I have hurt myself...should I still exercise?
As a clinic that uses exercise as treatment often (we have over 40 classes of clinical pilates, fitness, balance and hydrotherapy!), patients often call to ask if they should still attend their session if they are in pain.
Perhaps you woke up with a sore neck, or yesterday you bent over to pick up the paper and tweaked your back. What should you do? Is it best to rest or can exercise and movement help you to recover faster?
Our Physiotherapist Courtney explains the relationship between pain and exercise
Why do we experience pain?
The role of our pain system is to provide a protective safeguard to stop a threat or a perceived threat from damaging our tissues. This means pain most commonly occurs to prevent tissue damage rather than because of injury. Our body tissues are extraordinarily strong and can withstand large amounts of force. In contrast, our pain system is highly sensitive as it not only fires off a warning in response to physical loads but also to social and environmental loads such as stress or illness.
Although this system is fundamental to keeping us alive, the pain response is not always warranted or helpful. In individuals with previous injuries, the system can become overly sensitive and overly protective and can fire off warning pain signals well before the tissue is under any real threat. For this reason, it can be difficult to know when to continue to move and when to rest.
To exercise or to rest?
Research supports the use of exercise as one of the leading treatment modalities to reduce musculoskeletal pain. “Motion is lotion” (Pain revolution, 2021).
Whether you be in acute sharp pain or dull achy pain exercise can be used to:
Reduce pain severity and frequency
Strength surrounding muscles and support injured joints
Improvement movement and reduce stiffness
Prevent cramps and spasms
Improve immune function and increase energy levels.
Research shows the sooner we return to loading our muscles and joints the shorter our recovery time will be and the less likely we will experience permanent complications and symptoms. Current evidence encourages starting with small bouts of movement often to slowly build your tolerance to load.
Starting with functional movements and a form of exercise that you have done in the past is a nice way to remind your body that movement is not a threat but rather a helpful and necessary part of life.
How Clinical exercise can help
Our Clinical exercise sessions use equipment that supports your body as you move. We can tailor the resistance to a tolerable level, as well as choose or modify exercises to ensure your injured area is protected while you can still participate.
We have had clients exercise while wearing a moon boot, knee brace, soon after surgery or trying to prevent surgery! Therefore we actively encourage ongoing participation in your classes, especially if you are in pain, to receive a personalised and directed approach to your care.
If you have any further concerns, please contact your physiotherapist for ongoing pain management suggestions.