Ever notice how aches and pains are interchangeable? Like oil and vinegar, peanut butter and jelly.
NEWS FLASH**** I am here to tell you that they shouldn’t go together, in fact one is a precursor for the other if not careful.
Do you ever hear yourself complaining about your knee, wrist or even back issues?
Is it a real pain or just a bit of discomfort? Now I know we all have different pain thresholds but can you tell the difference from a pain or an ache? Do you notice yourself chalking up your aches and pains to aging? If you answered yes, like many clients I know, I am here to get you to think differently and to take action to avoid actual pain.
When you feel an ache or some discomfort, do you just assume you can’t continue with your workout routine?
Aches or some sort of discomfort are very likely to happen in our daily lives, especially if we exercise. Pain shouldn’t and doesn’t have to be part of everyday life.
Pain is different then an ache or some discomfort, it can be severe and usually requires some sort of medicine or treatments.
Pain is usually caused from too much stress, tension or over use of the muscle, tendon or joints. Pain can’t be ignored.
An ache is dull sensation. Either in the muscle, joint or tendons and most of the time we chalk it up to: age, an old injury or accident. An ache is inflammation. Muscle aches respond well to in home treatments such as R.I.C.E.
Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation (if needed)
I often hear clients say things like “Oh I can’t kneel because my knee hurts” or “I can’t do a straight arm plank, I have wrist issues” or my favorite is “I have something wrong with my back”
My response is usually “Oh ok what is your diagnosis, what exactly is wrong?” As a corrective exercise specialist for the aging population, I have many tools in my tool box to offer, if I know what the real issue is. Most of the time I hear these statements the client actually believes, there is something wrong and they need to change their workout routine. Although I am an advocate for listening to your body, I can attest that sometimes when these issues cause discomfort you need to address them so they don’t get worse.
The startling fact is that 93% of americans will be diagnosed some sort of inflammation, fancier words in the medical field, which usually equates to aches or discomfort. They are then given some medicines to decrease the inflammation. Before you take anti-inflammatory drugs, why not see if you can treat the ache.
Now by all means, I am not discounting or making light of any real pain issues and the people who suffer daily and need to rely on meds to take away the pain.
Your body is trying to tell you something. It’s waving a red flag….PAY ATTENTION or it will get your attention.
I am here to address the aches. Here are 5 ways you can start to pay attention to your bodies signals:
- Paying attention means trying to modify an exercise so you don’t let the ache become a pain. Ask a professional for modifications.
- Paying attention means trying to figure out why your knee, wrist, back etc is hurting. Ex: Is your form right while lunging or squatting? That could be a very good reason why your knee hurts.
- Paying attention means doing some rehab exercises to strengthen the muscles, or rehab exercises to prevent the ache by becoming a pain.
- Paying attention means actually using some modalities like ice therapy, heat therapy, or even accupunture. It doesn’t mean do it once and forget about it. It means listen to the ache and see if you can subside it.
- Paying attention means not allowing your ache to become center stage, unless told by a medical professional to lay off it.
I want you to start to differentiate an ache and a pain.
My wish for you is that you pay attention when your body has an ache and not when it’s screaming in pain.
I am here to help, please reach out if you need any additional resources.
Let’s stay pain free!
In Health & Happiness
Maria