What's a Flare-up and How to Ride the Waves of Recovery
Here's the scenario...You start to feel better and you're even thinking that you might add a little somethin somethin, a little more than that walk in the neighborhood, maybe even go to the gym!!! And then...you have pain and tightness, and everything is buggin you, like the neighbor fixing up their house. (Are they really mowing their yard in February?)
That's a Flare-Up!
And with a flare-up comes the heavy heart and stuck brain that tells you that you’ll never get better! (thank you brain..geez) Flare-ups can be full of zingers, pain, fatigue, and can include a big wave of all of the symptoms you had felt in the past that maybe you thought were gonna stay in the past. It's ok. It's exhausting and it's hard but having a flare-up doesn't necessarily mean that you are going backward or that you are never gonna heal.
There you are minding your own business, healing, stretching, and releasing scars and all the things. You start to feel better, you notice more energy, and you start to do some of those activities that you love and miss so dearly through your recovery. But here's the kicker...when you start to feel better, you begin doing more and the line between doing more and doing too much at a time is very thin, hard to read, and when you push it ...too much too fast, you can get kicked into that pain cycle.
When your body hurts to move, it's gonna try and help you by restricting movement. So it tightens. And it's all tight and so it hurts, so it tightens...I bet you know what I mean. (This is some of the work that I do with my 1-1 clients...Identifying that line and how to work with it:-)
Unfortunately, without knowing any difference, this can be where you can get stuck...where it seems that everything points to, "This must be as good as it gets..."
For example, I was feeling good, it was a great day, l go to let the dogs out, and pulled my shoulder opening the door! It was very subtle, just a pull, but in my head, I got so frustrated that all I did was open the door! Then I thought to look at it differently, as a good thing, because I was moving more in an animated way that I haven’t been able to for a while.
Flare-ups can push you towards that line of the threshold of your nervous system, and then any extra stress on top of that makes it easy to be kicked into overwhelm. Things like more pain, anxiety, racing thoughts, and feeling like it’s hard to wind down during a flare-up can quickly push us to overwhelm.
AND HEEEYYY!!
You can start to look at the signs of a flare-up so you can watch it come in, take some things off your plate, and ride it through with all of your self-care things to support you.
Here are some ways in which your Mind, Body, and Spirit are hinting at an upcoming flare-up.
MIND
Brain Fog - Often it begins in your mind first. Some early signs of this in your mind would be brain fog. When it’s normally quick for you to process certain things, but it’s taking longer and is suddenly difficult. Have you ever looked for coffee, you know it’s right in front of you, where is the coffee? That would be an example of brain fog. What's that thing you wear on your wrist to tell time? Ahhh a watch (comes the answer three days later.)
Racing Thoughts - You may have racing thoughts where your brain is thinking of all the things, and some of those things, realistically, aren’t even that important! This can also show up as difficulty sleeping because you can’t shut your brain off.
Tired but Wired - Exhausted but ya can't seem to settle down. So tired and ya can't sleep.
These could be signs of a flare-up on the horizon, especially if you have been free of these fun symptoms for a while.
BODY
Increased Pain - Next, let's address what happens in the body. In the body, some signs may be an increase in pain, zingers, and little motions causing pain that normally wouldn’t. For instance, putting your shoes on and pulling your back. This could be a good sign that you’re moving more in a way you haven’t been able to for some time! (Yes it hurts, boooo, and hmmmm, you might be moving more, yaaayyy.)
Overall Ick - Your body could feel puffy, in a way that your clothes don’t fit like they normally would in a quick span of time like from one day to the next. This can be a sign that your body isn’t processing as it normally does.
Waves of Fatigue - You could also feel that you just don't have the energy that you've had. For example, if going up the stairs is usually easy for you, and then suddenly you go up the stairs and have to catch your breath, more than the day or even the week before.
Easily Annoyed - Hypersensitivity is also commonly noted. If the TV sounds loud even if it’s on the same volume it always is, your partner or family member sounds like they’re talking loud to you, or even a phone call sounds louder than it usually does.
Little things like these can be signs that a flare-up could be on the horizon. ( Don't worry, we talk about what to do in a few:-) Flare-ups are not your fault! Sometimes, the body goes through this ebb and flow like the weather. One day it’s sunny and then next the clouds are rolling in. It doesn't always add up.
Spirit
Feeling LOW out of nowhere - Your spirit may feel down and out. For instance, you wake up dreading the day ahead. Not as excited by the things that are your usual sparkle.
Indifference - You throw on whatever is easy because you don’t feel like picking out an outfit. Another example of this would be looking in the fridge, and nothing looks good, even the foods that you normally like or would make you feel better on a tough day. Soup Shmoop. Your favorite show is meh and that soak in the tub feels sort of ...wet. Beloved, you might not have much reserves left. (Solutions are coming!)
You might be thinking, "Hey Lady, I have these all the flippin' time..." and yes you might still be in the earlier stages of your recovery AND you can still get relief by following the Flare-up protocol:-)
What do we do about this?
We take inventory of mind, body, and spirit. Did ya check off things in all three categories? You might need the most important self-care of them all...rest! Take some things off your place by pushing them off to a different day. You can also outsource for help from your partner or family member if you need to. This way you can rest and take care of yourself before you hit threshold. Do less! Our whole life we’ve been told to do more by society but doing less in these cases is what will help you to coast through a potential flare-up.
MIND
What do we do when our mind is racing?
Take Care of You- If you’re someone who’s always taking care of a bunch of other people instead of focusing all your attention on them bring it inside yourself. Bring your thoughts and energy inside you, feel, take notice, and breathe. It doesn’t even have to be a long time! It could be as short as thirty seconds.
Notice Your Breath - This can also be done with four-count breathing. Simply breathe in until the count of four, hold it until the count of four, and exhale until the count of four. It’s bringing your attention to your breath rather than the racing thoughts which will help calm your nervous system.
Journal it out - This can be included on your list of self-care. Write down anything you’re thinking or feeling to get the negative feelings out, and then follow it up with some notes of gratitude, so you don’t stay stuck in the negative mindset. Gratitude can be simple. It doesn't have to be anything big. For example, you can write that you’re thankful you have food and that your family is safe. Give your brain a place to start and then you can get in the gratitude zone!
BODY
Slow Down or Take Time Off - If I have a client who is feeling pain after their scar release or myofascial stretching we’re going to take time off! This is a sign to listen to the body and allow it to recover and process. As we re-introduce these stretches after the break, we modify them so that we don’t have too much of that "day after the gym" feeling. (You don't run a marathon without running a 5k first.) If the stretch on the floor is too much, you can start doing it on the bed.
Get Support - If you’ve been in a long time of recovery and haven’t built that baseline to move around much, go to your doctor to get that script for PT or OT. This way you can build that baseline back up and move more comfortably again. Take your time building back up. If you’re doing too much too fast your body’s going to tell you. If your body is giving you the signs we noted, you could change the intensity at which you’re trying to get your strength back, take a day, or even a week off.
Spirit
Rest and Rest - To help calm our spirit, you guessed it, it’s rest! Last week on Facebook Live we talked about three types of rest. If you’re in need of ideas, you can refer to my talk on Radical Rest in my Facebook LIVE or my Radical Rest blog.
Create a Routine - Creating a ceremony or routine is great for calming the spirit. For example, lighting a candle you really enjoy by the bedside and thinking about your gratitude or just looking at the flame. It doesn’t have to be a big to do, but your mind and spirit will start to expect it, and it creates a calm when you carry it out. You start to feel taken care of.
Gift Yourself - I tend to buy myself flowers and instead of putting them on the dining room table, I put them right by my head in the bedroom so that I can enjoy them!
Hobbies and Downtime - Doing little things you enjoy will lift that heart space. Reading a book or watching a TV show you know you enjoy and resonating with those characters can remind you of your own strength and courage, can bring you comfort, and fill up those self-care reserves.
Paying attention to the signs of a flare-up coming in and making those adjustments can help us avoid some of the intensity and not get side-blinded and read it as a setback when instead it is a flare-up.
Of course, noticing signs of overwhelm and pushing through it anyway will cause us to burn out and flare up! The pain is going to get a little louder. Pain is the body asking for attention so if we notice those early signs of a flare-up, we can rein it in so it won’t last as long and have less intensity as it would if we pushed through. This means your normal days get better, and your flare-ups get shorter and less intense.
