Moving When It Hurts

Over the past 13 years and 25,000 Physical Therapy sessions, I have treated many patients who are afraid to move through pain. Let's consider the patient with chronic pain who has had pain for more than five years related to a work injury or a car accident. There is no question that they are experiencing pain, and in some cases they have severe pain. But some individuals get into the habit of fearing pain and therefore fearing any movement that causes pain. These people sometimes stop moving altogether. 

Have you met people who are sedentary all day? They can't work because they are disabled or retired or any other reason, and they literally can't, won't or don't do anything. They sit down or lie down all day. They only leave the house for doctor visits. They don't go out for leisure or social time or hobbies or anything at all. 

I encouraged a patient today to just start walking, even if it is for a few minutes at a time. Of course, she voiced concern that it makes her back hurt. So I explained that a walking program is not going to make her back worse overall. She will not gain more damage to her spine by walking, but she will cause more damage by the overall lack of movement of her spine. 

To clarify, this is not referring to patients with a brand new back injury or current flare-up. Most of you know someone who has "thrown his/her back out." In that situation, there may be a few days or weeks in which he/she can barely walk and cannot stand up straight. I would not tell that patient to start a walking program today. 

However, if someone you know has chronic pain but has stopped moving for many months or years, he/she likely needs physical activity. If you are not sure where to start or what movements are safe, come see your local Physical Therapist!

How To Improve SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE

Do you ever get annoyed when you are relaxing and you get interrupted? Picture this: you work all day, go to the gym, eat supper, get your children into bed, take a shower, and finally at 10 pm you are ready to relax (or just sleep). The moment you sit down to watch House Hunters, your dog starts scratching the back door. So you grudgingly get off your comfy sofa to let him out. You don't know how long he will be wandering around the backyard, so you go back to the couch and get cozy in the new, fuzzy throw you got for Christmas. After 1 minute, the dog is at the door again, scratching to get back inside since it is freezing out there! So you get up again and tell the dog how annoying he is and how he acts like a child.

So the next time you get interrupted, at least there are some benefits:

1. Burning calories.
2. Stretching out your back.
3. The excuse you needed to run to the bathroom.
4. The opportunity to get a glass of... WATER!
5. A few more steps on your pedometer for the day.
6. The chance to move, since you sat on your behind all day.
7. A friendly reminder that you are addicted to House Hunters and American Idol and ...
8. With DVR, now it's not so bad to get interrupted.
9. A chance to pet your sweet but annoying puppy.

BACK HEALTH For A Lifetime

Everyone talks about back pain, but what does it take to have a HEALTHY BACK? One of the main ways is to be active. A sedentary lifestyle decreases your BACK HEALTH and will likely cause back pain in the future.

"The disk appears to live and thrive on movement, and to change and die slowly through lack of it." (1)

There is a disk between each of your vertebrae. You probably have heard of a disk herniation or a slipped disk. Those often result from back trauma (especially bending/twisting your back). But disks can also break down (degenerative disk disease) over the years. So in order to avoid disk problems later in life, it is urgent to keep moving earlier in life. This can be as easy starting a walking program.

Exercise contributes to your back health in many ways:

1. It strengthens your core muscles.

2. It helps you to maintain a healthy weight.

3. It helps to increase circulation (therefore nutrition) to your disks.

4. It can improve your posture (especially upper back exercises).

5. It strengthens your legs so that you can squat more (BODY MECHANICS).

Reference:

(1). Orthopedic Physical Therapy, 3rd ed. Donatelli, RA, Wooden, MJ. Churchill Livingstone, 2001, page 305.

A case for PAIN PREVENTION

Why prevent pain? Why do you need to take the time to think about how to prevent pain? You are busy, and you have important things on your to-do list.

First, now is the time to think about pain. Think about it before it happens. If you think through every movement and every activity, you can prevent accidents, injuries and therefore prevent pain. You can prevent pain now, which will also prevent pain later in life. If you injure your knee playing soccer at age 20, you may end up with arthritis in that knee when you are 40. If you practice poor posture now, you will end up with back or neck pain in the future. If you are sedentary now, you may not be able to walk later.

Many accidents can truly be avoided. Have you ever been in a car accident? Think back to that day and how it all happened. Were you at fault? If so, is there something you could have done differently? Were you driving too fast or talking on the phone or trying to quiet the screaming kids in the back seat?

Think of the last time you hurt yourself. How did it happen? If you could rewind time, could you have done anything to prevent the pain? I propose that most injuries are preventable because I have worked with so many patients with preventable injuries over the years. So before you become my next patient, think ahead and practice pain prevention today!