Exercise Related Pain
If you exercise, you will probably be familiar with exercise related pain on some level. Whether you have started something new to boost your health or happiness, or you are a seasoned sports person, pain is a common part of any exercise regime…’no pain no gain’ and ‘R.I.C.E’ are well known terms because of the frequency of sports related pain and injury.
Aches and pains don’t necessarily come with age or injury, although these can, for physiological reasons, increase your chances of feeling exercise related pain. It is also true that exercise can produce pain when injury is not present; more common when you have just started training, just increased your training, or you train quite a lot. Exercise induced pain without injury, is normally down to the delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS), which occurs when muscles swell during exercise and are required to repair to build new fibres post workout. This should pass within a few days and stretching and hot and cold showers can help your muscles to recover, and can be distinguished from persistent pain, that continues to raise its head.
So you have this niggling pain when you exercise; you’ve noticed it before and trained through it, a stretch or rest may help, but every time you train it comes back, it’s all part of the process, right?! NOT if it’s causing you either severe of persistent pain……
Severe Pain
Severe pain, which can be described as continuous, hot, swollen, debilitating (stops you from moving or acting normally), or anything above a 6/10 on your pain level – seek immediate attention from your Doctor or Sports Therapist.
Acute injury refers to local and recent damage. Does it only comes on when you do a certain movement, or maybe you can’t reproduce that pain for yourself, but if you are feeling severe or persistent pain, please discuss it with a Sports Therapist who can help with diagnosis before it becomes a Chronic injury.
Chronic Pain
Ongoing pain, for weeks or months could be due to a chronic overuse injury that eases when you rest, it can be due to repetitive stress on either joints or muscles, and these injuries can produce both pain and inflammation. Chronic just means pain that persists for a long time or that constantly re-occurring.
The pain you experience as a result of training can also stem from a multitude of rheumatological conditions that also lead to long term pain and inflammation, pain syndromes or a systemic conditions, which should also be addressed by your and monitored by your doctor.
Training through niggling injuries
A severe pain may come and go, likely due to injury. Often injuries when left untreated can become a chronic injury leading to ongoing problems you could have done without with a trip to see a Sports Therapist.
If the pain comes on whilst you’re training, often continuing after you stop training or with swelling later in the day, then the likelihood is that you have a sports injury. It’s important to get any niggling pains associated with your training checked out and remedied before you make it worse.
Training through persistent pain, can lead to chronic localised inflammation, chronic inflammation can change the structure of the involved body tissues, as well as changing how they function, causing a reduction of strength, further inflammation and pain, which could eventually stop you from being able to train at all. So please, please don’t ignore a severe or persistent pain.
Treatment for Pain and Injury
The treatment recommended will, of course, relate to the diagnosed source of your pain. Getting a diagnosis should be a priority once you have established you have an injury. Book A Sports Massage online today >
Over the counter medications, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen can initially help with pain and inflammation in most cases but these medicines carry their own side effects and are not designed to be used long term, so if you find yourself reaching for them more than once or twice, please book a consultation with a Sports Therapist or Doctor. Please do not get into the habit of taking medications every time you train just because if feels as if it is the most effective or necessary way to treat a sports injury. It is highly likely you are just masking the pain and discomfort you feel, whilst making your injury worse.
People who participate in regular exercise, generally, fear not being able to take part in their training regimes. Sports Therapy, designed around you, will be a combination of assessments, sports stretching, remedial massage, physio taping, osteopathic therapy and prescriptive exercise tailored with unique aftercare advice to get you (back to) your best you.
After an assessment, we can determine, what is happening in the area, you feeling discomfort, provide a therapeutic method and a treatment plan, to progress your injury back to health whilst advising of alternative exercises that maybe beneficial to you short term.
If pain is affecting your routine or causing you serious discomfort, please do give us a call on 02380 639747 or Book Online, it may just be one of the best decisions you have made for your training.
This article has been crafted by Jane Ellarby, who is a registered Osteopath (BSc), Sports injury
therapist (FdSC), sports massage therapist (VTCT) – she has a rare and precise set of qualifications and experience, such as working pitch side and in clinical environments, and she can provide a thorough assessment of your background and condition.
Edited by Amy Bennett, Director- YOU Massage Southampton
