The power of addressing issues early

Tiffany Sauder [00:00:01]:Welcome to Scared Confident. I'm your host, Tiffany Sauder. So today's kind of a funny day. We're getting ready to leave for spring break, and this is supposed to be my packing day, where I have, like, a light workload while everybody's still at school, and they're going to be home in, like, an hour. And I literally have not one morsel packed. I hate packing so much. I hate it so much. So much.

Tiffany Sauder [00:00:23]:So much. So I think some of it's an avoidance strategy, and also some of it is because I have had this very strange, like, back injury. I didn't know if, like, I strained it lifting. Some people thought maybe it was, like, an si joint. So anyways, I got up early this morning, like, in the fives to, like, get my business going around here, and I literally could not stand up. I was, like, crawling to our closet. I, like, tried to put on workout clothes. It was like, it was a bad situation.

Tiffany Sauder [00:00:55]:So I spent 45 minutes this morning with, like, a heating pad, ibuprofen, stretching. Like, I'm saying the pain was, like, a seven or eight. And I've had babies, you know, so, like, it was, like, a lot. So it's like, okay, we're leaving on spring break. I cannot be full on Mia here. Like, this is not going to work, and we're going skiing. You know, I don't want to injure myself more, but I also don't just want to, like, stay in the house all day long. So I decided I was going to go to a physical therapist, which I've never gone to a physical therapist before, ever.

Tiffany Sauder [00:01:23]:So my trainer told me, hey, go see this guy Andrew. And I was like, okay, here I go. So I texted Andrew, is there any way that you can get me in? Because I am in a situation here. I can hardly move. And he said, yeah, no problem. Come in later this morning. So I drive over there, and my pain was probably, like, five or four. Like, I definitely had worked it out some, but I was like, man, I cannot wake up every day and have a 45 minutes ordeal I need to go through.

Tiffany Sauder [00:01:47]:This is terrible. So he has me do some stretches. Touch your toes. Like, if you've been to a physical therapist, you're probably like, yeah, this is normal. So touch your toes. You do some things. Arms up, arms down, like, your back. Like, what's your mobility? And.

Tiffany Sauder [00:01:59]:And then he says, I think it's like, your butt muscle, which he used a fancier word than that. And I think that butt muscle that's, like, hurt and, like, strained is beginning to kind of have some issues on your si joint, which is like your hip bone kind of thing, I guess. So would you be interested in doing dry needling? And I was like, yeah, totally. Like, whatever, you know. He said, it's kind of like first cousin to acupuncture was kind of what I heard, but you know me in details and paying attention. So I was like, yeah, sure, let's do dry needling. You know, what could go wrong? So he's like, I'm going to need you to lay down. I was like, okay.

Tiffany Sauder [00:02:31]:So I lay down, and he gives me a sheet. He's like, so that you can, like, cover yourself. And I was like, first of all, is this because I'm cold and I'm going to need to be here for a while? I realized I needed to, like, pull my pants down, like, so that my. But not in it. I was like, oh, okay. Maybe I should have asked more questions. Like, okay, so here we do the thing, you know? So I pull my butt jiggles out, and he starts putting needles in, which I was expecting that part, but the next part I was not expecting. And those of you who've done dry needling or, like, laughing.

Tiffany Sauder [00:03:01]:So they basically put these needles in that are, like, acupuncture type needles into, like, the part of the muscle that is the most painful. And the goal is to kind of, like, reduce inflammation and break up, I don't know, lactic acid. I'm kind of making this part up, but it does something. So I'm supposed to tell him where it hurts the most so that he can put the needle into that spot, which was a little bit like, okay, I should have asked more questions again. So then it gets to, like, four or five needles in, and he says, okay, so now we're going to hook it up to an electric current. And I was like, we're going to what? He's like, yeah, we're going to hook it up to an electric current. I was like, okay, you know, like, number three. I should have asked more questions.

Tiffany Sauder [00:03:42]:I was like, all right. And then back my head, I'm like, how much does this cost? Like, what is happening? What are we doing? I don't even know about this before. So he hooks up. I don't know. I didn't ever see it, but I guess he's like, nodes to these little needles. And it's like, you know when your eyelid is, like, pulsing involuntarily? That's, like, what it felt like. So for ten minutes, I'm sitting there and he's going to like different speeds and frequencies and whatever. And my leg and my butt are just like twitching.

Tiffany Sauder [00:04:10]:Anyway, it was a trip. I was like, I thought I was going to like, go touch my toes and here I am hooked up with my, like, butt cheek hanging out of a white sheet, laying on my side with my left side of my body pulsating casually with needles and electric current. So it was really one of those, like, if you give a mouse a cookie, one thing leads to the next. It was like a trip. But as I do and all kind of things in my life, I was like listening to him talk on my way home from the PT, which. Hilarious. I kind of want to do it again. Okay, do I recommend it? It did feel better.

Tiffany Sauder [00:04:43]:It did feel better. Let's stop. Let's finish this story first and then I'll go to, like, my life lesson from it. It did feel better. I kind of liked it. I might go back and do it again. I'm going to be gone for like two weeks, so we'll see kind of what happens and I have some exercises to do. But anyway, it was like a, it was a riot.

Tiffany Sauder [00:04:59]:I was like, I can't believe I'm here by myself. Somebody has to see this. But what he said was, he's like, I'm so glad that you came in now because if you hadn't these kinds of injuries, it's like really just muscular to begin with. Your body begins to like, compensate and you carry your hips differently and then that starts to create real si joint issues and then that starts to create, you know, and it becomes this domino effect. And he just said, you're really smart to catch it earlier. You're smart to react to it. And I just had to think to myself, isn't that such good advice for so many things in our life, our relationships, a four pound weight gain, you know, whatever it is, like if somebody kind of hurts you instead of like keep letting it go and go and go, like stop and like make a big deal out of it and say, hey, we need to get back on the same page. Or somebody at work who does maybe like a good job but not a great job on something like giving them feedback so that they can be great is like a gift to them.

Tiffany Sauder [00:05:52]:So I don't know, I just was reminded, like, catching things early because I can tend to have a high pain tolerance, like literally and figuratively and so I can let things get further than they need to get because I'm just like, eh, dealing with it kind of feels like a pain. Like, driving across town on a day where we'd leave tomorrow was, like, super annoying. The appointment was an hour and a half. I thought maybe it would take 20 minutes. I just didn't know. I didn't think about it. It cost money. Just all the stuff.

Tiffany Sauder [00:06:17]:I was like, responding early is inconvenient, but so much more convenient to respond early than to have, like, some great big injury that I have to work around for a really long time. So, anyway, kind of a funny story. If you've done dry needling, please let me know. Maybe this is like, some people do this all the time. I don't know. I don't know. But sometimes I live in a hole. So, anyway, this is your weekly reminder.

Tiffany Sauder [00:06:40]:If there's something little brewing in a relationship and some work you're working on or in your family, like, just make it a big deal and deal with it. Because that way it doesn't fester and become something much bigger. Maybe go do some dry noodling. I don't know. So anyway, okay, that's your reminder this week. I hope you're navigating this spring break. End of school season, like is around the corner. Kind of feels like spring is popping.

Tiffany Sauder [00:07:05]:It's my favorite time of year, Easter. All of it. Special time of year. I think of new growth, of blooming, of fresh starts. I really love spring and Easter. So, so much so. And dry needle. Here we go.

Tiffany Sauder [00:07:16]:So anyways, go and do your life. This is not your practice life. This is your actual life. And so bring your best to it every day. Thanks for listening. Thank you for joining me on another episode of Scared confident. Until next time, keep telling fear. You will not decide what happens in my life.

Tiffany Sauder [00:07:34]:I will.

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