Assuming that you’re getting the right therapy, success is all about getting the rate right.
Therapy is a bit like a military campaign where battalions of soldiers sally forth, engage with the enemy, do the business and withdraw. Withdrawal or retreat is just as important as the fighting at the front because the soldiers can recover and regroup. Away from the fray, they can think about the strategy, let their injuries be treated, regain lost sleep and basically get strong again before taking on the next stage.
Therapy is exactly the same. It’s all about moving into battle (find the enemy first . . . ) chasing it down, doing what’s necessary, and then resting-up. ‘Peace’ and regrouping gives the post-exercise bruising and soreness a chance to dissipate. It lets the body recuperate.
But back to the military. If you drive the soldiers into the ground with relentless onslaughts day after day they never fully recover. They stay weary, overwhelmed and debilitated - just as your tissues stay overwhelmed and inflamed. The new inflammation from the treatment gets mixed in with the pre-existing inflammation and you can’t see the wood for the trees. You still feel sore and your familiar pain is still stubbornly there. You could easily start thinking you are no better!
Drawing on a completely different analogy, there was a study last century (I can't find it – I just remember reading it) on how to keep pit ponies healthy in the coal mines of Wales. They experimented with all sorts of variations, a week down the mines, a week up, two weeks down two weeks up, two days down two days up etc. They found the ponies were healthier and lived longer if they worked five days down the mines followed by two days of rest. Just like humans, they needed rest so their bodies could repair!
I almost cannot emphasise enough the importance of taking it easy with ‘the work’ of therapy; taking lay days every so often, not pushing yourself to do your exercises if you’re too tired or unwell, giving yourself a break from time to time if that’s what your body’s telling you.
Listen to your body. Think of advance, retreat and recovery.
Rest! It’s everything!
Can You Over-Do Therapy When Fixing Your Own Back?