Bring your Brain to this blog; it's full of interesting brain-related info!
I recently posted to my Instagram stories about how I got a NEURO assessment (so cool 🤩) from real-life genius neurology expert, Dr Eric Cobb.
Here Dr. Cobb is helping my brain's map.
One thing that we looked at was why pretty much ALL of my injuries have occurred on the left side of my body. And I had TONS of responses about it. So I wanted to share with you, because this is actually quite common!
While the fact I got bitten by a shark on my left foot probably can't be attributed to this, my "yoga butt", my nasty climbing injury, and all the annoying pains and weird numbness that I have experienced for years in my left shoulder, hip, and knee are most likely all related.
It has to do with the brain...
I use this brain-based approach in my movement and yoga flows that I share over on Move With Adell.
Join my method for staying on track with feeling good, in your body and your mind.
Get unlimited access to a growing library of classes, workshops, workouts, tutorials, and a supportive community.
...more specifically the fact that our brains work in hemispheres. For most things, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and vice-versa. But there are also other areas of the brain that control the SAME side of the body. (The brain is complex so, the best way to approach learning about the brain is to ACCEPT that it's gonna be complicated!)
But keeping things as simple as possible, let's reason that if one side of the body is getting injured more often, then it could be because some part of the brain is not getting its signal through, resulting in clumsiness and weakness, which can make injuries more likely. Are you with me so far?
So here's an explanation for why this might happen which is common (but not absolute because remember, the human brain's complexity makes the world's most powerful supercomputer look like a child's toy):
There are two different types of movement: voluntary and reflexive.
So for example, if your friend says something awesome, you might make the voluntary movement of using your right arm to reach out and give your friend a fist bump. 👊 "Hell yeah!" you say as you offer your fist to be bumped 👊
The reflexive movement that goes along with that is all the muscles in your back and glutes that will stabilise your body (i.e. keep you from falling over) when your arm extends away from you. If this didn't happen, then you'd fall over every time you tried to fist bump your pal. You don't have to think about this; that's why it's called reflexive.
Voluntary movement is controlled by the part of the brain called the cortex.
Reflexive movement, aka stabilising your body, is controlled by a part of the brain called the pontomedullary reticular formation, or PMRF. It's important to note that the PMRF works ipsilaterally, meaning it is one of the parts of the brain that controls the SAME side of the body.
Ipsi = same
Lateral = side
So, going back to our very simplified explanation for injuries occurring on one side of the body, it is often due to the PMRF not stabilising that side of the body as you move the OTHER side of the body.
This certainly rings true for my ankle injury. I was standing on the climbing wall on my left foot (reflexive) as I reached up with my right arm (voluntary) to grab a hold on the climbing wall. The right side of me was doing the movement, but it was my left ankle that ruptured.
Can you think back to one of your injuries and see this pattern?
But what to do about it?
So, knowing a possible cause of repeated same-side injuries is cool. But what we really want to know is how to PREVENT it in future, right?
Ready to go a little deeper? Here we go...
So we've established that the PMRF is what controls stability in the reflexive side of movement. But it's the cortex that largely controls voluntary movement, and it does so contra-laterally, meaning it controls the OPPOSITE side of the body.
Contra = opposite
Lateral = side
So your left PMRF controls the left side of your body's posture and global muscle tone. The left cortex controls the right side of your body's voluntary movement, like choosing to give your friend that fist bump.
THEREFORE, a good place to start* would be to give your brain input** (motor AND sensory) from the opposite side of the body to what's always getting injured.
*it's a good place to start, but remember -- everybody is different and this stuff is complex, so it may not be the remedy for you. What's great though is that it won't be harmful at all, even if it doesn't help.
**Motor input = movement.
Sensory input = sensation, e.g. gently rubbing the skin of an area of your body, or tapping it, applying some vibration, or even some heat or cold.
It may not be a strong enough signal to the brain to do JUST motor OR sensory input. So, what Zhealth trainers often get their clients to do (and what Dr. Cobb did with me a lot) was STACKING the two together. So for example, one thing that Dr. Cobb did with me was to have me in a very strange position which "flossed" my sural nerve and at the same time used a tuning fork on the tips of my toes to provide extra sensory information to my brain.
So basically...
I know, I know....that sounds mega complex. I can hear you thinking it from all the way over here: "sooo....wait, huh? what now???"
I told you to bring your brain! And that thing sitting in your skull is one hell of a puzzle even to the most knowledgable and experienced neurologists.
So, let me just simplify this:
If you find that you tend to get injured most of the time or all of the time on one side of your body, it may be really helpful to add more movement and sensory information on the OPPOSITE side of the body.
Here are some examples of things you could try:
gently rub your ankle just below the ankle bone, and while doing ankle rotations (from the ankle joint---not the knee, hips, or using your toes)
put kinesiology tape on a few places on the non-injury side of your body while doing your yoga practice
use something that vibrates (electric toothbrush, sex toy, whatevs you've got lying around) and hold that on your leg while standing on that one leg
(remember, do these on the opposite side of the body that always gets injured)
If you’re interested in applying some of this stuff to your yoga practice, check out my workshops on the subjects of :
The Visual System and how it helps UNLOCK YOUR MOBILITY
Neural Flossing and how it can help you GET FLEXIBLE
And the science behind PAIN and how to learn to control your pain