Imagine that you’re in your vehicle and halfway to your destination. You hear a “ding” followed by the “check engine light” on the dashboard.
Despite the warning indicator, your vehicle appears to be driving and otherwise operating perfectly fine.
At this point, would you make a note to visit your mechanic sometime in the very near future?
Or would you ignore it and chance it for a week? One month? Six months? Maybe even push it out a year?
Some of you might choose to ignore it for a period of time, but most people I know would make arrangements to get their vehicle inspected by a professional as soon as possible, especially if they are reliant on that vehicle daily.
Even though everything seems fine right now, that check engine light doesn’t usually go on for no reason at all. So, the prudent thing to do is to figure out the scope of the problem and, at the very least, don’t make things worse by ignoring the warning sign.
I have another question for you. Are you currently experiencing some sort of pain right now?
If so, a few more questions: How long has it been going on? Did it just start this week? Last month? Six months ago? Have you had pain for a year…or even longer?
And one final question: are you just pushing through and ignoring it?
By now, I think you see where I’m going with this. Pain = the check engine light.
You see, your body is always giving you hints as to how it’s operating. The presence of pain is just one of many different pathways it chooses to do so.
Sometimes, the hints are subtle, like a “grumpy” lower back that is annoying but otherwise doesn’t interfere with your day-to-day life.
And sometimes, it’s not so subtle, like a knee that just can’t take it anymore, making every step a nightmare that finally requires surgical intervention.
The above is an example of a client I am currently working with. This individual had knee surgery almost two years ago, and her knee is feeling fine. However, she’s been dealing with some level of back pain for at least 10 years. While her knee is now okay, her back has become more and more of a problem.
In other words, her check engine light had been on for a long time. It’s easy to ignore the initial warning signs, especially when they are not bad enough to interfere with what we want and need to do.
All too often, the warning signs continue to increase in number and intensity until we are forced to stop and get some help.
As you can see, sometimes you can get away with ignoring the warning signs for quite some time, but that doesn’t mean that they are not there or are going to just go away.
The truth is, none of us have a crystal ball that can tell us when the engine is going to blow, which makes maintenance so important.
Here’s the crazy part: it appears that much of, if not all, of her problems are stemming from stiff ankles. I’ll spare you the biomechanics and kinetic chain lecture, but suffice it to say that an ankle or ankles that are not moving properly can screw up and cause pain just about anywhere in the body.
The good news is checking ankle mobility and stability is the equivalent of basic vehicle maintenance. No more difficult than an oil change for a mechanic. No surprise here, but a little bit of basic preventative maintenance can prevent a lot of big present and future problems.
And some more good news: her back is feeling better!
If your check engine light happens to be on, I encourage you to treat it with the same care and respect you would for your vehicle and make the appointment sooner rather than later.