Whether its dull, achy, sharp, stabbing, burning, or just there, PAIN hurts. No one wants to be in pain, but did you know that pain is really an important part of our live? Pain is our body’s response to potentially dangerous situations. The pain response is a signal that you need to change something before you really hurt yourself. If you’ve ever had the pain of touching a hot pan, just think what would happen if you touched that pan and continued to hold on, pain tells you to stop holding on.
“Pain hurts!” – Captain Obvious
We have sensors throughout our body and they are all working to keep us out of dangerous or potentially threatening situations. When you fall and have knee pain that is your body trying to tell you that you need to be careful, take it easy and let your knee heal. Usually pain is short lived. It only occurs when we are in a situation that might cause us further harm, but sometimes pain signals from our body are persistent. When we get pain signals all the time, or at least frequently, and it has been only 3 to 6 months since these signals started, we need to listen to our bodies and consider what we might do differently.
Consider back pain. If you haven’t had back pain at some point in your life, it’s likely your time is coming. (It is estimated that 80% of people will have back pain at some point in their life.)1 When we are in pain, we make changes, some of these changes can improve our pain, some of them may make it worse, and other changes won’t do anything at all. In this way, back pain, even chronic back pain, comes and goes. At the very least there are things we can do to improve our pain.
Often times our first response to pain is pharmacological; we take medication, but that only masks what is really going on. Remember that pain is telling us that we might be in a dangerous situation, if we stop that signal we’re not going to know whether we are improving our situation. Instead of masking pain, we want you to “PART with Pain!”
Physical Therapy: Choose PT First. When you are having pain, a physical therapist is trained to evaluate your pain and can provide you with a personalized plan of care. They can walk you through the things you might be doing that increase your pain and teach you alternatives to improve your condition. They can also recommend stretches and strengthening exercises to get you out of pain and keep it from returning. If you’re not sure you need PT, here are some other options
Activity: We know that moving isn’t the most appealing thing when you are in pain, but not moving may be the culprit. When we sit all day if the same spot hunched over a computer, we aren’t moving. If your muscles get tight you may not be in pain then, but you may be in pain later. Activity means changing your position. Stand from time to time, or sit in a different chair, or maybe talk a walk to the water cooler.
Rest: When we say rest, we don’t mean you should lie in bed all day. If you’re in pain, this may actually make things worse. Instead you should be resting from the things that cause you pain. If running hurts, maybe slow down or decrease the number of miles.
Temperature: Ice and heat are both temperature changes that may have the effect of loosening up or relaxing your muscles so that you can engage in some of the activities that will help you get moving again.
If you could use some help PARTing with Pain, let us know. We are happy to screen you to see if PT might be right for you.
-FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Centers of Oklahoma City
- Rubin, DI. Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Spine Pain. Neurol Clin.2007; May;25(2):353-71.