Pain won't go away; shall I just start exercising again?

VoodooAborisha

I hurt a muscle in my back/side a month ago. I thought it had something to do with my back, but I think now it is some kind of thing on the side of my ribs or abdomen. Doctor said all my ribs and vertebrae, spine, and all bones are just fine. Physio therapist says it's a nerve and things are inflamed. But neither his prodding nor the exercises he gave me help. The exercises he gave me have shown me that "I'm not going to die" if I exercise - the pain doesn't get worse when I move nor do I have a major injury, according to the doc and therapist. After a month of no weights, no cardio, and no hope of this pain going away, I am tempted to just start to exercise again and ignore it. I have been able to do most exercises the couple of times I attempted to do a few, and it only hurts sometimes, but never gets worse. Even the physio therapist said to move it to get the blood flowing so the nerve will get unpinched.

The pain isn't going away. I wonder if I am just sort of permanently broken, and I need to "get over it" and start exercising again. What the physiotherapist said was "if it stays the same or gets better, do it; if it gets worse, stop." I don't really believe he knows what the heck it is.

My exercising had started to give me muscle definition and tone, and I want to get back to that, 'cause I feel flabby again, but most of all the exercise had cured my anxiety and depression and I have not been as happy since I stopped exercising. Anyone else have any experiences like this? This is my first time to have a pain/problem that I couldn't get some relief from, and it doesn't show any signs of going away, so I wonder if I just have to accept it as permanent and try to start exercising again.

Thanks in advance,
Voodoo Lady

kenzietate

If the doctor and physio have both ruled out any kind of bad injury then I would say it is probably fine. But listen to your body if the pain gets worse then get a second opinion.

I have chronic back pain and have been to at least 7 different specialists. They thought I had bone cancer, musculatory problems, slipped disks, brain cancer, brain tumor, all kinds of crazy things. And they still don't know what it actually is. But basically my muscles have permanent spams in them that feel like rocks in my back. It causes a lot of pain but I finally just had to get over it because I didn't have another choice. You can work them out but within two hours they are back again in the same or close to it spot. All of the doctors and the 4 physios I went to all said just rest and it will go away. Well since it is still here 10 years later I don't think they were right.

WakkoW

Find someone in your area that specializes in active release technique.

http://www.activerelease.com

I'd agree with exercising so long as the pain doesn't get worse.

SupermanRitz

If it's nerve the exercise given may have been to help 'floss' the nerve into a foramen (hole) where it would not be pinched and cause you pain. Not only that but any injury to your back or abdominal muscles (obliques as well) changes the biomechanics of the tissue, so I wouldn't expect it to be completely healed and functional within a month. You're looking at closer to 6months. You're not permanently broken, just temporarily out of order. As far as training goes, I would continue to do the exercises prescribed to you and do your own routine but stay clear of high intensity. And definitely do not completely rest as this way your body will lose functionality in certain areas and you'll be more prone to injury.