The Power of Rest
Why Recovery Needs Balance.
Most people know how much effort is required with surgery and injury recovery. From completing your exercises multiple times a day, showing up for your physical therapy appointments multiple times a week, getting to and from the bathroom, making sure you are preparing healthy meals to allow for optimal healing, the list goes on and on. But what we don’t often talk about is the importance of rest. And no, this is not an excuse to sit on the couch all day either. ;) What we are talking about here is meaningful rest. If you’ve had a busy day of completing rehab exercises, physical therapy appointments, etc then it is important to balance that exertion with rest. Maybe you take time in the afternoon to relax with a book, take a nap, ice– whatever it may be, balance your exertion with rest.
Study after study has shown the importance of sleep on our overall health. Getting 7-8 hours a night is no joke, and some people may even need more. Recent experts have called getting good sleep a “secret super power” because of its overall positive effects on our health. And guess what? When you are healing, sleep is extra important. Sleep is actually the most optimal time for your body to heal. When we rest, our body has the ability to repair tissues, filter out unwanted toxins, and good sleep actually boosts your immune system. How cool is that?
So many of my patients have difficulty sleeping after surgery. Which is normal– when we go to bed, all of our other sensations are essentially turned off including our sight, smell, sound. Which leaves room for us to feel things more. If we have pain, that pain may often feel heightened. This is why it’s important to talk to your doctor and/or physical therapist about techniques or options to aid with sleeping. One of my favorite non-pharmacological techniques is a few rounds of boxed breathing or simply diaphragmatic breathing to calm the nervous system. Check out this video on YouTube for guidance: Boxed Breathing Exercise.
The moral to this story is to give yourself permission to balance that incredible effort with rest, your body will thank you. Keep up the amazing work, and know that I’m here whenever you are ready to take the next step in your recovery journey to becoming the strongest, most resilient version of yourself.
