Pain Explained

Sadly modern healthcare systems are mostly overloaded, so getting an appointment can be very difficult. Most of the time you have to pay for expensive Chiropractor or Physical Therapist visits.

After you get a professional diagnosis, you can try to self-manage your pain by making changes to lifestyle, and adopting a treatment plan of Movement, Massage, Stretch and Strength Exercises which can help you recover.

You can take the easiest option which are painkillers. Taking these can sometimes give your body a chance to heal, but long-term they should only be used with doctor supervision. You would be better off getting a diagnosis, and a full treatment / rehab plan for your painful injury.

For muscular, joint or physical injury pain – it can often come back if the rehabilitation hasn’t been completed properly. Or – if the issue that caused the pain is still present. An example would be having bad posture, causing back pain. You need to address the underlying issues fully, to stop it coming back. Once your rehab has completed you should:

• Strengthen Weak Muscles
• Stretch Tight Muscles
• Move Often

Apart from taking painkillers, you can adopt lifestyle changes to greatly help your pain:

• Heat Therapy
• Massage
• Movement
• Stretch Exercises
• Strength Exercises (helps prevent it coming back!)
• Cold Therapy
• Wear A Brace
• Lifestyle / Diet / Wellbeing

We generally recommend using Cold Therapy on a recent or acute injury – one that is very painful, and has swelling. Once the injury settles down a bit, you should use Heat Therapy to increase blood flow to the area and prepare the body to heal before performing your rehab exercises.

Further Reading: Treat Pain With Cold Or Heat?