Why “Resting” Away Your Pain Won’t Work And Can Actually Keep Things From Healing…
Many people with stiffness, aches or pains have been told, “Hey, just rest for a couple of weeks, see how it feels and then get back to things.” Unfortunately, this is one of the worst things to do… and actually slows healing. Watch below or keep reading…
While some form of rest might be needed if things are really hot n’ bothered- the concept of resting does not work for most people in pain.
So here’s the truth about what’s happening when you rest. So if you’ve had an injury, and you’ve been laying off things for a couple of weeks, and tried to go back to running and it just didn’t work… you’re likely thinking, what’s wrong? I got to go get an image… I’ve got to go see this doctor or that doctor. And you start looking around for answers as to what could be going on and why your pain keeps coming back (even after you’ve rested)
It doesn’t mean you’re broken and that you can’t heal and that you need fixing via surgery or something like that. You just need to understand what’s actually happening. So here’s what’s happening when you rest…
Get that there is a certain amount of strength or horsepower needed to do specific activities in life. Sleeping requires little to no effort or horsepower, whereas sprinting or jumping might require a lot of horsepower. And of course, there are activities in between. At the time the ache or pain started you had a certain amount of strength… but, as we rest- we lose strength, function, and horsepower. In other words, when we rest, we trade in our Ferrari for a Toyota.. and naturally we have less ability to go, jump, move, run- LIVE LIFE! Make sense?
So, what happens is you hurt yourself, you rest- things calm down, and your strength starts to reduce.
This is where most people mess up. A few weeks later they’re feeling pretty good and try to go for a run again or get back to the thing which hurt them to begin with. But your horsepower, your strength, your conditioning has reduced well below what’s needed for that activity. So then you go back to that activity and boom, it hurts again. And you just keep hurting. You just keep hurting yourself. Frustration sets in and you begin to wonder what the heck is going on here? Why am I not healed? And, what most fail to realize is that they are healed… but they need to build the strength of the tissue back up again or they risk overloading the area (doing too much too soon) and re-injuring.
Have you gone through this before?
Now is when most people go down the path of MRI’s, injections, whatever, a bunch of useless stuff- when the problem is that you tried to jump the gap… rather than bridge it with progressive strength training needed to get back up to speed.
So the point is this… As you’re resting, your strength and conditioning starts to go down a little bit. A few days- no biggie, but if you take two, three, four, six weeks, two months, or longer… and then you try to go back to that same activity that bothered you- you’re likely to have serious problems. The takehome is that rest doesn’t work because you’re deconditioning as you rest, and then certain activities in life require certain amount of horsepower or energy to do. And as you’re resting, if you’re deconditioning, and fail to build that back up- this is why you keep re-injuring yourself.
A better way is “relative rest.”
Part of the problem as to why you probably hurt yourself in the beginning is that you didn’t have enough horsepower or capacity to do the activity that hurt you to begin with. So you were underpowered to begin with and now you’ve rested, so you’re really underpowered and then you wonder why you can’t get back to running. So this is where physical therapy comes in… you’ve got to take your Ferrari back!
Start by modifying, tweaking or temporarily avoiding things to calm the fire. If squatting hurts, it’s not that squatting is bad… just don’t go quite as low- or as with as much weight. If running hurts, try power walking, limit the speed, reduce the miles. Begin physical therapy and strength training to gradually build it back up.
This whole post could be summed up with this… “Calm Things Down, Build Them Back Up.”
For anyone in the Collegeville, Royersford, Phoenixville, King of Prussia, or Main Line area who’s serious about getting better naturally- call 484 552 3767 to speak with me directly.
Types of Shoulder Pain- Shoulder Pain Treatment- Royersford, PA
Shoulder pain is super common… luckily physical therapy has been shown to be just as effective (not to mention much safer) than surgery. There are four main types of shoulder pain. Here they are…
Click the link below or keep reading.
1. Weak & Painful Shoulder
2. Stiff & Painful Shoulder
3. Unstable Shoulder
4. Other (often from the neck)
WEAK & PAINFUL SHOULDERS: People who have weak and painful shoulders are often told they have shoulder impingement, a rotator cuff tear, tendinitis, bursitis, or bone spurs. These people can often move their arm fully, without loss of motion, but often have pain while doing so. The pain commonly occurs while reaching up and out the side or behind the back. Treatment for this type of shoulder involves gradually strengthening the shoulder and restoring painfree movement through hands on therapy and exercise.
STIFF & PAINFUL SHOULDERS: People who have stiff and painful shoulders often have a gradual onset of pain and loss of motion. Common problems that cause a stiff and painful shoulder include shoulder arthritis or frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis). You’ll know if you have a stiff and painful shoulder… reaching up and out to the side with be difficult (not just because it hurts)- you physically cannot move it in that direction. A quick test would be to stand with your arms by your side (elbows by side and bent upwards)… try and rotate the back of your hand outwards. You may notice that shoulder pain and stiffness on one side prevents your from moving very far… but the other painfree side might move fine. Treatment for this type of shoulder involves gradually increasing your motion through stretching and strengthening.
UNSTABLE SHOULDERS: People with unstable shoulders often have a history of their shoulder dislocating or popping out socket. Sometimes there is clicking and popping or an ability to “pop your shoulders” in and out. Often these folks are “double jointed” and are very flexible. Unstable shoulders occur commonly in sports such as baseball and gymnastics (where the shoulder is required to move through a lot of motion). Treatment for unstable shoulders can sometimes involve surgery (if it becomes a recurrent problem) or strengthening of the unstable shoulder.
A PROBLEM IN THE NECK (OTHER): Some people I see who think they have a problem in the shoulder actually have a problem in the neck causing their shoulder pain. These people may describe their shoulder pain as burning, or may experience pain, numbness, or tingling down their arm. If the neck is in fact the problem, your shoulder pain should reproduced by specific movements of your neck. Discs, joints, and nerves in or about the neck can send pain signals to your shoulder blade and shoulder, elbow, or hand. Treatment for this cause of pain involves hands on therapy of the neck and sometimes the nerves in the neck- as well as specific neck and postural exercises.
To help determine if your shoulder pain could be coming from the neck- watch this video.
Call 484 552 3767 if you’ve got shoulder pain and want relief.
The Truth About Medications & Injections For Back Pain- Royersford, PA
I’m seeing a trend… and I don’t care for it.
People getting injections for their back pain before they ever try physical therapy! CRAZY… what’s the rush… why cut the lock when you could simply unlock the door… and walk inside? In other words- why do more than necessary…
Quick, but funny real-life story that I think helps represent how crazy getting injections as the first line of defense for back pain really is…
So about 3 months ago, I was pulling a late night in the clinic… it was a long day and I was tired. I was closing up shop… and locked my clinic keys inside the clinic… I had no car keys, and from what I could recall… no spare set of clinic keys. I was screwed…
I called my wife Heather annoyed, and she came to the clinic with a “So what are we going to do?” type attitude. First things first, I asked- “Do you just so happen to have a spare set of keys.” NOPE- was her response…
I said- okay then, we can try the old credit card trick, maybe a bobbie pin to pick the lock, or I’ll pry/cut the handle off (cheaper than calling a locksmith at that time of night… plus, I needed in… and had a full schedule starting at 7 the next morning).
To make a long story short… nothing worked.. and so I began prying the door handle apart… it was my last resort.
Halfway into the process, handle half ripped to shreds… my wife says- “Oh, wait- I HAVE A KEY…”
And just like that, she opened the door.
WHATTTTT- I sat there in disgust trying to channel my energy and find the fun in it…
Eventually we laughed at the silly mistake…
AND NOW- looking back, I think of how unnecessary all that was…
Why would anyone in there right mind know that they could simply “unlock” the door, but instead choose to break the handle off?! HAHA
They wouldn’t… or at least I hope not.
Point being, going to injections as your first step to manage your back pain.. is like breaking the door handle off before trying the key (physical therapy)…
Make sense?
I have a couple issues with and injections for back pain…
- They only work for 2/3 people
- They cause your blood sugar to spike
- They hurt like heck (at least that’s what people tell me)
- They’re expensive
- You’re relying on someone to “fix you”
- They offer only temporary relief
- They act like a bandaide
Of all these issues… the fact that injections act like a bandaide and cover up the symptoms is a MAJOR PROBLEM…
This leaves many people feeling good temporarily… and they keep lifting, sitting, bending, and twisting all the ways that got them there in the first place…
And then… people wonder why their back pain COMES BACK? It’s a no-brainer… in fact, people should expect it to…
I created a short video that chats about why meds and injections are mostly USELESS in the treatment of back pain (if you actually want to solve the root cause).
So, if you’re scheduled for an injection… and are looking for the best solution for your back pain… call 484 552 3767 or email me directly at charliejohnsondpt@gmail.com
Also, if you know of anyone who’s suffering with back pain… and thinks injections are “all that can be done”… could you share this post with them?
Thanks a million,
Dr. Charlie Johnson, DPT
Lower Back Pain Treatment Testimonial- Royersford, PA
If you’re in Royersford, PA and are looking for natural back pain treatment- call 484 552 3767… you’ll be glad you did ;-)…
Meet Lizzie…
Lizzy suffered with back pain for about 12 years… and she tried almost everything. Images of her spine showed “nothing was wrong” with her, and acupuncture, chiropractic, reiki, yoga, and massage were only temporary fixes… the pain always came back and she always went back to treatment, searching for a “fix.”
I explained to Lizzie that we could likely help her, with SNIPER PT… that is super focused treatment tailored just to her. Not a “shotgun approach” to giving her 15 exercises and just hoping and praying that found relief.
You see, as a specialist physical therapist, I have been trained to find THE root cause of your issue, and attack it with just a couple VERY SPECIFIC exercises (1-3… max)- this way, when you feel relief- you know exactly what to do to continue healing yourself… what a powerful thing…
So, I started off by telling Lizzie that we would teach her to heal herself… so if she ever does feel something in the future- she can correct it (on her own) immediately… without having to rely on someone else to put her back in line- or fix her.
To her surprise (remember, she had seen many people before with little relief… and was a tad bit skeptical that we could actually do something for her) she was painfree of back pain in 4 visits… 12 years of back pain gone in 4 visits.
Pretty sweet!
She was so pleased with her treatment- she agreed to create a video for you… to share her experience and try to let others know about specialized physical therapy… at Physical Therapy & Johnson in Royersford, PA.
Here’s what she had to say about her experience.
“I struggled with lower back pain for 12 years. Doctors have x-rayed me and told me everything looks fine. I’ve tried Chiropractic, acupuncture, Reiki, yoga and massage to varying degrees of relief but nothing corrected the problem. A friend recently recommended Dr. Charlie. He listened to what I described and together we investigated what was going on. We worked out a series of exercises and simple adjustments to my daily life and within weeks I finally had relief. I am so very grateful to have found a healthcare practitioner who truly paid attention to me and was committed to figuring out what was going on.”
-Lizzie
Watch the video below to meet Lizzie and hear her story…
Also, I want to let you in on a secret… most people with back pain (who’ve had it for as long as Lizzie and have tried everything) think that back pain treatment needs to be complicated in order to get results…
Honestly, this is exactly why most back pain treatment fails…
Treatment that is complicated… with lots of fancy techniques and many exercises can backfire… causing confusion for both the healthcare practioner and YOU the person with back pain… because there are just too many variables. And at the end of the day, you have no idea what’s working and what’s not… make sense?!
Secondly, most back pain treatment causes you to rely on someone or something else… versus taking ownership of things and getting in the game… working together with someone else to help yourself relieve your back pain. While this isn’t the easy road… it brings you to the ultimate solution… one where you have the knowledge, understanding, and tools to heal yourself (versus spending money on someone else to “fix you.”)
Click here to watch my video and learn more about “Why Most Back Pain Treatment Fails.”
If you live in the Royersford, PA area, and have tried everything… but still have some fight in you and are looking for natural relief (and want to feel better like Lizzie) call 484 552 3767 today.
Happy Healing,
Dr. Charlie, PT, DPT, OCS