No pain no gain? Not necessarily

I hear this phrase so often in my clinic and it is not my favorite. Often people feel like they need to push through pain to get better. This is not true!

There are different kinds of pain that I encounter as a physical therapist: stretch pain, workout pain, hurt-so-good pain, delayed-onset muscle soreness, sharp pain, achiness, throbbing, shooting, burning.

Most of these types of pain are not good and I do not want you to push through it. Likely, your pain will not get better if you do. I learned an analogy from one of my clinical instructors a while ago. Picture a paper cut on your knuckle, if you keep bending that knuckle and re-opening the wound, you will not heal. Your finger needs to heal and as it heals, you can gradually work the finger through the range of motion to regain motion and then strength.

If you are striving to become the next Mr./Mrs. Universe, then yes, maybe this saying does apply. But the pain should feel like muscles working versus reproduction of your pain.