12 Nov Still experiencing pain and worried about causing more damage, more than 6 months after your initial injury 

Did you know that pain is not a good indicator of sort tissue injury

We should view pain as an alarm. Alarms are meant to motivate you to do something to protect yourself. How loud the alarm is or how many alarms are going off are not good indicators of how much protection is needed.

Initially, after an injury, pain may occur to indicate to us that we have hurt ourselves. Pain is a subjective measure and different people experience pain differently. Some people have higher pain thresholds and never seem to feel pain, resulting in them walking on a broken foot or ankle for days before seeking medical treatment. While others may feel pain intensely for a paper cut on their finger.

If pain is experienced for longer than 6 months after an injury , people then tend to:

1. Become over protective of the injured body part and
2. Keep thinking that they need to listen to their pain alarm long past when it is necessary

Over time, the body and the brain can have an over reaction with pain in some people. It is like we get better at producing pain. It becomes a learned response and we get good at it. When pain persists it is often no longer helpful and the pain is its own problem. Whereas, initially, the pain might be helpful, now, with ongoing pain it no longer serves its own purpose. It persists long past healing and its like the smoke alarm is still going off long after the firefighters have doused the fire and gone home.

This all seems odd but it is the way some people work. So having a sensitive alarm system can help us in the beginning but in the long term it loses its value.

Here at My Favourite Physio all our Expert physiotherapists make sure we empower you and give you the right guidance to help overcome your pain and use your pain alarm effectively to help you in recovery. If you are struggling with pain and chronic injuries, contact My Favourite Physio today on (02) 9790 4233. Speak to one of our expert physiotherapists today, find out how we can help you get back to active pain free living!