Why Things Hurt Without an Injury
Welcome back to the Total Performance Newsletter! If you are a new subscriber and did not receive previous editions, let me know and I will send them over right away! This month, we will continue to take a look at some specific movement and injury-related issues that commonly arise and how to deal with them.
Before we dive into today's topic, I wanted to give a quick social media plug. Follow us on Instagram (@total_performance_pt) and Facebook (@Total Peformance Physical Therapy). I have been more active in those places and will be making regular posts on ways to further help you move better, feel better, and perform better!
Getting back to today's newsletter, we will focus on why things start to hurt without an obvious injury.
We've all been there before-you go to open a jar and your elbow starts to bother you, or you notice your hip pinches while getting out of car, or you bend to pick something up from the ground and your low back aches. You think nothing of it, but these things continue to nag you and then before you know it 3 weeks go by and these aches and pains are spilling over into your every day life. Without an obvious reason for why these aches and pains occur, this can be a very frustrating experience, but there is a reasonable explanation and solution. Let me explain.
The onset and recurrence of these types of aches/pains are often the result of what I call a "force distribution issue." Whenever our body moves, it produces and absorbs force. In a perfect world, each part of our body does its fair share to evenly distribute this force across all the relevant structures. However, this perfect world is seldom reality, and we often develop range of motion limitations in one or multiple joints throughout our body. These range of motion limitations lead to movement compensations, which places extra stress on certain areas of the body. Over time, this extra stress can lead to aches/pains that seem to pop out of nowhere.
For example, lets say your back hurts when you sit down/stand up from a chair. During an evaluation, we find there is limited hip range of motion. We need a certain amount of hip range of motion to sit down and stand up. Even if we are missing one or more of these motions, our body will find a way to compensate to complete the task. Since the hip cannot do the work it is supposed to, another part of the body, such as the back, will take up the slack. Eventually, the back will be tired of taking up the extra slack from the hip, and it will tell you so by beginning to hurt, and continuing to hurt until it no longer has to do the extra work that is supposed to be done by the hip. Here is a video explanation of this concept: https://youtu.be/JC2sPAtRazQ
So, the solution? Find the relevant missing ranges of motion, restore them, and then teach your body to use them properly during tasks that are meaningful to you. The specifics of this process is going to vary for each individual person based on their needs, goals, and abilities, so while I usually try to provide an example sequence of exercises to address a common issue, it would not be helpful for this particular topic.
However, here are some strategies to address this type of issue and prevent it from happening in the first place:
1) take an extra second and pay attention to how you perform tasks that are causing you problems; adjust your position/movement in different ways and see if there is a method that feels better; these adjustments are equivalent to making technique changes in the gym; "force distribution" and compensations are all about where our body is positioned and how it is being used
2) if you exercise regularly, film yourself during your workouts or ask a qualified trainer/coach/PT to check your technique-you may not always feel yourself doing something wrong, but it will usually be easy to pick up visually
3) find a qualified movement professional who can perform a comprehensive evaluation, find the relevant areas that need improvement, put the information together in an easily understandable way, and help you create a plan that fits your needs and goals
Hopefully this information provides some insight into a frustrating situation and provides some clarity on how to get things moving in the right direction!
Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter, where will we continue to look into some common issues that arise and practical solutions to deal with them! Also, if you have any topics that you want to see covered in a future newsletter, please let me know!
Brett
