Here’s What 7 Pain Professionals Recommend for a Better Recovery after an Injury.
Pain from a serious injury is common, we all know someone who has suffered from back pain, nerve pain, knee pain, arthritic pain or stomach pain. During this time advice can be confusing and frustrating when all you want is to feel better, it is always important to seek advice.
Recently, we asked pain professionals to share their top pain recovery tips. Here’s what they said…
Jane Trinca
Medical Director Barbara Walker Centre for Pain Management (BWCPM) at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne.
- Never discount the impact of secondary muscle pain and dysfunction on: a) your level of pain; b) cause of pain; or c) reason for persisting symptoms
This type of pain can be usually reversed.
- Monitor your thinking and emotional state about the injury
This can contribute greatly to how you react to the injury and what eventually happens.
- Be very careful about how you interpret the information you receive about the injury or pain including X-ray findings (or lack or X-ray findings) and specialist results and reports
Many patients do not realise that X-rays are often a poor indicator of the cause of pain.
Tom Dixon
Senior Physiotherapist at Get Active Physiotherapy in St Leonards, Sydney, Australia
- Understand that pain is an output of the brain and a protective mechanism designed to stop you causing further injury
Pain is not a feeling caused by the injured structure itself, instead it is produced by a very complex process that takes in to account many factors.
- Address the many factors causing pain (not just the physical pain)
Education and advice regarding pain and its physiology can be one of the most crucial aspects of treatment.
- Be aware of language
Negative language, for example “your spine is crumbling” or “the hip is out” is both inaccurate and alarming.
Erin Senz
Director of ESP Consulting. Qualified Senior Clinical Physiotherapist, specialising in Orthopaedics, General Surgery and Emergency Case Management
- Maintain your physical self in whatever way you can
Maintaining your fitness could vastly differ depending on site of injury, but as examples: if you cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, try a stationary cycle or swimming.
- Take control of your management. This does not need to be a passive healing experience
Ask for exercises, and do them daily, and with consistency. Report back to your physiotherapist and ask for more.
- Maintain your social contact
Often an injury can mean a break from sport, work and more. If training for your chosen sport is something that meant regular contact with your friends – go to training and help in other ways.
Travis King
Senior Exercise Physiologist at 360 Health + Community
- Allow enough recovery time following injury
This is due to the fact that insufficient recovery time delays the healing process and physiology of the tissue damaged.
- Avoid pushing through pain
‘’The no pain no gain’’ response can be very harmful to the injury and also the bodies danger alarm system that is connected to your pain response. It can also lower your pain threshold and as a result decrease your independence and mobility.
- Seek professional help
Seeking help is very important following an injury to help you get on the right track.
If you suffer from pain, talk to a doctor who is up-to-date with the latest best practice around treating pain. You could also seek a referral to a reputable pain specialist.
You can find a local GP by using doctors.com.au and seek a referral to a reputable pain specialist.
This article originally appeared at https://www.recoverfrominjury.com/pain-relief-professionals-recommend/