image retrieved from: ahaleadership.com
So, I am going to be having hip surgery in late July. Not really how I wanted to spend my summer but sometimes (or a lot of the time) life doesn’t go according to my plan! Its been interesting for me to watch and notice how I have compensated and adjusted my movements over the course of the last couple of months. Many of these compensations have been completely unconscious and by time I noticed them they are a habit (that means it is much harder to break).
For instance, I now find myself standing with all of my weight on my right leg. I have to remember to remind myself to stand with my weight on both legs. I also have been bending to pick things up from the floor without bending my knees (causing my back to perpetually hurt) so I now have to think about squatting down and engaging my abs every time I want to lower to the ground. There are a lot of other little things I have noticed as well but what amazed me was how quickly my body made these adjustments without me even noticing it.
The problem with changing a habit is I now have to think about a lot of my movement which isn’t always the most convenient when I am used to moving without giving it a second thought. This is what got me thinking about how so many of the kids I work with have developed compensatory patterns to help them succeed. While it is creating a short term fix for them it isn’t always the best in the long run and can develop a habit or movement pattern that can create secondary changes down the road. I don’t think I ever consciously realized how much thought went into changing a habit and how much practice our kiddos needed so that a new movement pattern became second nature.
Going through this and noticing these small things will help me to focus even more on caregiver education because while I get to see these kids for an hour or so throughout their week its the day to day carryover of the little things that will make the big changes!