64:: the coolest things you should know about your body (& definitely bring up at dinner parties!)

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we are gonna wellness girl chat

today about cool things you should

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definitely know about your body.

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Welcome back to Wellness Fixes the Pod.

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I'm your host, Dr.

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Kelsey Vic, a board certified

orthopedic doctor, physical therapy,

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and a pelvic floor physical therapist.

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And these fun facts or cool things

about our body are things that I use

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almost daily as a physical therapist

and things that I consistently

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come back to as ways to show how

freaking cool our bodies are made

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. It's just amazing what our body can do

without our conscious perception in order

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to protect us from different things A lot

of it actually has to do with protection.

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now that I'm thinking back to all

of the ones that I'll talk about

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today, a lot of it has to do with

protection and just protecting us

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from harm or what we perceive as harm.

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So our body has some really cool

mechanisms within it, and we're

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gonna chat about those today.

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Because they get brought up

in conversation a lot when I'm

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talking with people, just because

I do think they're so cool.

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And so I'm hoping that you guys

will also be able to share this

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information with others just as

fun facts during a dinner party or

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something where if people are talking

about the body and I don't know what.

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Setting it could be in, but if people

are talking about the human body, you

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can add in this and sound super smart,

but then also help other people learn

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how freaking cool our bodies are.

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So this first one I definitely

use daily, and it is the concept

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of reciprocal inhibition.

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So as a physical therapist, there's

a lot of times where we want to be

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able to relax or turn off a particular

muscle, and in order to do that, we

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can activate the opposite muscle.

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So if you think about a bicep

curl, you're bending your elbow,

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you're activating your bicep.

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But in order to do that, we

have to turn off the elbow

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straighteners, which are the.

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Triceps, right?

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Because we can't just keep our

elbows straight and bend our elbow.

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So there's a mechanism within the body

that we call reciprocal inhibition,

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where activation of one muscle

cues the opposite muscle or the

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opposing muscle to stop its action.

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So in a bicep curl,

we're bending our elbow.

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So we're stopping the elbow straighteners,

which are the triceps from activating.

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The same thing can work with your

quads and your hamstrings if you have.

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Tight hamstrings, I'm gonna

say, or shorter hamstrings,

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which not everyone does.

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That's a topic for another day.

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But let's say you actually do

have a length restriction in your

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hamstring where they are a little

bit shorter, a little bit tighter.

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We can activate the quad, which will

in turn automatically relax that back

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of the thigh or your hamstring muscles.

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So we activate the quad, we activate those

knee straighteners in order to relax.

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The ones that bend the knee,

which are the hamstrings.

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I use this a lot also with the hip

flexors and the glutes as well.

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So

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it's a concept I use a lot,

especially in physical therapy

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throughout the entire body.

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But it's also something that you

guys can utilize too, if you do.

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Struggle with muscle tightness or

soreness after a run, you can start

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to incorporate this super cool thing

that happens within the body where you

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can trick your body to relax a muscle

by activating the opposite muscle.

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So the next, umbrella topic is reflexes.

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And if you guys have ever been in the

doctor's office and they have tapped

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or hammered your kneecap, like just

under your kneecap, this is an entirely

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cool process that happens within the

body without your conscious perception.

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So when they tap just below your

kneecap on that patellar tendon, what

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they're really trying to check is the

coordination and communication and

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the pathway between that muscle, the

spinal cord, and then the response.

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So when they tap that patellar tendon,

what happens is there are these sensors

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within the muscle, the quad muscle, the

front of your thigh, that sense stretch.

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Tapping that tendon, tapping below that

kneecap, they say, oh, I sense a stretch.

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That stretch sends a signal

to the spinal cord that says,

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Hey, we're getting stretched.

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We need to protect this, stretch.

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That spinal cord then sends a response

to activate that quadricep muscle and

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elicit that sort of kick response.

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you sense that stretch.

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The spinal cord helps coordinate

the response to then shorten the

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muscle and decrease that stretch

in order to protect that area.

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And this is all done so quickly

without actually needing to

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sense signals to the brain.

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So that's what they're really

trying to see is can your

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body coordinate that response?

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Are your nerves, your sensory signals

that are sent into the spinal cord

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and your motor signals that are sent

outta the spinal cord that are in

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charge of creating that response?

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Are they all communicating or are

they all connecting in the right way?

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So it tests the body's ability to quickly

elicit response and the connection

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between all of those components.

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So super duper cool that we can

not even think about it, and our

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body can protect us in that way.

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A similar thing happens when

we step on a sharp object.

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So my example is a Lego.

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If we step on a Lego, that

freaking hurts, right?

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It's super sharp for no

apparent reason, really.

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But it is one of those things that I feel

like a lot of us have experience with.

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So let's say you step on a Lego

with your right foot and your body

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senses that pressure, that sharpness

and sends a signal to the spinal

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cord that says, that was sharp.

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I don't like that.

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It's not necessarily a pain signal,

but it is like a, Hey, that hurt.

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We need to protect against it.

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So you step on your Lego with

your right foot, then that signal

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gets sent to the spinal cord, and

the spinal cord actually has to.

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Coordinate two different pathways.

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One to say, remove the

right leg from that Lego.

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We do not wanna step on that

again, so your weight automatically

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gets taken off from that.

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But in order to do that, the spinal cord

also has to send a signal to the left

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leg to say, Hey, get ready to accept more

weight, because I am moving this right

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leg from that ouchie, that sharp Lego.

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So you step on the Lego with your right

foot, that signal gets sent to the

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spinal cord, which then coordinates

two response one to bend that right

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leg away from the Lego, and then the

second to lock out or straighten.

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The left leg in order to accept

the weight that it now has to hold

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in order to protect the right leg.

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So it's a super cool, again,

doesn't need conscious brain

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involvement in order to create that

response or elicit that response.

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It's just something that

happens subconsciously for us.

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So this is a very quick pathway

because the neurons that do this

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are myelinated, which is basically

this sheath that speeds up impulses.

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So it allows it to skip forward fast

forward over some of the length of the

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nerve and the neurons so that it can

elicit that response really quickly,

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and save you from that sharp object.

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The same thing happens with heat, but it

happens a little bit slower because these

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nerves are not myelinated, so they do

not have that sheath that allows them to

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jump or fast forward along that pathway.

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So we sense heat if we touch a hot pan,

and then our spinal cord helps to create

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that response of pulling the hand away.

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But this is why some of the time you

might actually be consciously aware

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of that heat before you pull away.

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I know some of the time whenever

I touch like a hot straightener

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or something, I'm like, gosh.

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I actually was consciously aware of

that before the response happened, and

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that's just because that process happens

a little bit slower, but it is still

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coordinated within the spinal cord.

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So the next super cool, fun fact about

the body revolves around pressure sensing.

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So the first one we'll talk about is.

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What we call two point discrimination.

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So we have the ability with our eyes

closed, and we usually do this with

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a sharp object or not painful, it's

not going to impale you, but a sharp

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object where we poke at certain.

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Intervals of distance between the two

pokes until you are not able to tell

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or distinguish that it is two points.

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So we will do this by

having you close your eyes.

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Usually it's at the feet because this

is a neuropathy test where we are

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trying to see how well your nerves are

connected to the bottom of your feet,

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which is a long way for them to travel

and how that signal is sent back up.

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It's a test we use a lot for neuropathy,

but we can also do it in someone who might

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not have neuropathy just as something

cool to see that their body can do.

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So we usually have 'em close their eyes

so they're not able to tell and we'll

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alternate two points or one point and

they'll have to tell us, oh, that was

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two points, or that was one point.

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And we'll slowly change the distances.

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So we might start super wide,

where you're definitely gonna

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be able to tell that there's.

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Distance between those two points, but

then we might do two point touch from

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a narrower distance so that it might

be a little bit harder for you to tell.

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So it's just cool that our body can

distinguish that those are two points.

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That is one point.

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But if we start to have communication

issues and connection issues with our

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nerves down in our feet, especially

in things like neuropathy or diabetic

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neuropathy, You lose that ability to

sense that there are two separate points.

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And so you might sense that

there's one point, even if the

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points are four inches apart.

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So we like to test that and there

are some like cutoff variables to

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know what's normal and what's not.

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We also have various deep pressure

sensors within our system.

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So I think of this as a guy sitting

on his wallet or a girl sitting on

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her phone in her back pocket so we

have sensors in those regions that

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sense basically a change in pressure.

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So when you first sit on your

phone in your back pocket, you

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will sense there's something there.

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But once you sit on it for a period

of time, that signal quiets because

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there's no longer a change in pressure.

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It is just your new normal.

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You will sense it as soon as you get up

off of that phone or off of that wallet

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because that is a change in pressure.

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So this is why you might be looking at

for your phone and you might not realize

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that, oh, I'm sitting on it because your

deep pressure sensors, some of the deep

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pressure sensors that sense a change

in pressure haven't sensed a change in

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pressure while you've been sitting down.

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And so they're not giving you that

signal that something's there.

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There are some that sense

pressure the entire time.

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I think of a warm hug and they

just give constant feedback on

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the pressure that you're feeling.

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So constant signals about the pressure,

not necessarily a change in pressure.

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I hope you guys are thinking this

is just as cool as I do because the.

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Thinking that the body has in it, these

subconscious systems to protect us or

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give us signals or communicate with

us, I think is just so freaking cool.

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The last one we've chatted about

before, but it revolves around the

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menstrual cycle and primarily the luteal

phase of the menstrual cycle, which

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is that back half after ovulation.

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So in that luteal phase, we are overall

more protective of our bodies, or

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our mindset in our bodies are shifted

more into protection mode because it

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assumes this like healthy fertilization.

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We are growing a new baby, so our bodies

shift towards protection mode a little

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bit, which means a lot of the resources

are diverted to growing that human.

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It is maybe shunted away from muscle

growth and muscle recovery and all of

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these things that happen in our follicular

phase a little bit better towards

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more of this okay, now our goal is.

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To support the development of

this baby should conception and

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a healthy fertilization happen.

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But even if it doesn't, our body can

still be shifted into this pattern.

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Our mindset.

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This one's the coolest part to me,

but our mindset has also shifted in

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that luteal phase as well to protect

us developing and growing that baby.

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So they say in your follicular phase,

that first half of your cycle, you're

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more likely to approach opportunities,

and in that luteal phase, you're more

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likely to avoid challenges or avoid

failures because you're trying to protect.

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We also sense that different

facial features we stereotype a

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little bit more in that phase.

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Again, in order to protect, we

might see typically friendly faces

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that we would've viewed in the

follicular phase as more scary or

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negative faces in our luteal phase.

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Because we are just shifted more

towards that protection of a healthy

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pregnancy and a healthy fertilization.

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Even if we are not actually trying

to get pregnant or becoming pregnant

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at all, it's still our bodies

shift towards that protection.

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So I think that's just super cool that.

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I am now conscious of it, I guess

because I'm in my little phase right

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now and feeling a little bit more

negative about certain things, and so

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it allows me to give myself a little

bit of grace if I experience some

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of those negative thought patterns.

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But it's also just cool that our bodies

are built for that protection, and

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it's ultimately to protect the healthy

pregnancy and healthy development,

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and healthy growing of that baby.

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So clearly I think the human body is

so cool, and when I learned about some

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of these systems and oh my gosh, do not

even get me started on like our blood

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pressure system and our heart rate and

our cardiovascular system as a whole,

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like that system is just so freaking cool.

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But.

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We have sensors all over our body that are

constantly sensing and sending feedback

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and signals regardless of conscious

perception and conscious control.

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And I just think that is super cool that

all of those are built into the body.

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So I hope you learned something today.

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I hope you had some fun

just learning about it.

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And I know these are some of my absolute

favorite like cool things about the body.

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So I hope you are now able to

contribute to a fun dinner party

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conversation about the female

body, because I know those come up.

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A lot.

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Not really, but hey, if it does now

you will have something to contribute.

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So I hope you guys enjoyed this episode

and I'll see you guys again in the next

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episode of Wellness Exists, the pod.