Progression, Not Perfection

At my office, I've had quite the flow of people in some serious low back pain.  When I say "serious", I mean incapacitating.  I've had to make several emergency referrals, had to see people more than once a day,  and also made a house call.  There comes a point in some low back pain conditions when they cause so much pain that there isn't much that I, as a chiropractor, can do for them.

 

One of these cases is a young man who I'll call "Nate."  He hurt his back while splitting wood with an axe.  As he swung the ax down, he felt an immediate sharp pain in his back that brought him to his knees.  When he arrived at our office about an hour later, he couldn't even walk back to the room.  He is definitely the youngest person--by about four decades--who needed to use our office's walker.

 

Nate's low back pain was so terrible that I immediately performed x-rays, as I was afraid he had fractured something.  Luckily, the x-rays were negative, and despite being in excruciating pain, our office was able to get him some relief.  I've seen him daily (sometimes twice daily) since then, and he has shown pretty remarkable improvement.  He doesn't even need the walker anymore!

 

That's not why I'm sharing this with you, though.  I've been inspired by Nate, and by his story, and by his attitude through all of this.  Since the first time I saw him, he has repeatedly said two things.  The first is an expletive, mumbled under his breath through a clenched jaw, when he gets the shooting pain of a herniated lumbar disc.  The second is, "Progression, Not Perfection."

 

Nate is currently under the care of Pathways To A Better Life just outside of Kiel.  He is there for treatment for several addictions, and he has stated on several occasions that although he hasn't been there long, it's the greatest decison he has ever made.  He also stated that had his low back gone out a week earlier...let's just say he wouldn't be seeing a Chiropractor to deal with it.  "Well," I told him when he shared that, "that is no coincidence."

 

Nate has remained astonishingly upbeat through the treatment for his low back.  It has been incredibly rewarding for the staff at our office, as well, to see him smiling even more.  He managed to be smiling the first time we saw him--I don't know how, since he was in a world of pain--and now that he's not using the walker, and the pain has become relatively manageable, he's smiling even more.  I still hear a clenched-jaw expletive when he has to move around on the table, but in less than a week, he has made great progress.

 

"Progression, Not Perfection."  That's a profound phrase. We are far from perfect creatures.  We screw up multiple times every day.  But in the big picture of both our Health & Well-Being and Life in general, remembering the phrase "Progression, Not Perfection" can help remind you that there will be bumps in the road.

 

As patients get well under Chiropractic care, I often tell them that "Wellness/Maintenance" care is an excellent idea.  It won't guarantee you won't have an issue in the future...but it WILL weigh the odds in your favor that you will stay well.  Getting a regular adjustment, whether that's every two weeks like myself or my family, or every three months like other people I see, is a little thing that you can do that helps you progress towards better health. Your body isn't perfect--I have yet to see a "perfect" spine--and there will be sore spots and weak spots. But on a daily basis, take steps to make progress in your health.

And do the same in life in general. We aren't perfect. But we can continue to make progress in getting better, whether that's at work, or with your family, or in any other facet of life.

 

Keep that in mind...Progression, Not Perfection. Thanks for the tip, Nate!