To speak with a Workplace Health & Wellbeing Consultant today, call 1300 424 895

Do you want to exercise pain free?

Home » Do you want to exercise pain free?

By Podiatrist Michael Johnston

A lot of people just accept that something hurts, that’s life and there’s nothing they can do about it. Whether you put it down to old age, wear and tear, carrying too much weight, it doesn’t matter because it’s probably not true!

Pain is a protective output from the brain to keep up safe, and IT IS NOT NORMAL. For most people, it should not stop you from doing the things you love, the things that make you happy or reaching your personal goals.

Our clients exercise for numerous reasons; some do it for the competition, some to get time out of their busy lives for their own mental health, and some do it for the ones they love, whether that means coaching their kids’ footy team or walking their dog.

What we love to do at Pinnacle Health Group is to work collaboratively with you, to change the way you think about pain and get you back on track as soon as possible.

This is important for a few reasons;

  • The longer you leave pain, the harder it’s going to be to get rid of it. Your nervous system is an ever evolving network and when it is kept in a constant state of sensitivity, it can affect your bodies other systems causing stress, mood swings, digestion issues, sleep deprivation and possibly triggering mental health issues
  • Pain breeds pain. This is a consequence of a basic neural process called Potentiation, which means the more often the brain uses a certain neural pathway, the easier it becomes to activate that pathway again. This is the same process by which we learn habits or develop skills. In this context it means that the more times we feel a certain pain, the less stimulus is required to trigger that pain.
  • Exercise is a vital part of pain management. Back pain is a classic example. People who stop exercising their back because of pain become ‘de-conditioned’, weakening the scaffold of supporting muscles and ligaments, which in turn makes the back pain worse. Exercise boosts your immune system and your body’s natural pain killers called ‘endorphins’: This not only helps to ease pain but also makes a person feel better, just like the ‘high’ runners describe after jogging. Exercise is also very effective for treating stress, depression, chronic fatigue and a whole host of pain-related problems.

Pain is a whole person experience, as it affects a person’s general health, ability to work, income, travel, relationships, and all aspects of life. That’s why we need the help of a team of healthcare professionals to treat the ‘big picture’ of someone’s pain experience.

At Pinnacle Health Group, we have an experienced team of Physiotherapists, Podiatrists, Dietitians, Psychologists, Massage Therapists and Myotherapists, ready to help you return to pain free activity!

You can book an appointment to visit one of our Melbourne clinics, or check out some of our other blogs here. Act today for a pain free tomorrow.