The below video is produced by a multidisplinary pain management team out of Australia called Hunter Integrated Pain Service.
[embedplusvideo height=”359″ width=”590″ standard=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4b8oB757DKc?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=4b8oB757DKc&width=590&height=359&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=” id=”ep7087″ /]
There are several points in this video that I agree with.
The first idea is that pain is a complex phenomenon. I often think about the concept of resource allocation. Your body has a limited amount of resources and these resources can be used up dealing with stress, sleep problems or illness. If this is the case, your body likely doesn’t have much left to deal with pain.
The second important idea is that often after tissues have healed, pain lingers. I see this all the time in the clinic. There are several reasons why this may happen including compensation and nerves that over-sensitized.
The last concept is that activity or exercise can improve your pain levels. Sometimes the exercise is simply being exposed to activities that were previously painful. Other times there are specific exercises to make up for compensations or weakness/immobility issues that have developed.
Overall I cannot think of a better endorsement for physical therapy. Patients with chronic pain are in a situation where their pain is complex in nature, the tissues may have healed and activity will help. All of this screams physical therapy. If you are experiencing pain that is no longer acute feel free to contact us at Siskiyou PT.
Jon Hill, DPT, Licensed Physical Therapist with Siskiyou Physical Therapy
If you like this post or have a question. Comment below.
