Merrill Performance, LLC

08/26/2022

Why the new diagnosis of "primary pain" is a game changer. -

Chronic primary pain is diagnosed when pain has persisted for more than 3 months (longer than expected tissue healing), and is associated with significant emotional distress (related to or not related directly to the pain itself), catastrophizing, fear, and/or functional disability. The diagnosis is...

08/24/2022

Psychosocial Strategies for Body Oriented Clinicians and Athletes

08/24/2022

Is Manual Therapy A Placebo? - https://mailchi.mp/mperformance/is-manual-therapy-a-placebo

06/19/2022

The neighbor’s cat demonstrating that touch can be therapeutic.

05/27/2022

How many of the 7 F’s color your pain experience?
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Pain after an injury or surgery is normal. However the intensity and duration of pain is highly variable between people. Fear and other big emotions are normal reactions that are warranted and help keep us safe in the short term. However the intensity and persistence of symptoms depends on how you react to pain at it’s onset and over time.
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Pain correlates poorly with tissue damage. However, the seven F’s predict how much pain you’ll have, how long it sticks around, and whether it continues long after you’ve healed. Luckily there’s an alternative that empowers you to choose a different outcome.
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05/25/2022

A big part of my work is supporting people in re-finding confidence in their bodies, sometimes after months, years, or decades of lacking trust in how amazing they are. This process is physical, psychological, social, and even spiritual for some. Rebuilding a diverse and pleasurable movement vocabulary is a fun part of the process.
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This is a compilation of my
life as a mover in my 40s. I made it as a way to appreciate my body and all it does for me every day. I believe that variety, fun, play, novelty, nature, and wonder are recipes for a life of healthy movement. Many of my clients ask me what I do to stay active. I hope this demonstrates that age, nor past injury, need not hold you back as a mover.
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I’ve lived through many injuries and had many episodes of pain during my almost 50 years of life. Yet one thing I’ve never lost confidence in is my body‘s ability to heal itself. My body, like yours, is capable of self healing and doing incredible things. I’m not special. But I know my mindset is important.
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If you struggle to stay active without pain, seek out clinicians who reduce fear about your body, change it up, get in nature, make it social, go play, and lean on people who inspire you and believe in your incredible physical ability to move.
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Music: “Sweet” by Dave Matthews
Uke and vocals by me.
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05/24/2022

Pain during exercise is normal and doesn’t mean you’re injured. While this run was quite joyful and filled with many beautiful moments, I had pain multiple times. Rather than assuming something was injured, that I’m getting old, that my biomechanics were poor, or that my shoes were a problem, I got curious. Athletes experience pain all the time during training and racing. Knowing how to relate to it in a new way is a superpower. Here’s a bit of my process. Notice how quickly the pain will ease:
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1. Foot Pain as I started the run.
* Physical sensation: Foot hurt laterally and toes sensitive.
* Fear Thought: haven’t been running long so not sure I can do this today.
* Feeling: Uncertain/not confident.
* Power thought: I love this route and the weather is fabulous.
* 1/4mile later, foot sensitivity disappeared.
2. Right Hamstring pain started just as trail got steep
* Fear thought: I’m so slow
* Feeling: weak/not enough
* Power thought: This is the hardest part. The overlook/reward is up ahead. Focus on taking deep breaths.
* Hamstring pain disappears a minute later.
3. Left ITBand pain started near the top of the uphill,
* Fear thought: This is the same pain I felt on the downhill last time. Related to me thinking about parenting.
* Feelings: frustration/fear about stuff with my teenage kids.
* Name and attend to the feelings and welcome them all.
* Power thought: My kids are doing better than last time I did this run. This is my time to take care of myself.
* Re-focus on my breath. Pain disappears.
4. Right Intense knee joint pain as I started the descent (just as ITBand pain eased).
* Fear thought: There’s something wrong with my knee.
* Feeling: Anger that my brain is being an as***le.
* Power thought: Noticed how the pain moved suddenly from left ITBand to right knee and reminded myself how the brain will move pain around as long as fear persists. Recognized how stupid this pain behavior is.
* Allowed fear and anger to just be there, reassured myself there’s nothing wrong with my knee, kept running. 10 seconds later pain gone. Flew downhill pain free.

05/23/2022

For anyone with persistent pain that you can’t figure out. Yes, there’s a better way. The best part is that you’re the solution.