Movement is the Master-key to Recovery
Movement is becoming more and more important when it comes to recovery from injury and reduction of pain.
This statement surprises many people when I tell them, because it has been ingrained into us over many years that rest is the best option when it comes to recovery. The problem with rest is, people are misinterpreting the meaning of the word rest when it comes to injury. When you are told to rest, that means resting from aggravating activities.
For example, if running hurts your knee, you can still cycle or swim. You can still strengthen everything around the knee to fix the problem which causes the knee pain. You can still do upper body training. The same principle applies to everywhere in the body, so if you have a shoulder injury, you can still train your legs and vice versa. If you are not sure, ask your Physical Therapist.
Complete rest is never the answer.
When it comes to more long-term pain, like lower back pain or neck and shoulder pain, the same principle applies. The more you move that area, the more likely it is to recover. In fact, just general movement and exercise will help.
The most common type of person who comes to Pain Relief Limerick is someone who sits at a desk all day or someone who sits in a car for long periods regularly. These people simply don’t move enough. During the day, there is very little that can be done about this, because it’s a requirement for your job.
The best thing you can do in the office is get up from your chair regularly and loosen out. However, outside of work there is plenty you could do to counteract the lack of movement.
People often complain that they cannot exercise because of a sore back. Your back is likely sore because you haven’t been moving it enough over the past few days, weeks, months or years. So, exercise is exactly what it needs. The reason your back is a bit sore during exercise is because it’s adapting to change. Your body gets comfortable with being in a stationary position all day, so when you begin to exercise it attempts to fight the change and your muscles become sore in order to adapt.
The pain you feel in your back is the same pain you are feeling in your legs or arms when you exercise for the first time in a while, but because the back contains many more muscles than your arms or legs. If you continue to keep active regularly, these muscles will adapt to this and over time your back won’t be sore as often because it is stronger.
If there is persistent pain that just does not go away, you may need to talk to a Physical Therapist. Quite often, because you are not as active as you should be, some muscles may switch off. This causes other muscles to work too hard which can lead to excessive fatigue and long-term pain. This is a problem that can easily be fixed with the help of a Physical Therapist.
