Pain vs. Function

As a chiropractor, the MAIN thing I care about is function. Does that mean that I don’t care about your pet’s pain? No, of course I do! But what people often forget is that function dictates feeling!

What that means is that a decrease in function always comes before the pain response. Pain is the body’s last signal that something is wrong, long before that there is a change in the function or mobility of the joint. 🚩 That restriction doesn’t turn into pain overnight either!

For example, let’s say your dog jumps off the bed funky and now has a small restriction in his left hip. The body is always talking in a feedback loop with brain and constantly tries to self-regulate, so now he will develop compensation patterns to account for that small restriction in the hip- muscular imbalances from side to side, shifting their weight to one side more than the other, etc. 👉 Over time, every time your pet moves, they’re “strengthening” bad compensation patterns and knowing that the whole body is connected, you can easily see how that leads to eventual pain and much more severe loss of function. Owners don’t typically don’t notice the functional changes until they get to that point and we see our pet limping or crying out in pain. 😢

This is why I’m such a huge advocate of regular wellness care for both humans and pets! My job is to find functional movement changes BEFORE they turn into pathological conditions like pain, limping, disc issues, or CCL tears. Pretty dang cool, right?! 🤯