As promised, here is the other article from Jason Silvernail that I lifted from Diane Jacobs page. Jason and Diane are both fascinating PTs who work with movement and touch to decrease pain. Diane has been in practice for over 40 years and used to have a practice here in Vancouver. Both are regular contributors to soma simple.
Remember: Think of your movement as a medical prescription that you have to take at certain times and at specific doses each day.

Mike Reoch

~ The three stages of 
recovery from pain ~

Practicing Corrective Movement

By Jason Silvernail PT

Publish Post

The body is a wonderfully self-corrective machine. When you know more about how your body works, you can learn to treat your pain naturally through movement.

The 3 Stages of Recovery from Pain

Ever stubbed your toe? Bumped your funny bone? Twisted your ankle? If so, then you know all about the stages of recovery from pain. Read along, and keep your last injury in mind for comparison.

When you experience pain, your nervous system goes through three separate stages. You move through these stages every time you have pain, without exception, as long as you are alive. These stages are:

1. Withdrawal
2. Protection
3. Resolution

Let’s look at them a little closer and see how each of them are different but necessary for recovery:

Withdrawal is your nervous system’s way of removing itself from the painful stimulus, to reduce any damage it might sustain. Ever stub your toe? Then you know all about withdrawal – you moved your foot back away from whatever you bumped into, and pretty quickly, too! This is the first stage of response, and it is instinctive – it happens without your conscious awareness.

Protection is your nervous system’s way to try to ensure no further painful stimulation occurs. When you stubbed your toe, you grabbed and held it with your hands. That’s your system’s natural protective response, and it is instinctive – it happens without your conscious awareness.

Resolution is your nervous system’s way to restore normal mobility and function to the injured part. Resolution restores the blood flow to the injured tissues so healing can take place. When you stubbed your toe, and you moved it back and forth to help recover, it’s just instinctive – it happens without your conscious awareness.

Most people who have a persistent pain problem are stuck in the protection phase – their system is still trying to protect itself, and it’s not able to move toward resolving the problem. When you’re stuck in the protection phase you may feel stiffness, coldness, and muscle spasm in the area. You may feel as if the body part does not want to move smoothly.

Practicing corrective movement helps you move out of Protection and toward Resolution, and you are doing the corrective movement properly you might feel warmth, a softening, and a relaxing feeling as blood returns to the irritated tissues. Remember, this is instinctive movement – you can’t think about doing it, you have to let your body do it without your conscious involvement. Breathe deeply and let the movement happen – your nervous system knows what to do, just let it happen.

Remember the characteristics of corrective movement: warmth, softening, surprising and effortless movement.


.................................

© Thank you to Jason Silvernail PT


for further reading check out:


Explain Pain
Somatics: Reawakening The Mind's Control Of Movement, Flexibility, And Health