No Pain, No Gain?
When should you push through, and when should you stop?
Pain is a common human experience, but when does it become detrimental?
It’s the main reason someone will come to physiotherapy - something hurts!
So do we keep calm and carry on? Or avoid at all costs? Well, as usual, it depends! Pushing through pain could be slowing you down in the long run!
We can loosely categorise injuries to decide whether to push through or not:
Acute injuries e.g. I’ve just hurt my back or neck, or I’ve pulled a hamstring.
Definitely stop and do not push through pain. The main driver of pain here is usually inflammation and this can increase over the first 48 hours. Don’t give it reason to inflame further!Sub-acute or niggling pain during activity e.g. mild tendon pain during running or sport. Is Okay to push through…
My rule of thumb is usually: <3/10 pain & settles within 24 hours after activity = safe to continue! If it doesn’t fit into the above equation, then time to pull back and get a plan from your physio.
If you keep pushing through this sort of pain without addressing the cause, it will progress and ultimately worsen.Chronic pain e.g. pain that has been persisting for 6 months or longer. This is where things get a bit muddier.
We know that our brain starts to change, and can actually become more sensitive to pain as time goes on. This means that less input = more pain. In this case, we need to take a graded approach, keeping pain tolerable but slowly increasing the input. This approach relies less on the pain number, and more on what activities you are able to persist with.
Our final point that does not fit into any injury category is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (not an injury) - we have all felt it at some point, first soccer game back, first gym session in months! And you can’t go down the stairs without limping for 2 days! Totally normal! This is a good example of no pain, no gain! Your muscles have been worked and are re-building 🙌
Your physiotherapist can help with a plan whether your injury is acute, sub-acute or chronic. This is what we do best!
If you are still unsure whether your pain is normal, and whether to push through, reach out today.