2cents on injuries: management & prevention

I've lurked around these sites for a while now, and have made small comments here and there, and have asked for advice many times - but this is the first time I'm doing a bigger sort of "post", so bear with me.
If you don't agree with something/anything I say, then feel free to do so - that is your right.
But don't start flame wars, for the love of cute little puppies. :flowerforyou:


So, here we go:

I've seen many, many posts revolving injuries - be it that someone's trying to cope with exercise with a background of a chronic injury, or a recently acquired one.

I know that exercising releases endorphins. I get that its a high. I get that everyone here is keen (desperate, even?) to lose as much weight as possible as fast as possible (hopefully with the added tag of "in a healthy way").
But honestly, as a physio, I see way too many injuries walking in that could have been really simple to deal with: if only they'd listened to their bodies and heeded the pain barrier.

I'm not selling physio as a required addition to your exercise regimen. I'm not into making money.
But speaking from what I know, sometimes your body really does know best.


A new sudden injury:
If you "pull" something, or something "goes" / "pops" / "jumps" / "gives way" - STOP exercising. Right there, right now.

Unless its definitely a mild muscle strain and you can comfortably carry on, its better to lose the rest of a session, maybe half a week, and let the injury settle down.
Chuck some ice on it, take some anti-inflammatory if the pain's bad / not settling within an hour or two after you stop exercise.

In general, let your body do the assessment for you: If you try to start exercise again, and it hurts, its a sign that its irritating whatever structure has been irritated/damaged/torn etc. Give it a little more time, but if it really won't let you return to that activity/position, then getting an idea of what's happened isn't a bad idea.

I could sit here and list all of the signs and symptoms of common injuries in all joints, but I'd be here forever. Trust me when I tell you that pain with an activity is a sign that that activity is hurting the structure -- it is very rare that we as physios will prescribe a "push through pain barrier" as a treatment for an injury unless we're trying to deal with scar tissue, or rehabbing a diagnosed injury etc. We won't ever push pain barriers through everyday exercise/gym exercise for an acute injury.

If you're new to the gym/gym equipment: Ask for help! Pride gets you nowhere except placing you at risk of doing some potentially serious damage. A friend of mine has seen several ladies for back pain from the same gym - something is clearly not working there. Be it the equipment, training, I don't know.


Chronic injuries:
Ask for help - it is rare that there isn't some form of exercise/modified activity that you won't be able to do.
Yes - Granted there will be the exception, but often exercise actually helps to begin to control some of the pain issues.
Low back pain, for instance, is well documented to have better success with therapy encouraging daily activities and light exercise, as opposed to total bed rest.

If you haven't had your pain checked out: do so. sometimes you may find that even a small intervention can shed new light on the problem, and what seems like an impossible thing to solve, may suddenly have a working solution.
I'm by no means stating that EVERY chronic pain has a solution - the truth is, they don't. But there can be strategies that you can put in place to help you control that injury better, and to help you mentally with your ability to cope with that pain.



And finally, regardless of acute or chronic injury: have a chat to your doctor, physio etc. Someone who can give you more advice and who can guide you as to what is best for you




One more thing: please don't ask for injury opinions on this post. I won't ever give a diagnosis to a patient I cannot physically see and examine myself.