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Exercises For Pain Management – How Long Should You Keep Them Up ?

Exercises For Pain Management - How Long Should You Keep Them Up ?

Exercise for pain management

The health industry stats for long term compliance with rehabilitation exercise programs make for depressing but perhaps unsurprising reading.

Less than 1% of people are still doing their prescribed exercises for chronic complaints after a year, some because they are slack but many because they simply didn’t realise that it was needed.

If I reflect on my conversations with people over the decades in this industry I can scarcely remember an occasion that someone told me they kept up their ankle sprain rehab for more than a month or 2; much less keeping up long term with some prescribed exercises.

5 REASONS TO KEEP REHABILITATION EXERCISE UP FOREVER

Reason 1 – Injured areas were usually already weak before they got injured.

The vast majority of injuries happen in body parts that were already struggling a bit with repetitive strain, under-use or postural weakening. What this means is that for many of us by the time we are doing rehabilitation for an injury we are actually dealing with a body part that has struggled sometimes for decades.

Reason 2  Injured and painful areas nearly always have muscle wasting after the fact.

In the aftermath of a significant sprain or fracture there is rapid muscle wasting. If you have ever seen how skinny a forearm can be when it comes out of a plaster cast then you have glimpsed this phenomena. This kind of muscle wasting might have easily rehabilitated itself in hunter gatherers .. in the bodies of office workers it takes specific attention!

Reason 3 Muscles are what hold our joints together.

There are 2 things to remember about muscles. The first is that they are a basically what hold our joints together over the course of our lifetime. The second is that they don’t just ‘be strong’, they adhere to the use it or lose it principle.

Perhaps this is all we would ever need to know about the importance of long term strength exercises for our old war wounds ???

Reason 4  If you are never done with looking after your teeth why would you ever be done with looking after your old pains and injuries .

The reason you keep caring for your teeth is because you know that they are subjected to life long  ‘dietary stress’. All of our joints are subjected to life long ‘mechanical stress’ that comes not only from things like running on concrete but just ‘life’s general; so why wouldn’t we do them the same favour we do our teeth. This principles doubles in importance when we are dealing with an old injury or old pain area.

CONCLUSION

Not long ago at my office in Wellington I met a very unfortunate chap who had recently aquired around half a kilo of screws and bolts for the purpose of putting his leg bones back together after a massive fall. We met 10 months after his operation and he had long since stopped doing his exercises. He still had so much muscle wasting around his knee and hip that you can see it from the other side of the room; but had stopped his exercises thinking he was done with them after a few months.

If this man really knew what this could mean long term he would most likely be doing them for an hour per day. Stopping his exercises left the door wide open not only for more pain but for premature arthritic change in the joints. With respect I felt that his hospital  physiotherapist could perhaps have made more effort to help him understand this.

Maybe you have had ankle sprains or shin splints, if you have had episodes of lower back pain and seen chiropractors for adjustments, if you have had knee pain or injuries, if you have had plantar fasciitis or heel pain, maybe you have had shoulder pain or shoulder surgery? Do any of the above apply to you?  Did you work long and hard at the strength in that area way beyond the mere resolution of pain ? If not then you probably to some degree are in the same trap as my friend with the smashed leg. Chances are you still have some stubborn muscle wasting in that area; and if that part of you sometimes feels achy, sore, stiff or not quite right then its probably quite a bad.

At our clinic in Wellington we offer treatment for everything from plantar fasciitis and heel pain to neck pain and migraines. We always aim for more than ‘the mere resolution of pain’.

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Should You Keep Training When You Have Pain?

Should You Keep Training When You Have Pain?

Training

Pain Overview

Pain is fundamentally unpleasant, and that’s kind of it’s whole point. If the sensation of touching a hot stove or banging your skull on concrete wasn’t unpleasant you wouldn’t learn what pain has to teach you about health and safety. In other words we are not supposed to do a lot of the stuff that hurts because its bad for us.

It’s Complicated 

Where the whole topic starts to get complicated is with the fact that things like intense exercise can hurt just as much a burnt finger … but they’re good for us right !! And even more complex still because research shows that when you have back pain ( for eg.) it’s way better to keep moving through the pain than avoid it. To retrieve some simplicity lets just agree though that if we are truly injured (like broken leg injured) we aren’t supposed to push through.

The basic question people often pose to us is in the context of foot pain, heel pain, plantar fasciitis, hip pain, knee pain etc. ‘Shall I stop training / using it or should I rest it ?’

To Train Or Not To Train

Under-doing it

If we ‘under-do’ it while our bodies are weakened or healing we risk making our situation worse.

The risks of undoing it include reduced blood flow to painful areas – muscle wasting – stiffening up of painful areas and in some cases the mild depression that comes through inactivity. All of the above are seriously not what you want when you have a stubborn pains like knee pain, heel pain, hip pain or plantar fasciitis:

Over-doing it

If we overdo activity our painful or injured areas may not get the chance they need to heal.
If you are aware of the wisdom in not running on a freshly sprained ankle you know what we mean. To some degree the same principles hold for back pain, ankle pain, plantar fasciitis, foot pain, heel pain and the like.
Developing a good understanding of how far to push our pain .. or not is a great skill to have and one that forms and big part of the pain resolution puzzle.

A Golden Rule

We have for you a golden nugget of information that has helped a huge number of people free themselves from the uncertainty of how much to lift, how long to train, how far to run etc. and here it is…
‘If it hurts a little bit more DURING or for a SHORT TIME after exercise that’s generally speaking not so bad.. maybe even good. If you have a SIGNIFICANT PAIN INCREASE after a given activity or movement that lasts MORE THAN 24 HRS that’s generally not a great sign and you should back off.
This is a very loose guide and be mindful that there are exceptions to every rule but it can definitely help to keep you out of trouble. This rule is however definitely not a substitute for face to face professional advice and care.
The truth is that it can obviously be a little hard to know for sure how much to push a given pain unless you have a great deal of experience with that kind of pain .. which hopefully you don’t. Having a practitioner who has treated a wide range of pains over a long period of time is essential. Having that right practitioner is like having a mechanic for your car .. for most of us it’s way easier than trying to figure it all out for yourself.

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Is Concrete The True Cause Of Plantar Fasciitis?

Is Concrete The True Cause Of Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar Fasciitis and Concrete

Plantar fasciitis is a real pain! There aren’t many worse ways to start the day than your first few steps being agonisingly painful. It can become quite scary and frustrating to find that your ability to stand and walk are becoming limited by the pain of plantar fasciitis.

I have personally met countless plantar fasciitis sufferers who despite being less than 60 years old are functioning like they are old and sick because of the way the pain limits their activity. In addition to plantar pain and heel pain some of these people have associated hip and back pain with adds insult to injury.

But what is the cause of plantar fasciitis ? In my view while it is clearly a complex issue CONCRETE is the culprit in the same way that SUGAR is the culprit in resolving tooth decay.

Similarities Between Sugar & Concrete

-Both are unnatural industrialised products.

-Both are inherently stressful and toxic to the body. One because it feeds bacteria .. the other because it is very very hard and unyielding.

-Both are refined and homogenised .. in contrast to nature which is more complex and nuanced.

-Both are relatively recent ‘inventions’.

Both are EVERYWHERE !!

The hardness of concrete not only puts unnatural vibration stress in your bones muscles and joints, it compresses and stresses your plantar fascia thousands of times per day

If you wear reasonably substantial shoes they will cushion you and depending on how inflamed your feet are they could help a great deal. If you are compelled to wear formal shoes about town or you choose to wear something like ballet flats you are seriously setting your self up for chronic plantar fasciitis pain. Due to how hard the ground surfaces are in the city !

The Good News

As is clearly the case with sugar there is much that can be done. If we take the right approach to protecting the body from concrete over time we can significantly limit the toll it takes on our joints.

If you have never been to see us and would like to learn more about what you can do to relieve plantar fasciitis and protect your body from wear and tear call us and mention this post .. I will gladly give you 30 mins of my time for free

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Which Exercises Are Okay To Do If You Have Pain

Which Exercises Are Okay To Do If You Have Pain

Which exercises are okay to do

There are so many frustrating ways that pain has to interrupt your ability to do the exercise you want and need. Many of us find that when we have back pain or hip pain certain lifting movements at the gym become a major trigger for episodes of pain. Niggly knee pain that comes in half way through a run can limit your enjoyment, limit your mileage or stop you running all together. Plantar fasciitis can often completely destroy your ability to walk comfortably let alone run and do gym work.
One of the questions we are most often asked at our clinic are which exercise to avoid. This is a very good question. The reason this is a good question is because you can easily cause major setbacks doing the wrong exercises. More people still get into trouble doing the right exercises in the wrong way:

When not to exercise

For the most part if you are recovering from a mild or stubborn ongoing pain you should be able to continue exercising. Often however we often do have people eliminate the exercises that cause them the most pain until they start feeling better. Eliminating pain triggering exercises for sufferers of hip pain and plantar fasciitis for eg. allows the inflammation to reduce in the effected area.
Usually we only like to limit people like this for a few weeks at most. People who keep going generally get better long term outcomes compared to people who stop all together; so we like to do everything we can to keep you in the game even when your sore.

Which exercises to NOT do

It would be impossible to write a list of the exercises that cant be performed by the full range of complaints but we can give you some guidelines.
Signs that an exercise may not be for you include …
Exercises that make you very sore for days after you perform them
Complex and /or heavy exercises early in your ‘return’ to exercise ****if you dont feel really sure about how to do an exercise properly or you don’t feel confident when doing it then it probably isn’t the one for you right now.
You are a back pain sufferer doing ‘core exercises’ at the gym without having had in depth coaching by a health professional or advanced PT. ***** If you have a bad back even learning very simple core exercises is a big job – not just something you can do from a sheet or from a 2 minute description of the exercise.
You are a back pain sufferer doing sit – ups .. if this is you PLEASE STOP !
You are a shoulder or neck pain sufferer doing wide grip pushing / pressing exercises at the gym. Or doing shoulder exercises without having lots of coaching on form.

The Good News

The happy truth is that it is very rare that we should need to stop exercising for any real length of time with most pain complaints. The other good news is that there is almost no exercise that is off the menu long term…. except maybe sit-ups .. sit ups are dumb .. you heard it here first.
If you are committed to learning how to do them gently / skilfully enough and building from there most of the exercises that used to hurt you will eventually heal you. The key ingredient is getting the help you need in the early chapters so that you can figure out what isn’t working for you on the long haul so that you can do your own fine tuning over time.
We are rapidly heading toward a world where the vast majority of stubborn back pains, hip pain, knee injuries, ankle sprains and plantar fasciitis are a thing of the past. Don’t forget once upon a time EVERYONE had severe tooth decay by they were in their 30’s and we got past that. The way we are going to get there is by gently and persistently learning about what causes our pain one tip at a time… and today’s tip was to get as much help as you can around knowing WHICH exercises to do and HOW best to do them.

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Stubborn Pain is Like a Tooth Pain – They Are Both Signs of a Deeper Problem

Stubborn Pain is Like a Tooth Pain - They Are Both Signs of a Deeper Problem

Stubborn Pain

Without knowing it you are an expert on dental care ! When you go to your dentists with tooth ache you are very aware of pain ! Most of us are also aware of many other complex, subtle and scientific aspects of our tooth ache !

We know that the pain in the tooth is just a sign of a deeper issue with the tooth.
We know that there is more than likely a cavity in the tooth.
We know that cavities are caused by bacteria that bore their way into the enamel.
We know that the bacteria are fed by sugar and that we may have overindulged somewhat.
We know that if we had been more diligent in our dental hygiene regime that the bacteria might not have built up enough to effect the tooth.
We know that there is more than likely even more genetic complexity to this whole situation given that some people seem virtually immune to tooth default and go a lifetime without a filling.

In stark contrast to this when most people come to me with pain they often express very little understanding of their pain. Like the lady I met this morning who told me her plantar fasciitis and Achilles pain were caused by old age .. she is 43. Or the gentleman I met last week who told me that his 3 weeks of crippling back pain was caused by ‘sleeping funny’. He honestly believes that he went to bed with a healthy back and slept so funny that he was severely crippled by morning.
You may be relieved to hear that neither old age or memory foam mattresses are a major cause of severe pain.
A good question is… ‘What are the deeper levels of understanding that we might bring to conditions like heel pain, Achilles pain, plantar fasciitis, knee pain, and hip pain?

Well .. it’s a long story but I can tell you one thing for sure ‘ concrete is to your joints, muscles, and tendons what sugar is to your teeth’ !!!
Concrete is both incredibly hard and incredibly flat. The hardness creates unnatural levels of stress in the joints and the flatness creates unnatural levels of weakness in the muscles. Hardness is an issue because the natural surfaces that we evolved to walk on simply did not put the same level of vibration in the bones and joints: Flatness is an issue because if you rarely have to balance and navigate different contours the muscles don’t work as hard day to day.
The Good News is that despite the evil nature of concrete there is much that can be done to limit the harm it does to our bodies just as there is with sugar.
If you are suffering from any of the following…

  • plantar fasciitis
  • Heel pain
  • Ankle Sprains
  • Knee pain
  • Knee Ligament injuries
  • Hip pain
  • Hamstring strains
  • Low back pain
  • Groin strains

….. you may well be suffering from some specific weakness or movement imbalance that has made it difficult for your body to handle living on concrete. The first step towards resolving these type of issues is ‘diagnosis’. If you want us to take a look please feel free to get in touch.

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Comfort is Your Natural State.. Back Pain Is Not.

Comfort is Your Natural State... Back Pain Is Not.

Comfort

Comfort Is Your Natural State

On the face of it what I do is help people with pain (back pain, plantar fasciitis and the like ). If we unpack the subject of being pain free what we generally find is that it boils down to ‘freedom’. Freedom to do all the things we need to do ( like carry bags of shopping ) in a state of comfort and freedom to do all the things we love to do ( like play sports ) in a state of comfort.

Having the freedom to live a full life without pain is obviously a big topic but if we stick with the basics for a moment there are 3 basic needs that we all have in this area …

The ability to lie down and sleep comfortably.
The ability to sit comfortably for as long as we need to.
The ability to stand and walk comfortably.

These are the bare basics and if you can’t do all 3 with comfort and ease then something is very wrong and the body is using he feelings of tightness, stiffness, aching and pain to bring your attention to it.

If we take plantar fasciitis or heel pain as examples they have little effect on your ability to sit and sleep but just standing and walking can be desperately uncomfortable. Anyone who has experienced plantar fasciitis or heel pain with tell you not only how distressingly painful they are but how much they can limit ones ability to enjoy and normal active life … walking is kinda useful to be able to do.

The loss of freedom we experience when conditions like plantar fasciitis effect our mobility is usually experienced as very frustrating and limiting.

Complaints like back pain and hip pain are just as painful and frustrating as plantar fasciitis ( and they often go together for a very good reason ) but tend to have a more variable effect on our lives. Back pain and hip pain can effect our ability to stand and walk but they can just as easily impact our ability to sit and sleep without pain. It should go without saying that not being able to sit and sleep comfortably can get super frustrating also .. being able to sleep is one of the freedoms most essential to perceived ‘quality of life’.

It’s not natural to feel sore, stiff, achy, tight during day to day life .. all stubborn little pains have their roots in ‘strain’ or ‘wear and tear’ in the body. My suggestion is that you don’t put up with them.

If you live in Wellington and you are suffering from back pain, hip pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, heel pain, plantar fasciitis or headaches we may be able to help you. Experience has taught us that overwhelming majority of stubborn pains can be managed with the right tools and the right mindset. Our offices are in Wellington CBD and we offer a broad range of treatments to both treat pain but also stop it from coming back.

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Stability Work – The Future of Fitness AND the Future of Pain Management

Stability Work - The Future of Fitness AND the Future of Pain Management

Stability

Body Building

I trained as a fitness coach and sports therapist way back at the turn of the century. We were taught how to lift weights and the governing principle was ‘isolation’. The idea being that if you want to get greatest muscle development you really need to isolate and target each muscle as best you can.

In recent years there has been a new wave of influence on the fitness industry in the form of a big move towards ‘functional movement’. Functional movements are where instead of isolating muscles the teaching is to move in more natural ways and use groups of cooperative or ‘synergistic’ muscles in unison. The emphasis is often also on explosivity and speed in movement…. like Cross Fit and the like.

The slowly dying trend for isolating muscles I was taught back in the day came directly from the sport of body building. Body building and body builders essentially invented and commoditised the idea of a gym where the public could go to do resistance training for the betterment of their health. It was inevitable then that the entire industry grew from the paradigm and techniques preferred by body builders.

This mass prescription of exercise through weight training for our society was essentially dictated not by doctors, exercise physiologists, physiotherapists or chiropractors but by a hardcore group of individuals dedicated to maximising muscle growth above all else even to the detriment of their health.

We didn’t all start taking steroids but countless millions of us did ( and still do ) take the protein shakes and dedicate countless more hours to obscure and impractical body building movements that we now know aren’t good for much more than growing large, dense but fairly usless muscle.

What’s Current ?

So having partially cast of the shackles of body building routines we the public now find ourselves being prescribed something that on the face of it seems far more wise and useful .. functional movements. But having had experience of wasting so much energy on bicep exercises thus far we should bring a healthy scepticism to the table and ask who it is that is telling us we need to throw bars over head for our health.

The current trend for circuit based, function , compound ( using multiple muscles groups at 1 time ) movements nearly always with an emphasis on high speed, high intensity and high reps has filtered through from the world of ‘strength & conditioning’ for athletes.

Sports performance has undergone a massive evolution made possibly by the strength and conditioning paradigm. Sports people can now jump higher, run faster: throw further and hit harder than ever before largely because of progress in strength and conditioning… and now this trend has influenced the health and fitness industry. If you go to any large gym in any city now you will find multiple classes which involve this kind of high intensity whole body approach to exercise.

So are we being slightly inadvertently misdirected again by the strength and conditioning paradigm as we were by the body builders ? Well the answer for some of us is ‘yes’ and for others ‘no’.

If you are essentially already very fit and not injury prone whatsoever and you simply love the hardcore-ness please do all the high intensity and cross fit you like with my full blessing. Cross Fit and systems like it are all awesome stuff and sooo much more stimulating, valuable and real than sitting on machines punishing your rear deltoids.

But what if you are not particularly fit .. not particularly strong and/or you have some stubborn or re-occurring back pain, neck pain, ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis, hip pain, knee pain etc ???? If you tick yes to any of the above and you are being sold a high velocity, high intensity, whole body exercise paradigm like cross fit as being the best thing for you …. you have been misdirected and misinformed my friend.

What Should we be Doing ? What’s Next ?

The real question here is this ‘ what should the ‘Everyman / Everywoman’ who is not already in peak physical condition and who wants to get the maximum benefit and minimum risk out of their workout time be doing ?

We should be learning relatively slow controlled movements using weights we can easily manage and with a great emphasis on technique, form and body awareness. Many of the exercises we should be doing are the same ones that exist in the current ‘athlete paradigm’ but we should be learning them slowly and thoroughly which means going slow. We should definitely be working very hard and getting there good old fashioned burn but instead though the use of weights we can control and through exerting that control.  Taking this approach eliminates injuries in the long and short term but it also builds a deeply functional strength in the muscles and tendons.

The benefits that I have personally experienced through learning about correct squatting technique and then reducing the weight I use by 2/3 and opting instead of extreme and sow controlled squats has been completely transformative. I feel stronger and more flexion than I ever did in my days of ego driven Olympic lifting where I pushed the amount of weight beyond what I could lift with full control.

What I am describing here imparts stability to the bodies joints and connective tissue and I predict it will be rather future of strength and conditioning once many of us get fed up of.

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3 Reasons You Aren’t Going to Stretch Your Way Out of Pain

3 Reasons You Aren't Going to Stretch Your Way Out of Pain

Stretching

Most it not all sufferers of back pain, hip pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, plantar fasciitis, arm pain and leg pain at some point will experience the benefits of stretching the painful area. But how much help is stretching in the long term for different types of pain and is it the ultimate solution ?

If we are going to successfully unpack and examine the subject of stretching and it’s full benefits there is a primary question we need to keep in mind ….

‘If some parts of me frequently require stretching where others don’t what is the reason those parts keep tightening up’ ?

I love stretching ! If we sit at a desk all day there is no question that the hamstrings at the back of our legs and our pecs at the front of the chest shorten over time which calls for regular stretching. But is there anything we can do to stop them tightening up in the first place ?

Another excellent example of someone who needs a good stretch is the ‘flat footed’ or unusually ‘high arched’ individual who develops plantar fasciitis and / or hip and back pain. The repetitive strain of their feet coming down on concrete and tarmac 10,000 times a day is causing the connective tissue to tighten and boy does it need a good stretch if it’s being subjected to concrete year in & out. But is there anything they can do to take stress out of the connective tissue in the longer term ?

A lesser know reason many of us end up in need of a good stretch is the tendency to hold stress related tension in the body. This is a major cause of neck pain and headaches. Our habits of holding stress are often as repetitive as our desk bound sitting postures and the way our feet function. Habitual patterns of tension held in our muscles as reactions to ‘life’ lead to shortening of the muscles. I personally tend to hold stress in my neck and I know it feels very relieving when i stretch it … but how do I stop it tightening up in the first place ?

So what we are moving towards here are some ways of approaching our pain that at least aim to be more sophisticated than a cycle of letting ourselves get bound up and repeatedly stretching out that contraction…..

SOLUTION 1 – for sitting

A great way to prevent the gradual stiffening of the hamstring that comes with a lot of sitting is to lock the leg straight. Do the legs 1 at a time whilst still sitting and hold them locked straight for 30 seconds. Do this at least once for every 30 minutes of desk work. The act of straightening the leg and clenching the quadriceps ( thigh muscle ) deactivates the shortened hamstring and causes it to relax slightly.

Repeating this straight leg lock as a matter of habit will lead to less tightening of the hamstring – reducing the likelihood of strains in times of activity and the need for stretching.

SOLUTION 2 – for foot problems

For sufferers of foot pain, hip pain and plantar fasciitis who need to stretch a lot there are ways of stopping this build up of tightness. The easiest way to stop the build up of tightness in the foot, hip and calf is to wear flexible custom orthotics. Custom orthotics mimic what natural surfaces do for the foot by offering a flexible shock absorption for the arch… something that hard flat surfaces like concrete do not provide.

For those of you who suffer crippling pains like hip pain and plantar fasciitis but work in a corporate environment be advised that at my clinic we can easily prescribe orthotics that comfortably fit any shoe.

SOLUTION 3 – for stress

Chronic patterns of muscle tension that tend to manifest in busy people often cause tightness in the chest, back and neck. Unlearning these habitual patterns of tension is I hope an easier journey for you you ham it has been for me but even if it is you more than likely have your work cut out.

I recommend you use a float tank regularly to help you ‘unlearn your habits of holding tension in the body. Float tanks are large pods filled with water and Epsom salts in which you can completely relax in a weightless state. One of the many benefits of floating is that it becomes possible to tune into your habits of tension more easily which for many of us is enough to make us stop being so tense.  Being in the tank is also like deep meditation so it has an inherently de-stressing effect on the bodies muscles.

So there we have it ! Stretching is good ! But not stressing our muscles and fascia to the point where they rely heavily on stretching is GREAT!

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Are You Broken ?

Are You Broken ?

Psychosomatic

We’re all going to die! In fact we are all in a steady state of decline. Even if you crack your diet, your exercises regimen, your emotional well-being and your work life balance tomorrow the bad news is all you will have done is slightly prolong the inevitable. Depressing isn’t it … or is it ?

Broken vs Fixed

I have spent a large part of my life ignorantly  trying to ‘fix’ myself as if I was broken when in reality I was no such thing. Over time though I have slooooowly woken up to the fact that I am not a broken thing that needs fixing. The idea of ‘one day being fixed’ is useful if we are repairing a leaky roof. The idea of one day being fixed is not however a useful way to approach caring for a plant, managing tooth decay or getting fit. This is because ultimately in all these instances we are tending to something that needs long term care but that will ultimately die… where is the fix in that ?

There is a kid of  freedom in knowing that if we have been sick ( like IBS ) or sore ( like hip pain or plantar fasciitis ) for a long time then we will probably always need to care for that part of ourselves. There is also a freedom in knowing we are all doomed believe it or not.

If I remember that I am ultimately I am …..

a. Probably going to need to work at maintaining the weak parts of my body forever in order to keep them well ( like I do with my teeth or with watering a house plant ).

b. Going to completely fail to live forever.

… it actually reduces my stress levels when compared with getting really stressed about the idea that I need to ‘fix’ myself.

How to Not Fix Yourself 

There good news is that for me and for countless others while we might have stopped considering ourselves truly curable we have long since stopped suffering from our chronic pain and everything that goes with it.

At our clinic we specialise in helping people who struggle with plantar fasciitis, hip pain back pain, knee pain and ankle pain and a hot of other issues.

We use a wide range of pain relief treatments that are all designed to get you feeling better as quickly as possible. These often work even for people who have already been through failed treatment protocols with physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths and doctors… not because we’re better just because we’re different.

For those of you who have found that pains like plantar fasciitis, foot pain, knee pain and hip pain have started to effect you quality of life we also take you through the steps of trying to find out why your pain happened in the first place. If we can figure this out it often means we can help you with long term preventative measures so that you can stay feeling good long term.

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How Much Exercise Should I do if I Have Pain ?

How Much Exercise Should I do if I Have Pain ?

Exercise

Pain is intrinsically unpleasant and that’s kind of the point. If the sensation of touching a hot stove or banging our skull on concrete was in any way pleasant we wouldn’t be able to learn what pain has to teach us about health and safety. In addition to the fact that it doesn’t feel good in the short term pain like back pain, hip pain and plantar fasciitis can be frustrating as hell in the long term because it stops us from doing things we enjoy.

Are we supposed to stop training when we have pain though or are we supposed to push through? There is some complexity here because the research shows that it definitely doesn’t pay to avoid pain too much ( through inactivity ) while at the same time overdoing things obviously isn’t a great plan either.

Not Doing Enough To Heal

If we ‘underdo’ it while our bodies are weakened or healing we risk compounding the situation. The risks of undoing it include reduced blood flow to painful areas, muscle wasting, stiffening up of painful areas and in some cases the mild depression that comes through inactivity. All of the above are seriously not what you want when you have a stubborn pains like knee pain, heel pain, hip pain or plantar fasciitis.

Doing Too Much To Heal

If we overdo it we stand to stress the injured or sore tissues  and they don’t get the chance they need to heal. We are all aware of the wisdom in not running on a broken leg .. well the same principles hold for back pain, ankle pain, plantar fasciitis and the like.

Developing a good understanding of how far to push our pain is a great skill to have and one that forms and big part of the puzzle of pain resolution in the long run.

A Golden Rule

I have a golden nugget of information for you that I have seen help a huge number of people free themselves from the uncertainty of how much to lift, how far to run etc.

‘If it hurts a bit more during or for a short time after exercise that’s generally speaking not so bad. If you have a significant increase in pain after a given exercise or movement that lasts more than a day or so that’s generally not a great sign’

This is a very loose guide and be mindful that there are exceptions to every rule but it should help to keep you out of trouble.

Shameless Service Plug

One of the services we provide at our clinic is prescription of custom foot orthotics or insoles. Going through the process of having their feet scanned and using the scan to prescribe orthotics for fallen arches helps a huge number of people to be able to keep moving and exercising even while their body is dealing with pain. Pains that respond well to orthotic prescription include plantar fasciitis, bunion pain, heel pain, ankle sprains, knee pain, hip pain, ITB problems, groin pain and back pain.

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