'It'll be fine!'

‘It’ll be fine’

What do you do if something hurts? We all get aches and pains from day to day, sometimes due to our posture, or from doing too much of something that we are not used to. Usually these strains fade away over a couple of days on their own and sometimes they don’t. What to do?

Well, you could ignore it and hope that it goes away, which it may indeed do, and it may never come back. However, it may return when you next perform the same activity.

You could take painkillers or anti-inflammatory drugs. This may help in the short term to help the tissues recover and to restore your normal movement. However, it may be masking the problem and doesn’t address the reason why the pain occurred in the first place, or why it keeps coming back.

Rest completely and let the discomfort subside naturally and you may be fine, or it may return.

You could visit your GP, who will often suggest a combination of rest and painkillers.

You could carry on training or being active and push through the pain. This may work for some things but not others. This may make the situation worse and cause some damage.

This dilemma of options is something that we all face occasionally, but pain is there for a reason. Pain is not always a sign of damage, but it is there to give us a warning that something is not working properly and we really should listen to that warning. The right thing to do is not always obvious and the first thing you try may not give the successful outcome that you want.

This is where the professional guidance of one of our physiotherapists or osteopaths is invaluable, especially in situations where your discomfort is interfering with normal daily activities or more active ones. The first challenge for us is finding out which tissues are causing the problem – it may be muscles, tendons, or ligaments. The second is knowing what is the best approach to treating it, and the most interesting part is knowing why it is being caused and what to do about it. The cause may be that something is weak and needs strengthening, or too tight and needs loosening, or it may be that you can modify your technique for all your muscles and joints to work together more harmoniously.

So, if something hurts and the simple things don’t work, then call your physiotherapist or osteopath and get an experienced opinion on the cause and the solution.