December is weird enough. Then everyone seems to go a bit strange on the first of January.
Apparently, it’s time to make some resolutions. Realistic or not, it doesn’t seem to matter.
- It’s time to buckle down and start exercising
- It’s time to start a diet.
- It’s time to read a book every day.
- It’s time to work on my wellness (whatever that is).
So why is health less important in December?
The truth is that it isn’t.
I propose that if you have a problem, it is just as important to address that problem in December, the last month of the year as it is in January, the first month of the year.
If you have a lump, an odd spot that doesn’t look right, a dark thought that won’t go away, or a persistent cough, it is important to move on it immediately.
Don’t wait until after Christmas because you are too busy.
Some things just can’t wait.
How does this apply to pain?
In a lot of circumstances with musculoskeletal problems, you are better to make a move and get some advice early. The information that you receive about how to manage it, particularly how you can manage it yourself, can be absolutely vital. You could be avoiding weeks of unnecessary discomfort and most importantly, avoid it developing into a harder problem to shift.
Yes, your Private Health Insurance entitlements often run out in December and reset in January. But it is much more important than that.
It is also about avoiding chronicity, where an acute pain problem developing into a persistent pain problem.
The longer that you have pain, the more that your body (including your brain and central nervous system) learns to produce pain to protect you the best way it knows how.
Maybe December is the key to avoiding persistent pain?
Take back pain as an example. A delay of two weeks in getting good advice and getting safely moving again can make a big difference to the overall outcome.
Any of us here can think of someone that we wish we could have seen earlier to help them grab some key messages that could have helped them to avoid a path into persistent pain.
Someone that has developed a persistent pain problem that may have been preventable.
Prevention of persistent pain is what health professionals should be striving for.
Sometimes just knowing that your problem is actually going to get better from someone who knows what they are talking about is hugely important. It can stop you from going down rabbit holes. Unnecessary investigations, medication and conflicting opinions can be key factors in developing long term problems.
If there is something that is important to chase in January, it is just as important in December.
You might also be interested in:
• The Anti-inflammatory Diet: find out more about how what you eat can influence your pain in other ways that just than your weight – click here to read it
• Crazy-Stupid New Year’s Resolutions: a vastly different way of approaching New Year’s Resolutions to the usual approach – click here to read it
• How To Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick – 3 tips for making things happen (including New Year’s Resolutions – click here to read it
