Whispers to Screams: My Wrist Injury Wake-Up Call

Part 1 of a series on personal & professional lessons learned this summer re the body’s intelligent messenger - pain.

January arrived with a subtle whisper in my left wrist — a tiny voice that said, "Hey, something's not quite right here." As a structural massage therapist since 2009 who spends my days helping others listen to their bodies, you'd think I'd be the first to heed my own advice… and for the most part I do. But in the past year or so I’ve fallen out of all my typical movement practices and became a real couch potato. 

Then, my left wrist started hurting any time I put pressure on it with a flat hand - getting up out of a chair, leaning back while sitting on the floor, or trying to support any weight on my left wrist. It was very unhappy, but I could still work without pain (thanks to great body mechanics).

So for months I did what so many of us do: I minimized it. "It's just a little soreness." "It'll work itself out."

My left wrist became the body's equivalent of a polite friend trying to get my attention — persistent but not demanding. This is how our bodies often begin their communication. They start with whispers, not screams.

This is how our bodies often begin their communication. They start with whispers, not screams. A slight stiffness here, a minor ache there, a subtle loss of range of motion that we unconsciously compensate for. Our bodies will find workarounds and adaptations to keep us moving through daily life.

But, as I learned firsthand, when we ignore the whispers, our bodies eventually turn up the volume.

When Ignoring Becomes Impossible

One day in late June my body officially stopped whispering and started screaming. When opening the treatment room door at the end of a session, my right wrist ‘went out.’ The grab-and-twist motion triggered a searing pain and signaled a crisis that I would have to listen to. It was sudden, debilitating, and impossible to ignore. In moments I went from functioning normally to experiencing what I can only describe as "that’s it, that’s the end" pain. I couldn’t hold a coffee cup, let alone provide bodywork. I had to cancel sessions for the next week, and spent the rest of the day desperately searching for professional help.

This wasn't just physical pain — it was a threat to my livelihood and a check on my professional ego. How could I, a bodyworker who has learned many times the importance of self care and diverse movement habits, be so disconnected from my own body? The irony was devastating, but it forced me to finally pay attention. And there were many silver linings to come. 

Finding the Right Help

When you're in crisis, you quickly learn the difference between healthcare providers who truly listen and those who let their accolades earn their session fee. My healing journey launched a great adventure in Bodywork World, that I'm excited to share in future posts. I discovered new practitioners who were game-changers in my recovery, and who expanded my knowledge through their unique expertise, techniques, and tools that were different from my own. 

What This Means for You

Here's what I learned that applies to anyone living in a body:

Your body is always communicating with you. Those subtle aches, that stiffness you've learned to work around, that movement that doesn't feel quite right—these aren't just random inconveniences. They're information.

Small problems rarely stay small when ignored. Your body will find ways to compensate for issues, but those compensations eventually create bigger problems. My left wrist tried to tell me something for months. When I didn't listen, my body had to get louder.

The right practitioner makes all the difference. Look for someone who takes time to understand the whole picture — not just where it hurts, but what other contributing factors are in the body. Find practitioners who are absolute geeks about anatomy and kinesiology. 

My wrist injuries forced me to become a better listener — both to my own body and to my clients. It reminded me that healing isn't just fixing what's broken; it's about understanding the whole story your body is trying to tell, and taking action on what it truly needs.

Next Post: the who’s who of my new self-care team!

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What gentle signals is your body sending you right now? Sometimes the smallest messages carry the most important information.