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When is pain worth getting checked out?

Greg Roskovensky • Jul 16, 2015

If you’ve spent some time working out, you’re probably familiar with that feeling of being sore as hell for a day or two after a particularly intense workout.  You’ve also probably experienced some sort of ache or pain that didn’t quite sit well at the time and took longer than a few days to clear up.

We’ve talked before about the way your body moves changing after pain and/or injury.  Research shows that “motor control” deficits are apparent in people months and years after painful episodes and long after the pain has actually subsided.  It is shown that your core muscles can be delayed long after ankle sprains, shoulder pain, and back pain.

So, back to the original question.  When is pain worth getting checked out?  We know what the soreness feeling feels like after a tough workout.  In severe cases of it, it can definitely put your desire to move on hold but for our purpose now, lets assume that it feels like a tight, dull, soreness.   here is a list of questions:

Did you have an injury or an episode which brought about your pain?

Is your pain severe and sharp?

Does that sharp pain come on with a specific movement?

Have you had your pain for more than 5 days?

Do you have any numbness or tingling?

Are any of your normal activities affected by the pain that you have?

If any of these questions are answered yes, than it is probably a good idea to get your PT to have your pains checked out.  What is the worst case scenario?  The pain is something that you may want to get checked out further by a physician and have an XRay or MRI taken.  Of note, research shows that Physical Therapists are also better at diagnostics than your family care physician and any physician who isn’t an ortho/sports specialist.  Your family care physician just happens to be your barrier to imaging.  Your physician IS NOT your barrier to being seen by a PT.

In the past 20-30 years, physical therapists have moved from a passive modality type of mindset (ice, heat, estim, ultrasound) to much more of a movement based mind set.  It’s not to say that those treatments don’t offer some benefit , I just don’t see enough change in your poor movement patterns after icing or heating your shoulder for 10 minutes, doing ultrasound for 8 minutes, or estim’ing your body after a session.  Those who have the means and extra time, or you do  your sport professionally and you can spend “16 hours a day rehabbing” than go for it.  Those athletes spend much of that time on passive modalities.  Those athletes also make a minimum of 500k and up to 20+ million dollars per year and their career path depends on their doing everything imaginable to help speed things along, including deer antler spray.  Physical therapy or in depth performance training isn’t a one time visit and you’re cured type of thing.  A lot of people feel better after 1 or 2 visits, however takes time and effort on your part to maximize the result.

At Advantage, we use a movement based approach, hands on therapy designed to improve the way you move and feel and getting your life back on track sooner rather than later.

So ask yourself, is your pain worth getting checked out?

29 Mar, 2022
So far I’ve introduced a little about the “non-diet” approach , as well as the Diet Cycle , which many people find themselves stuck in when using a restrictive “diet” approach to food and health. For some of those people, the idea of eating what they love and “giving up” on diet or weight loss doesn’t seem like an option, understandably. We face a LOT of pressure, day after day, to eat “clean” and lose weight. That pressure may come from well-intentioned family, friends, and healthcare professionals who are concerned about our health (more on that later); or from fear-inducing headlines that compare sugar to poison; or from photo-shopped & face-tuned ads on Instagram of celebrities selling their flat tummy tea or shapewear. We are surrounded by Diet Culture, and are forced to engage with it- no matter if it’s coming from our loved ones, acquaintances, coworkers, or even strangers. What exactly is Diet Culture? You might have an idea just from the sound of it... Messaging that promotes diet & weight loss. Right? It’s actually more than that. Here’s a definition from Aubrey Gordon, author of “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat”: Diet Culture: “A system of cultural beliefs and practices that equates thinness not just with health, but with moral virtue, and which advocates for weight loss at any cost. Diet culture isn’t just a matter of being on a diet, but of the social forces that make dieting (or lifestyle changes or wellness) culturally mandatory for so many of us.” The key phrases are “moral virtue” and “weight loss at any cost”. Diet culture doesn’t only convince us that weight loss is necessary (to be beautiful, to demonstrate our worth, or to be healthy); but it creates this pressure that we are MORALLY obligated to do so. In order to be perceived as good, responsible people, Diet Culture urges us to pursue weight loss at any cost- which could mean sacrificing our social life, a significant amount of money on supplements or meal replacements or programs, our emotional wellbeing, and even our physical wellbeing. Maybe diet and weight loss aren’t so healthy after all… And while this may not be everyone’s experience, we have research that demonstrates the following emotional impacts of restrictive dieting: Dieting is associated with higher anxiety levels (Kwasnicka, 2020) Dieting is associated with poorer emotional and mental quality of life (Burns etal, 2001) Dieting is linked with reduced life satisfaction (Esch and Zullig, 2013) Further, restrictive dieting has actually been found to cause weight GAIN. To be clear, weight gain is nothing to be ashamed about (bodies change!); but if the multibillion dollar diet industry is selling a diet plan for weight loss, they’re not exactly being honest about the likely outcomes. 1⁄3 to 2⁄3 regained weight within 1 year, with almost all weight regained within 5 years (1992 NIH Consensus) Most weight is gained back within 2 years and most gained back all the weight by 5 years (2013 Australian Research Council) A team of UCLA researchers reviewed 31 long term studies on the effectiveness of dieting and concluded that dieting is a consistent predictor of weight gain —up to two-thirds of the people regained more weight than they lost (Mann 2007) This quote from Weight Watchers former Finance Director sums it up pretty well:
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Good morning! Thank you to everyone who came out to Break the Diet Cycle presentation. I hope you’re starting today feeling curious about Intuitive Eating and eager to rediscover your favorite foods in a fresh, positive way. I attached the PDFs of the presentation for you to reference, as well as the “HAES (Health at Every Size) Manifesto”, by Dr. Lindo Bacon, author of Health at Every Size. This provides a snapshot of the science behind the weight neutral approach, Health at Every Size, which Intuitive Eating is aligned with. For those of you who couldn’t attend, you may be wondering- what exactly is Intuitive Eating? As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to food and health. The framework consists of 10 principles to help you examine and reevaluate your beliefs & attitudes about your body, your food, physical activity, health, and more. While practicing Intuitive Eating, individuals relearn how to eat in accordance to their natural hunger and fullness cues; food cravings; energy needs, and so on. They begin to trust their body to tell them when to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat. The Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating are: 1. Reject the Diet Mentality 2. Honor Your Hunger 3. Make Peace with Food 4. Challenge the Food Police 5. Feel Your Fullness 6. Discover the Satisfaction actor 7. Cope with Your Feelings without Using Food 8. Respect Your Body 9. Exercise to Feel the Difference 10. Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition Intuitive Eating may seem like a straightforward concept, but in a culture that heavily promotes dieting and weight loss as a path to health, happiness, and even moral virtue, it can be hard to break out of the Diet Cycle (seen below). Also known as the “Restrict-Binge Cycle”, this eating pattern is typically kicked off by some diet thought, like “I need to lose weight” or “I need to start eating better”.
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