When we sustain a physical injury of some kind it’s possible that we may find ourselves caught in the pain cycle, where the pain we feel because of the injury leads to other ongoing issues that manifest in a continuous loop over time.
Our body senses our injury through the pain we feel and it responds by engaging in muscle guarding, where the muscles around the point of injury will act to restrict movement, with the aim being to prevent further injury to the affected area.
Although this movement restriction is beneficial to a certain point, it can persist even after the injury has healed. It can also mean that our bodies start to compensate in other areas, which can lead to physical imbalances in other areas that weren’t there before the injury was sustained.
If muscle guarding and compensation persists for prolonged periods, it can lead to muscle weakness and atrophy because the injured area isn’t being used sufficiently.
This then results in decreased function, which can lead to depression, anxiety, frustration, stress, anger and helplessness. At this point, these feelings can increase tension in our bodies and be very demotivating, which can increase the pain we’re experiencing… and thus the cycle is perpetuated.
However, the good news is that the cycle can be broken by treating the residual pain we’re feeling once our initial injury has functionally healed. It’s important to start work on rehabilitating the injured area once you reach the point of functional healing to address residual pain issues – and a physiotherapist can be particularly helpful in this regard.
Treatment options include massage therapy, percussive therapy, shockwave therapy, passive stretching and other specific exercises to help you get rid of your pain and restore you to full mobility once again. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with the Clear Physio team today to see how we can help.
