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The Body Bank Account: Why Your Pain Pops Up Out of Nowhere (Even After Years!)

Hand holding a blue debit card with a red and orange logo. The background is blurred, creating a focused view of the card.

Do you ever wonder why pain seems to pop out of nowhere in places like your neck and back? You've done the same workout routine or work activities for 20 years without an issue, and now suddenly, it hurts. I'm excited to share my theory.


I like to compare your body to a giant bank account, but instead of money, it's filled with body capital. The more body capital you have, the more you can avoid pain, or simply put, the more you can afford motion.


Understanding Your Body Capital


We're all born with a certain amount of body capital. Professional athletes, for instance, have a large trust fund of body dollars. They can pretty much do whatever they want, however they want, and still perform at a very high level. The rest of us might start with, say, $10,000.

Over time, we make withdrawals:

  • You trip and fall? That costs you $5 here or there.

  • You do a wrestling match? That might cost you $1,000 body dollars.


If you don't contribute back into your savings account, you'll eventually deplete your funds. When you're down to zero, that's your threshold for pain, your baseline. At zero, you might not be in pain, but you're not functioning great and you feel limited.


The Body Bank Account: Why Your Pain Pops Up Out of Nowhere (Even After Years!)


Do you ever wonder why pain seems to pop out of nowhere in places like your neck and back? You've done the same workout routine or work activities for 20 years without an issue, and now suddenly, it hurts. I'm Dr. Justin Lin, a chronic pain specialist at Rehab and Revive, and I'm excited to share my theory.

I like to compare your body to a giant bank account, but instead of money, it's filled with body capital. The more body capital you have, the more you can avoid pain, or simply put, the more you can afford motion.


Understanding Your Body Capital


We're all born with a certain amount of body capital. Professional athletes, for instance, have a large trust fund of body dollars. They can pretty much do whatever they want, however they want, and still perform at a very high level. The rest of us might start with, say, $10,000.


Over time, we make withdrawals:

  • You trip and fall? That costs you $5 here or there.

  • You do a wrestling match? That might cost you $1,000 body dollars.


If you don't contribute back into your savings account, you'll eventually deplete your funds. When you're down to zero, that's your threshold for pain, your baseline. At zero, you might not be in pain, but you're not functioning great and you feel limited.


When You Go Into Debt: The Pain Collector

Let's say you're at zero, and you decide to run a marathon because a friend needed a running buddy. This will cost you $2,000 body dollars you don't have. You'll have to tap into your line of credit, and now you're in debt to your body.


The body bank is going to collect, no matter what, and it wants to get paid yesterday. It will surely remind you about owing them, leaving you feeling wrecked. It's kind of like debt collectors coming to bust your kneecaps because you missed your deadline!


And don't even get me started on what your bank account looks like when you're already in debt (in pain) and you keep pushing past it. We've all done this before, where we were sore from a workout and thought, "no pain, no gain," right? Wrong! Your body bank will loan you that amount plus interest. Now you're even deeper in the hole. Resting won't help much either, because it's like earning a small sum of $2 a day. You need a capital injection!


Pain is like a debt collector constantly ringing your doorbell. You must get back to zero as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the collector will keep ringing, knocking on your door, knocking it down, and ultimately busting your kneecaps. Oh, and it will constantly remind you that you're in pain.


How Did You Get Here? Misuse, Disuse, and Abuse

So, the debt collector is here, and you're in big, big trouble. To get out of debt, you must first take inventory of how you got here. There are three main ways you break down:

  • Misuse: Using your body incorrectly.

  • Disuse: Not using your body enough.

  • Abuse: Pushing your body too hard.


Just reflect: how have you been treating yourself lately? Is your body like the children's book The Giving Tree, constantly giving without replenishment?


Invest in Yourself: Rebuilding Your Body Capital


So, what can you do to improve this situation? Invest in yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and in your relationships. Not just one of these, but all of them!


Professionally, I can primarily speak about physical investment. Doing the right thing physically is like adding dollars into your piggy bank, and it starts adding up with interest. Start with:

  • Good sleep

  • Physical therapy

  • Eating healthy

  • Managing stress and bad relationships

  • Managing swelling

  • Having routines, partners, and strategies


The Aging Factor and Simple Action


Back to the question at the top: Do you ever wonder why doing the same activity now has caught up to you as you've gotten older? I hope my theory makes sense. As we age, investing gets tougher. You get diminishing returns on your "paycheck," and it gets smaller. But you're still performing like you did when you had a big paycheck, and it was okay for a while. Now, you're out of money, out of credit, and debt collectors have come knocking, ready to bust your kneecaps.


Simply put, as we age, stop spending your body capital as if you were a big baller on MTV Cribs. By the way, it even catches up to the pros—just watch Charles Barkley walk!


Remember, the true cost is not being able to do the things you love the most with the people you love. The simple action plan is to commit to something small and nourishing for yourself every single day. It really is investing made simple.


If all else fails, don't be afraid to ask for a little help. Seek the advice of professionals to help you make a good plan. Physical therapists are like health advisors and health strategists; it's literally our job to help solve these kinds of problems with our clients. With that, you'll get out of the hole faster than you know it.


So, the two main lessons here:

  1. At the end of the day, I always say, be the pain manager and not the pain victim.

  2. Learn to budget your body capital.


Remember, we heal smarter, not harder.


Which "withdrawal" from your Body Bank Account do you think impacts your pain the most?

  • 0%Lack of sleep

  • 0%High stress levels

  • 0%Not exercising enough

  • 0%Pushing too hard


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