begin to take root… and how well one can direct their own thoughts, beliefs, emotions and assumptions becomes significant.
Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance.
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The question then becomes “what is Cognitive Dissonance ?”and how does chronic pain fit into the equation?
Cognitive Dissonance “is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.”
For example, no matter how much an individual may believe… if they’re heading east looking for a sunset, that idea and belief will inevitably run up against irrefutable evidence. This naturally will manifest an internal conflict.
In the context of chronic pain, wanting to go to the mountains for an afternoon of skiing with friends & family may be high on an individuals values list. But a belief that skiing will lead to further knee damage or an increase in pain will surely create a conflict. These psychological inconsistencies (dissonance) and the inherent uncertainty they bring can become difficult to manage – overwhelming for many.
Conflicting beliefs and values evenutally feed into an individuals psyche’, establishing negative neuro-associations based around the context of pain that can contribute to the overall pain experience.
What’s more, physical and emotional pain can negatively influence an individuals’ thoughts, feelings and beliefs regarding movement and exercise, inhibiting one’s capacity to remain consistent with how they define themselves – known as their identity.
Our role as movement professionals and coaches is NOT to change an individuals identity or belief structure, but rather create an environment to EXPAND their capacity to understand what pain is and what purpose it serves.
Arming each client with insight and knowledge into the latest in pain science can help them consciously direct their own thoughts, emotions, assumptions and beliefs regarding chronic pain, which can establish constructive psychological associations and increase their ability to effectively compartmentalize chronic pain.
Written by:
Kevin Murray
Movement Masterminds – CEO
Function First – Director of Education
The Haunted House Effect and Your Chronic Pain
Friday, October 30th, 2015By Anthony Carey M.A., CSCS, MES
Founder of Function First
(all photos are property of Nightmares Fear Factory http://www.nightmaresfearfactory.com/)
We’ve all heard the saying “frozen with fear”. It’s that brief but profound period of time where something is so shocking or terrifying that one can’t move. The body does not respond because the brain is overwhelmed with the danger at hand.
Or consider what happens to your body and your mind the moment you have the fright of your life in a haunted house. The image above is from the web site Nightmares Fear Factory. They are hugely popular images on the internet of visitors caught at a moment of time inside the Nightmares Fear Factory’s haunted house.
If we got a little “sciencey” here and thought about all the things that happen to the body as this photo is taken and for the short time thereafter, we would observe:
1. A huge dump of stress hormones enter the blood stream
2. The heart rate and blood pressure spike
3. Blood vessels dilate
4. Breathing gets rapid and shallow
5. Muscles all around the joints contract and stiffen the body
6. Posture instinctively goes into a flexed protection mode
7. Ensuing movement is guarded and apprehensive
Now let’s imagine these events happened within the first 5 minutes of a scheduled 30 minute tour through the haunted house. They still have 25 more minutes to take part in an experience where the tone has been clearly established as frighteningly intense.
So what happens when they approach that next corner that they can’t see past? Are they relaxed and at ease? Absolutely not! Their body will reproduce the identical events it did from the first scare. Except all of those responses will happen BEFORE they even get to the corner.
As they cautiously approach the blind corner and their body is in full anticipation mode-anticipation of the next blood curling scare-they ultimately see that there is nothing there. No threat exists at this corner. Yet their body and mind went through all the same events as if the next big scare actually took place. That pattern continues through the remainder of the tour with each anticipation of the scares almost as physically and mentally real as a scare itself.
The source (which we can’t see) that created those responses in the photos is not the only part of that scare experience. Although likely not as obvious to those in the photos, the entire experience includes the people they are with, the smell of the room, the temperature of the room, the sounds and even how their clothes fit. And as the remainder of the tour continues, they all become part of the biological, psychological and social contribution to that experience.
So what has this got to do with someone dealing with chronic pain? The scenarios can be almost identical except replace “scare” with “pain”. Let’s say for example that after a long flight you felt a pop in your back as you lowered your carryon from the overhead bin. You begin to feel your back tighten up and you experience the pain ramping up as you exit the plane. Beginning with the “pop” you felt, you would begin to experience those same 7 traits listed earlier. And whether you realized it or not, the physical pain itself is not the only part of the experience. The people you are with, the smell of the airplane and then the terminal, the temperature, the sounds and even how your clothes fit all become part of the biological, psychological and social contribution to that pain experience.
These combined elements begin to form a neuro signature or neuro representation in your brain. Over the next couple of days as you are recovering from this episode, you experience those 7 traits any time you anticipate potential threat to your back. This could be something as familiar as putting on your socks. Some movements may in fact provoke pain but others may not. Yet the net result is very similar in terms of your physical and mental response.
You can clearly see how patterns emerge that are counterproductive to your long term goals. And the reality of this is that we can’t and you can’t explain your way through process. Yes, you need an understanding but your body and brain also need proof. This is where a strategic and structured corrective exercise plan can create the movement confidence you need to no longer anticipate a threat when the threat is not valid.
Pain is a very complex experience for everyone. And many people will attempt to chase one aspect or another of their pain. The science now tells us that we have to look at the entire bio-pyscho-social context from which chronic pain is experienced.
Don’t live your life waiting for the next ghost or goblin around the corner.
Happy Halloween!