Don't waste your time and money and still be left in pain

There is nothing more frustrating than spending thousands of hard earned euros every year just to keep yourself going and still have a pain problem that just does not go away no matter how much treatment you get.

Don't stop when the pain is gone

This is mistake number one. If you stop your physio treatment or your physio exercises when the pain is gone then you are very likely  (>85%) to be back in pain or discomfort. You could also have some sort of reaggravation in the following four to six weeks.

Stopping your physio when your pain is gone is equivalent to stopping at about 65 to 70% of your recovery.  Think about it. Just because the pain is gone, does not mean the underlying weakness or tissue injury is fully recovered. 

lower back pain

You see, pain is not a direct relation to what’s going on. Pain is just tissue injury or slight tissue overload. This means, if the tissue gets overloaded, it gets sensitized and becomes uncomfortable. That equates to a warning sign from the brain to say, ‘Hey, you’re overloading me’, so tissues get overloaded.  If this process continues these tissues can get injured and tear (sprain or strain). 

How does tissue overload occur?

Tissues get overloaded because they get overworked. This may happen because they are asked to do too much without enough recovery time. Another reason could be because their neighbouring body parts aren’t working properly.

When this occurs, a knock-on compensation can happen with the neighbouring tissues ending up doing too much of the workload. They too start getting uncomfortable and giving a pain signal.

When the pain is gone should I stop with physio and rehab exercises?

Absolutely not.

Once the pain is gone, you’re 70% recovered.

After that, some people find it hard to keep going because they’re just happy to dampen the ‘pain fire’ and keep the pain at bay. They never really commit to solving the problem long term. 

That is fine if that really is what you want. If you want the long term relief and long term recovery with minimal chance of reoccurrence, you will have to put in the last bit of effort to get there.

Physio exercise example

There is still 30% improvements to be achieved.. That last part does take longer than the first from that initial injury to getting the pain under control.

This is where most people fail. 

Most therapists fail or have poor outcomes because they don’t provide people with the structure required to get them to 100% of where they want to be.

What does it mean to be 100% recovered?

So getting from seventy to one hundred percent  is the key to a successful outcome. You will be pain free and won’t have a worry in the world. You can move as freely and as carefree as you like, with full confidence that your body can do so too.

You can do whatever actions required, be it bending, lifting heavy things for example. So, getting yourself pain free is seventy percent of the way there. The remaining thirty percent requires commitment and accountability from you; knowledge, support and guidance from us depending on the nature of the complaint.

This is an important part of the journey. We ask that you stick to your exercise regime and that we can continue to challenge the body until it is back to it’s best. 

The goal is to get you feeling strong enough, flexible enough and resilient enough so that you don’t need to continue coming back into the clinic or trying rest, heat or medication every time you go try and go back to that activity that aggravated you in the first place. 

Patrick explains our treatment approach at APC Physio

Believe in the process. Get it right. Keep doing what makes your body feel good. Integrate that into your lifestyle, and you will have far better success in the long term.

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