3 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Pain
We’ve all been there. We’ve all had injuries like rolling an ankle, tweaking the back, kink in the neck, or muscle strain when working out, or maybe you’re not sure how your problem started, but it’s there like a bad habit. No one wants to head off to the doctor for some minor problem, so we stay home, take it easy, and put some ice on it until it calms down. For many injuries this can take care of the problem, but when is it a good idea to bite the bullet and get medical advice? Here are a few ideas to help figure out if you need to get medical help for your problem.
Has it happened before?
Repeated injury to an area is not normal no matter the job or activity, period! After a hard day of work or exercise it’s normal to be a little sore or achy. However, if the pain you’re experiencing limits your mobility or causes pain when you perform different motions (like bending forward, lifting, or reaching overhead, etc.) it means that there is actual damage to the tissues even if there is no injury you can recall. There are millions of people who have to take time off of work or sports due to recurrent injuries to their body. It’s not normal for the body to experience pain on a regular basis, it’s a sign of damage to the body tissues. You may think it’s a necessary side effect of your job, but it’s also a sign of dysfunction in the body and may require additional care than just rest and ice.
How long has it been a problem?
As a physical therapy clinic we see people with various problems and various timelines. Some people come in within a few days or weeks after injury, and others come in after several years of dysfunction. What’s the difference? People who come in quickly usually have a specific injury and know why they’re in pain (rolled ankle, muscle strain, etc.) and know exactly when they did it. This is usually a quick process and symptoms often resolve quickly with intervention.
On the other hand, many people don’t know how their problem started as there’s no specific injury they can recall and pain may be “on and off”. This can be the more complicated problem as many often wait for it to get better because there was no actual injury. However, low grade dysfunction is at work behind the scenes causing a progression in symptoms and this type of “injury” can slowly develop over many years. There are situations when our patients can sometimes be dealing with pain for 10 or 15 years before coming in for treatment. This type of problem can take a little longer to fix because the body has started adapting to the dysfunction, and developed certain habits that contribute to the problem.
The bottom line, the quicker you address a problem, the quicker we can work to resolve your pain. It works a lot like a carpet stain, if addressed quickly (when the problem first occurs) it can be cleaned up without staining the carpet, but if left unattended it can dry into the carpet and become a headache to clean up. The take away point here, when you experience pain that doesn’t resolve in a week or two it’s a good idea to get checked by your doctor or physical therapist to come up with a plan to resolve your issue.
Are you compensating to avoid pain?
Whenever injury occurs in the body, it is normal to change the way we move like avoiding the stairs, not laying on a certain side, not reaching overhead, looking left without turning the head. This might help to “calm down” the pain, but the dysfunction is still hard at work on the inside. By avoiding certain motions or activities you may be able to reduce pain, but it could be causing other dysfunctions in the body. Your body is a master compensator and will make adjustments as needed to allow you to continue to task at hand. By avoiding motions you’re not helping the body to heal, but actually allowing the pain to dictate what you can and cannot do.
It’s important to understand your body and what occurs during the injury process. It can be scary not knowing how an injury occurred or why your knee pain isn’t going away. Fortunately the physical therapists at Spokane Sports & Physical Therapy are available to help you work through the uncertainty of injury and get you on the path toward recovery. It’s time to get back to a life without pain and live your best life. Enjoy all that the world has to offer even if your world is your backyard.