This is something that crops up all the time. Someone is in pain, and that means for them they have to stop everything. Is that a good strategy, though?
It depends, as with most of these questions, is the answer.
Lets think it over.
I have pain, but I haven’t damaged anything that I know of. No trauma, if you like.
Still got pain, however, and it really hurts.
We know that damage doesn’t equal pain. You CAN have pain without any damage at all.
So if I know I’m not damaged, then do I have to stop doing the things I enjoy? I would suggest no. Why ?
We are born to move. To take load, twist, turn, spring. Our body LOVES movement. And so does our brain.
If we have pain, the worst thing we can do is be still. We may have to modify our movement in some way. At first, when the pain hits, we may not take as much load, not twist as fast or as much, turn a bit slower, not spring as hard. We CAN, however, still do those things. We DON’T AVOID them, we modify them.
We accept that we might have a bit of pain as a consequence of continuing to do those things. If the pain doesn’t get worse, then we can reasonably assume that it isn’t those things that caused the pain. By continuing to move, the pain might still be there, but less than it was, and it might improve as we go. So we look to other things that may be making us sensitive to pain. What might those be?
Did we do anything recently that was more than we normally do ( thinking from a training perspective here, for example)? Have we been sleeping worse than usual? Are we stressed?
These are some of the things that may be causing pain.
If it was a training thing, then we know we overdid it. Rest, bring back our training gradually and we should be grand.
Not sleeping? Stressed? These are harder to recognise and change. Change we must though, if we want to get back to our usual selves.
If our sleep pattern has changed, then we need to take measures to encourage a better night’s sleep. Make the room colder. No electronic devices an hour before we go to bed. Meditation. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
If it’s stress, then the answer might be talking to someone. Ladies, you’re great at that. Lads, we truly suck at that and need to be MUCH better. Whatever, sitting down with someone who will REALLY listen might just be what you need. And all the while, you don’t stop moving !
So there you are. Pain might stop you from moving initially, but you should get back to movement as soon as possible. Just modify it in order not to make it worse.
It’s known as ‘poking the bear’ (Greg Lehman). Poke the bear enough to let it know you’re there, but not enough to make it angry with you.
If it isn’t movement that’s causing your pain, then you’re free to keep moving, but need to reflect on what else might be the reason.
Hope this has helped bring a little understanding with regard to pain and what we can do.
If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and I’ll answer them as best as I can.
If I don’t know, I’ll ask trusted colleagues who will.
Have a great week !