Pleased to be sharing this wisdom on how to heal injuries in your 40’s. 16 years of being in the health and fitness field, the main age of my clients has been around 40. Being almost 40 now myself (37) I have had the privilege of walking alongside SO many health, fitness, and injury rehab journey’s, and have personally experienced major and minor injuries, myself.
I hope this provides missing insight and motivation to continue to PRIORITIZE preventing and healing your injuries in your 40’s. So let’s get into How to (actually) Heal Injuries in your 40’s!
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Stop doing the things that are making your injuries worse.
I’m not saying stop exercising all together, I’m saying find something else, another activity.
As I said in my article ‘One of the Biggest Mistakes of the Fitness Industry‘ activities like running, HIIT classes, spin, weight-lifting, boxing, are not the only form of exercise, especially if you are reading this article on how to heal injuries in your 40’s. It is time to honour the body on a new level so you can stay fit through your 50’s and 60’s. Soften your ‘high pain tolerance, as applying the same familiar and similar stressors, will keep your neurological patterns firing in the same loop of protection.
For the clients that generally walk through my door and use Exercise as a form of Stress Management (Type A) – my recommendations for alternative exercise, and ones I do myself are:
- Uphill-walking (ideally not on treadmill)
- Nature & trail walks
- Swimming
- Body-weighted exercises
- Deep core exercises!!! (see a sped up video of my deep core exercises)
- Stretch Flows/Yoga
- Foam Rolling, correctly. See this video. This is a copy from my client learning platform
2. Become more Body Aware.
Remember when you could just “rest” for a week or 2 and that would heal your injury? Unfortunately that don’t work no more, in fact I’m not sure it ever did.
By 40:
- Your tissues, have experienced more wear and tear and muscles become hypertonic.
- Underlying compensatory patterns have peaked their head
- Tissues *generally* become more rigid (due to dehydration & stress)
- Quick fix treatments become less effective
Body awareness is the first creme de creme step on how to heal injuries in your 40’s. If you are used to quick fix treatments, you can have much more success by:
- Become aware of current movement patterns. Perhaps hire a mobility specialist for a few weeks that really knows their stuff. Ofcourse I have recommendations in Vancouver and online, if needed so please don’t hesitate to reach out.
- Improve breathing patterns
- Regulate the central nervous system (especially if it is in fight or flight a lot of the time)
- Engage in the right corrective exercises, likely that you haven’t done before
You may be wondering how much more body aware you can be. Here’s an insider tip: One of the biggest areas that we often miss when correcting our form is our feet. As I say in this article, the health of your plantar fascia will affect your entire body.
3. Refrain from seeing multiple therapists.
After breaking my femur 10 years ago, I really understood what it takes to heal injuries. Although I did see multiple, amazing therapists, at the end of the day, the results were short-lived. Why? The body, the fascial network, the nervous system needs to feel SAFE in order to heal and unwind injuries.
I highly recommend you find 1-2 body workers that speak to your soul AND find 1 energy worker such as a coach, somatic therapist, breathwork teacher, shaman, reiki master, to help bring your brain and body into coherence. I have recommendations if needed. Injury rehabilitation is so much more than going to the therapist every week… injuries are a body, mind, and spirit invitation into a deeper teaching. You can learn the lesson, or the keep getting it taught to you in different ways.
4. Do the (right) work.
At this age there is really no time to waste and if you really want to know how to heal injuries in your 40’s, you need to go deeper and commit. The 3 reasons we don’t do the deeper healing work is: We believe physiotherapy and other passive and conventional therapies are enough. Second, because you have high functioning anxiety and can’t slow down your mind enough to be present in your body and even think about other options, or third you have outsourced all your time and energy to finding therapists and now feel jaded and victimized by your injury. I do understand the draining effect an injury or repeat injury can have on you however, if you are devoted to your health and wellness, you will look to gain a deeper perspective so you can come back better, stronger, and wiser.
If someone is continually experiencing the same recurring injury or if there is ALWAYS some sort of injury or pain there is a deeper reason that when uncovered, creates freedom from recurring pain. After 15 years as a Trainer and Kinesiologist, I can confidently say I will never go back to in-person session-to-session training as the minute that person walks out the door, old habits take place and they don’t get to truly heal. Health coaching is my jam and that’s my contribution to the world. We don’t need more physical therapists. If you are curious, fill out my 1:1 Health Coaching application to see if we are a good fit.
See blog: Stress Tolerance The Cortisol Addiction
5. Slow down the mind
When the mind is active, it is in fight or flight response. This is not a healing state. To bring your body into a state of HEALING, here are some suggestions for most of my Type A’s:
- Mindful breathing. I often talk about how this one thing changed everything for me.
- Start prioritizing body work.
- Stay out of rumination mode. Get some tea and a book, write, draw, play music, bath, steam, sauna. Do not let your brain snap you back into rumination. Allow your brain to rest. You deserve to. Take. The. Pressure. Off. Please. You do enough. Allow the body to heal itself.
- Become aware of the things around you that keep you stressed & anxious. Ask yourself if it is worth it it to you to create some healthy boundaries around these things. Boundaries are a journey. Sometimes it is simple, sometimes there is underlying murkiness that will prevent you from setting clear healthy boundaries for yourself.
In conclusion, healing from injuries in your 40’s requires safety. The injuries you are experiencing will not be healed by quick fix treatment as the body is smarter than that. The Nervous System and Fascial Network want to feel safety. Sometimes the goals we set are too big, daunting and ego-driven that our Nervous System goes into a freeze response and when this happens we stay in a Freeze response. Get support from trusted therapists on how to move forward.
Update on bookings: Please note my calendar is closed indefinitely for Stretch Therapy & Active Rehab. I have created this offering (scroll to bottom of page) should you wish to get some deeper support on your pain and injuries.
Feel free to send me an email or message via Instagram and ask a question or share a story.
Asma Kassam, BHK, CSNA, CFST
Former Kinesiologist, Personal Trainer, Certified Sports Nutrition Advisor, Certified Fascial Stretch Therapist, turned Women’s Health & Fitness Coach & Educator
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