Many of the words in medicine/health are quite grim and create a feeling of fear. With musculoskeletal conditions words like “degeneration”, “wear and tear” and “damage” are used to describe body tissues.
Often people will get there imaging report and freak out about the long list of “abnormalities”
A famous study got participants to use the words Worried, Florida, old, lonely, grey, selfishly, careful, sentimental, wise, stubborn, courteous, bingo, withdraw, forgetful, retired and wrinkle to form a sentence. They gave another group of participants a random set of words with no theme.
They then timed the participants from each group as the left the room and exited via a corridor.
Interestingly they found that those that formed the sentence using the words that described ageing walked significantly slower than those who were exposed to the random words.
With respect to pain and movement, we can use the same principles.
Safe vs Damaging
Sensitivity vs Pain
Recovering vs Injured
Strengthening vs Weak
normal changes vs Wear and tear
I know which list sounds better. Your mind can tell your body that is okay to move which in turn will reduce your pain and fearfulness and allow you to be more active.
