The Body's Inner Symphony

Consider for a moment the intricacies of a musical orchestra.  The average size of a full orchestra is about 100 musicians, all playing together harmoniously to create a universal rhythm and tone. If one of these instruments fails to play in tune or at the correct rhythm, it will throw off the entire song and diminish the quality of the musical experience.

No doubt, the human body trumps in complexity the most dynamic orchestra ever conducted.  Muscles, joints, circulatory structures, nerve impulses all work together to create a harmonic rhythm that allows us to stay active in our life. Every individual link in the chain must do its job in perfect order to create a desired physical motion.  A neurologic signal must travel from the brain into a nerve bundle that is carried to the desired area of the body, stimulating a cascade of events that ultimately creates an infinitely delicate event such as raising our arm or bending our knee.  Even the smallest amount of break-down of this cascade has the ability to produce a massive negative outcome commonly known as pain. 

Most people don’t associate doing a push-up or performing a squat as a “symphony in your body”, but this is in fact what is occurring behind the sweaty t-shirt.   

When somebody comes in to the office with pain, my job is to find the disruptive part of the symphony. In order for us to diagnose what is occurring incorrectly, the desire tune must be replayed…. Many times, over and over again.  Timing, rhythm, quality, and quantity are all factors that must be taken into consideration, just as a conductor breaks apart a song line by line to optimize the sound quality of a song and to construct a new pattern of performance. 

To summarize this metaphor:  Your body is a delicate instrument.  Care for it well and keep it finely tuned.