It is generally believed that when our body hurts we should stay still and avoid any painful movements to avoid worsening the symptoms. This is true only after an acute injury so that our body can heal the damaged tissue. However, excessive rest can have an adverse effect and make things worse in patients with musculoskeletal disorders.
Movement to treat your pain/injury
Not only because the body suffers from the effects of a de-conditioning process, but also because some people may become scared of moving and lose the awareness of the motion of the affected area. So consequently we move less, get stiffer, our muscle weakens and we have secondary pain due to inactivity.
In addition, it has been shown that pain-related fear has an important role in the transition from an acute injury to chronic pain in low back patients. Some patients perceive movements or stimulus as a threat, increasing the stress/anxiety towards specific activity and as a result, creating a fear-avoidance behaviour which leads to further misuse of the body and long-term disability.
Furthermore, the pain experience can be influenced by stress, excessive attention to pain and unhelpful believes. Consequently, the pain of that initial injury has become bigger and bigger due to other factors even though the healing time of the injury has been already finished.
So how can we break down this vicious loop?
A good start is moving, recovering that lost awareness of your body and re-learning how to move adequately, improving the confidence during activities, breaking down the pain-movement association in our brain and decreasing that perceived threat.
You may think “but how if it’s hurting?” The answer is pacing, little by little with the help of health professionals to support you and reassure you through this process. You cannot win a marathon if you didn’t train it before, so after prolonged inactivity due to pain is similar, it is important to build up the strength and movement little by little, to promote the tissue adapt to the new activity, settling goals to finish your own race to get out of such loop.
At the Body Refinery, you can find physiotherapists to help manage your discomfort and start getting active in a safe way, with small movements. Start decreasing the threat of movement with progressive exercises, safe environment and reassurance to recovering progressively the normal motion of your body.
When you feel ready, Pilates is an unparalleled, whole body-conditioning program. The Body Refinery offers a variety of different Pilates classes to help build:
- Flexibility
- Muscle strength
- Endurance throughout the whole body
- Postural alignment
- Core strength and stability
- Healthy breathing patterns, and
- Improved coordination
If you want to move with strength, flexibility, power, vitality and ease, join our Brisbane Pilates studio. Going on holidays? Take your Pilates Instructor with you anytime… anywhere with The Body Refinery Online’s Studio – www.thebodyrefineryonline.com
New to Pilates and our Studio?
Take advantage of our intro offer: $200, 1 Month Trial. It includes:
- 1 initial movement assessment
- Unlimited Studio classes
- Unlimited Mat classes
- Unlimited Refined Barre classes
- Unlimited Express Reformer classes
To register your interest, contact us at info@thebodyrefinery.com.au or call 07 3358 3915
