Think Outside the Box to Help Manage Your Pain - by Gary Gales

Special thanks to Gary Gales, DPT of Alpine Physical Therapy for submitting this post. Gary knows a lot about pain and how to help people who have chronic and complex pain.

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Contrary to popular belief pain is NOT weakness leaving your body.  Acute pain is a complicated warning system that something is a danger to you. If you continue to ignore certain pain warnings you will cause tissue damage that leads to injury and possibly chronic issues.  And stopping an activity that is painful usually will prevent injury. Once you have injured your tissue then a healing process occurs and that area will be more sensitive to further injury/damage and be heightened in terms of the pain warning system.

As we get older, we hope to gain some wisdom with regard to body awareness, and be knowledgeable if we are causing harm or helping our bodies. If you have more pain in your JOINTS following a workout than before the workout, ask yourself which one you are doing! MUSCLE soreness can be a good pain….especially if it resolves after 2-3 days.

Recently one of my patients switched from lifting heavy weights to a Pilates-based routine and even bought a Pilates Reformer Apparatus for home use. She was amazed at how good she felt after her workouts and was elated to not take Ibuprofen for her back pain.

If you are stuck in your routine and having pain you may want to think outside the box you’re in. There are many options for fitness that work your body in a helpful and low impact way. Some that come to mind include yoga, Pilates, and water aerobics. At fitness centers like the Peak Health and Wellness Center, there are commonly private and semi-private sessions, multiple classes, and experienced personal trainers.
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For more information about the topic of pain, please be sure to visit our clinic website by clicking here or by calling our clinic at 251-2323.