Exploring Movement in Pain Recovery

On my summer reading list this year was Alex Hutchinson's "The Explorer's Gene: Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map."

A really fun book that spoke to some core elements of the human experience that I definitely resonate with (particularly in my sometimes-bizarre affinity for getting purposefully lost while hiking or trail running!).

More on that perhaps later.😆

For now let's talk about how that book has syncs with pain science and chronic pain recovery.

In fields such as decision theory, behavioral science, psychology, and even machine learning there's a core concept known as exploration vs. exploitation. This idea overlaps really well with the efforts I see my chronic pain clients making to get back to activities they once enjoyed and are often struggling to return to as they recover from pain.

"Exploration" can be defined as trying new options to gather new information. The overall goal with exploration is to learn what's out there, even if the results are uncertain. You're making a trade-off with exploration in that you may get worse immediate outcomes (new things can fail!), but you gain new knowledge that could be useful later.

A great, everyday example is trying a dish you've never had before at a restaurant. Can be hit or miss, right?

"Exploitation," on the other hand, can be defined as choosing the best-known option to maximize reward now. The goal of exploitation is to reap the benefits of what you already know works, even if you might miss out on something better that you haven't yet discovered.

At that same restaurant, this would be ordering your favorite dish that you know you'll enjoy.

Exploration prioritizes learning, while exploitation prioritizes earning (or benefiting now).

The challenge, of course, is balancing the two. Too much exploration and you may waste time and resources, never settling on good options. Too much exploitation, on the other hand, and you'll be stuck in a maxed-out scenario, perhaps missing out on better long-term opportunities.

Explore/exploit dynamics show up in many different realms of our lives -- our career journeys, the way we approach dating & relationships, how we travel, and even how businesses invest in R&D and new product lines vs. aiming big with a known, successful offering.

And...it shows up in the ways we choose to move (or not) when we're recovering from chronic pain.

Returning to movement and activity while recovering from pain can feel extremely high stakes. And it's often laced with advice, guidance & prescribed routines from professionals like PTs or physios, as well as fear, frustration, uncertainty and a host of other emotions.

And, as I've mentioned many times here, your mindset is your most powerful tool when recovering from chronic pain.

So what are the mindset differences that show up when we're exploring vs. exploiting?

I'll pull directly here from "The Explorer's Gene":

“In an exploratory state of mind, you’re giving more weight to incoming sensory data from the real world than to internal predictions based on past experience. You tend to have a broader field of attention, more flexible thinking, more positive mood, and (as the name suggests) are more likely to explore. The purest form of this exploratory state of mind is mindfulness, in which you observe the world around you unimpeded by internal judgments and expectations.”

An exploitation state of mind, "in contrast, relies more on the brain’s preconceived predictions. Your attention is narrower and more focused, but you’re less creative, less tolerant of uncertainty, and in a more negative mood. On this end of the spectrum, the extremes are dreaming and daydreaming, in which sensory input is absent or minimal.”

Exploitation is also sticking with what you already know, being goal-focused and intent in your attention. Here you’re seeking to achieve a particular end, so you’re more focused on aiming things in a particular direction, which limits awareness around new & novel happenings or possibilities around (or within) you.

In a nutshell, exploratory movement is open-ended play, without attachment to outcome. Exploitive movement is focused, goal-oriented, and predetermined (like a PT routine).

Both are important in recovery. By all means do that prescribed PT or exercise program that has a step-by-step progression.

But remember to explore and play! Go slow, move in weird directions, crawl around on the floor if you can, romp through nature a bit, use your workout tools in strange and unique ways. An exploratory mindset in your movement is "outcome independence" defined.

Exploitation-based movement can definitely feel safer & more controlled, but the nervous system outcomes (less tolerance of uncertainty, more negative mood, etc.) can be in direct conflict at times with what your nervous system actually needs to heal from chronic neuroplastic pain.

Play and exploration in your movement are crucial as they lower the stakes in your nervous system, enhance your mood & creativity, and create more flexible thinking. All of which are lynchpins to making safety in your nervous system, and turning off the signals that create and sustain chronic pain.