When Pain Makes You Cautious to Move

I don’t know if this is muscle weakness pain or something more.

What I do know is that I just completed two weeks at a new physical therapy clinic with a completely different approach to movement.

I started out hopeful.

Hopeful that maybe this would be the thing that finally helped me move better.

Walk better.

Feel stronger.

But tonight… I’m in constant pain.

The kind of pain where sitting hurts.

Lying down hurts.

Turning your body hurts.

Have you ever experienced pain so intense that even the simplest movement takes your breath away?

Not because you’re lazy.

Not because you’re unwilling to try.

But because your body is in such severe discomfort that you become cautious with movement itself.

Every movement becomes calculated.

How do I stand up?

How do I turn over?

How do I walk without increasing the pain?

People often say:

“Movement is medicine.”

And I believe movement matters.

But I also believe there comes a point where the body says:

“Enough.”

If this is muscle pain…

then it’s time to ease up.

Not quit.

Not give up.

Ease up.

Because there is a difference between strengthening a body and overwhelming it.

Tonight, I finally broke down and ordered a walker because walking has become that difficult.

That was not an easy decision for me.

But severe pain has a way of humbling you.

Of making you realize that support is sometimes necessary while you figure out what your body is trying to tell you.

I will absolutely be talking to my physical therapist about what is happening.

And I have an in-person appointment Monday because this level of pain is affecting my daily life in a very real way.

I still want hope.

I still want healing.

I still want movement.

But right now, I also need relief.

And maybe part of healing is learning that listening to your body is just as important as pushing it.

Have you ever experienced severe pain where nothing seemed to make it ease up?

How did you handle it?

— Lady Flava