Halloween and Physiotherapy

Most Australian’s hate Halloween. In Australia, Halloween seems to be the point in the culture wars where we put our foot down and say, “Nup!” We grew up with MTV and Seinfeld: Ok, no worries. We love Santa Cruz and Nike, sure. But we draw a big fat line at Halloween right along side taking 2 weeks annual leave and playing sports like baseball or bowling. Last night, I did something I never thought I would do. I took my boys trick or treating. They absolutely frothed on it and I thoroughly enjoyed following them around, three little poorly dressed up little urchins full of glee. You have to have the courage to knock on a strangers door and maybe get shut down. The pay off is clearly the lollies but the side benefits are meeting new people and wandering around the street at dusk instead of watching TV. What’s this got to do with physiotherapy? We have all sorts of fixed ideas about pain and injury that we are also reluctant to change. I meet many people whom I home visit for physiotherapy and they are often reluctant to change their lifestyle to help manage their pain. Simple things like what you eat and drink, sleep and how many steps a day you take can have a dramatic effect on your mood and pain levels. Just like my first time trick or treating, you usually don’t feel like doing something different or new. It’s always easier to cruise along. Get in touch with us if you think you need the nudge to do something positive in your lifestyle. I won’t ask you to trick or treat with me next year, but I may get you to at least have a think about walking around your neighbourhood more.