When Is It Time To Take Care Of That Nagging Pain?
We all have our aches and pains, but when is it time to take the next step?
Get any group of friends talking for long enough and someone is bound to bring up their nagging ache, pain, or injury. While a solid rant amongst friends is known as the best remedy for any hardship, you may be wondering... At what point should I seek some professional help for my aches and pains? Ice and heat feel good. Maybe they help for a bit of time, but don't seem to do the trick. Foam rolling until you are as tender as a filet mignon makes things feel more "loose" but the pain still sticks around. But what's next?
It's easy to know what to do next when you are a medical professional, but for most this process can be muddied by the facts of life: a busy schedule, caring for children, caring for parents, medical costs/ insurance deductibles...
Here are some recommendations about how to approach the process of dealing with your nagging injury and some helpful tips. I will start by saying the best time to seek a proper evaluation by a medical professional is as soon as possible. You are probably an expert in your chosen field. Find an expert to help with your nagging pain/injury before it progresses. At minimum they can help you develop a proper plan for the situation.
1. Make sure it's nothing serious
The number one job of any medical professional is to rule out serious medical issues. While these should never be at the top of a diagnostic list, they should be ruled out in every case. Especially in cases where symptoms have been around for a while. A severe example would be shoulder pain that is not increased with any shoulder or neck movements with relatively constant pain. This could be caused by more serious issues in the lungs or heart. A physician or physical therapist is specifically trained to determine if things are more sinister than just an ache or pain.
2. If three days of rest doesn't fix it, rest isn't the answer
Rest is debatably the most overused treatment. If you rest and things feel better, only to have the same level of pain when you return to the activity, rest isn't the answer. Rest can be a great treatment, but understand that it will be very obvious when it is what you need. You will rest...and then you will feel better...and then you will not have any further issues. If your symptoms progress on a different track than this, you should consider a formal evaluation.
3. Is it an overuse or underprepared injury?
Most "overuse" injuries are simply doing more than your body (or just a body part) has the capacity to do. If I was to get technical, I would not call this overuse at all. Overuse makes our awesome bodies sound like they are not able to adapt to anything. You can prepare your body for almost any task you want to do, but doing an activity when your body doesn't have the capacity (strength, endurance, flexibility), you will increase your chance for injury. I would classify doing five exercise classes a day or max-out bench pressing every week as overuse. Do understand that there is a threshold for what is sustainable and it will be different for every person.
4. Seek help when your level of activity/function decreases
If you ever lose the ability to perform an activity, it is best to find out why. Anything from running to picking up a sock from the ground. Maybe you choose to never run again, but having the ability is something you should keep up. The reason why you can't perform an activity may be pain. It may be a lack of strength. You may worry that you could re-injure yourself. If you are able to help yourself get back to doing your limited activity, that is phenomenal. If you are struggling with this, it is time to seek professional help.
5. Limping is never a good solution
Changing the way you move is not a good solution to healing an injury. This may be a short term strategy if you suffer a new injury, but this should never go on for any length of time. There are upper body "limps" as well, like shrugging your shoulder when you lift your arm up, or avoiding using a painful arm. If you find yourself changing the way you move due to weakness or pain, it is time to seek professional help.
6. Seek help when something else starts to hurt
Jumping off of my last tip… Sometimes you change the way you move to avoid pain or stiffness and you don't even know it. This is very common with hip and knee injuries such as arthritis. If you notice an increase in back pain, or maybe your toe starts to hurt since your body did an awesome job at avoiding your hip pain without you knowing, get a medical evaluation to see what can be done before you have to address two injuries and not just one.
Hopefully these tips help you, a family member, or a friend make a decision that they may have been putting off. Most medical professionals will spend some time talking to you to decide if a round of care is appropriate for you. Now is always the best time to better yourself and ensure that you can live a fully functional life.