5 Ways You're Making Your Pain Worse

There are some common things that a lot of people do which are actually making their pain worse. Worrylingly, they're often advised to do them by health and fitness professionals.

No wonder over a third of adults are living with chronic pain in the UK (Health survey for England 2017).

Here are 5 ways that you may be unintentionally making your pain worse, so you can stop doing them:

• Static stretching
• Taking NSAID's (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) eg. Ibuprofen, Naproxen
• Steroid injections
• Not getting enough good quality sleep
• Treatment hopping

Have you done any of these to try and fix your pain? 

Here's how these 5 things prolong your pain.....

1) Static Stretching

Here are some common static stretches that you may have done:

There's no doubt that stretching feels good, addictive even! The feel-good factor of stretching comes from a dopamine hit. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that makes you feel soothed and rewarded - in other words, you feel happier.

Static stretching makes the muscle longer and can increase your flexibility if you consistently stretch for a long time. But it doesn't fix chronic pain.

When you stretch a muscle, you're effectively pulling on it and making it tenser. Imagine pulling on an elastic band, and how that band feels as it gets stretched.

Initially this forced lengthening anaesthetises the muscle, releases dopamine and makes you feel better.

But the relief is short-lived, and 1 or 2 days later the pain inevitably returns, sometimes with a vengeance.

2) Taking NSAIDs 

Commonly prescribed NSAID's include Ibuprofen and Naproxen. Many doctors use these drugs as the 1st course of action to try and fix a patient's pain.

Inflammation does cause pain, heat and swelling.

However, there's evidence that the initial inflammatory response to an injury may actually stop your pain becoming chronic. Interfering with this natural process by taking NSAIDs in the first 12 weeks of an injury increases the risk of pain persisting for longer than 6 months.

It's also well documented that NSAIDs damage the gut, which elevates the level of inflammatory lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in the blood. LPS can cross the blood-brain barrier, leading to neuroinflammation in the brain plus systemic inflammation and pain throughout the whole body.

3) Steroid Injections

Another super common medical treatment for joint pain is a corticosteroid injection into the joint.

Joint injections do provide rapid pain relief, but this often only lasts for 3 to 6 months, and each subsequent injection is a little less effective.

Steroids reduce pain and swelling, and can be useful when the natural inflammatory response is running riot and can't be controlled. After the injection, physical therapy should start as soon as possible to continue the healing process.

BUT there are very real risks that mean clinicians should only inject the same joint an absolute maximum of 3 times.

The joint space is a totally sterile environment, and introducing any foreign object here is risky.

Steroids damage joint cartilage, hence the strict limit on the number that can be given to the same joint. 

joint cartilage erosion isn't painful (cartilage has no nerves or blood vessels(, but it can cause the bone underneath (subchondral bone) to become inflamed and irritated. This IS painful. Cartilage chips can interfere with the action of the joint, increasing irritation, stiffness and pain. 

Subchondral bone irritation is one of the main causes of pain and disability in osteoarthritis.

4) Not Getting Enough Good Quality Sleep

Sleep is a HUGE factor in chronic pain, and yet often not addressed.

If you're missing out on your restorative sleep, your brain can't get rid of toxins, which then accumulate and lead to neuroinflammation, systemic inflammation, joint damage and pain throughout your body.

Inflammation is a leading cause of the nagging pain felt with osteoarthritis, one of the most common musculoskeletal pain conditions globally.

If you're tired you tend to react more strongly to stressful situations and be more pessimistic. 

Catastrophising is another leading player in chronic pain that's hardly ever spoken about.

5) Treatment Hopping

Many people I speak to who have been in pain for a while confess to trying a host of different treatments.

They've probably seen a physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor and doctor, They may dabbled with acupuncture, Reiki and massage. They could have had X-rays and MRI scans, possibly even multiple joint injections.

And still their pain won't go away.

This scenario is super common - maybe this is you too! 

Often times, treatment hopping comes from a deep seated desire to find that 1 definitive answer to their pain. They think of their body as "broken" and needing to be fixed. 

What they actually find is confusion, frustration and eventually despair.

How To Find Lasting Relief From Pain

Now you know 5 ways that you could ne unintentionally making your pain, you can stop doing them.

Here's 3 suggestions for reducing pain, and making it stay away:

• Take a whole body, holistic approach - chronic pain is rarely just the fault of 1 muscle in isolation, hence why static stretching isn't actually that effective.
• Do neural repatterning work to relax persistently tense muscles and move without pain.
• Use a health tracker to measure your sleep quality and how much restorative sleep you're actually getting each night. If you're regularly getting less than 20% deep sleep this is a red flag for developing chronic health and pain conditions.
• Practice nervous system regulation to promote the body's natural ability to heal itself. This will also help you sleep better and catastrophise less.

WAYS TO WORK WITH ME TO FIND FREEDOM FROM PAIN

If you're ready to find lasting relief from your pain, I have a variety of options available:

1) Unlock Your Body breakthrough session

This is a single powerful 1:1 session designed to help you find the root drivers behind your persistent pain. You'll leave with a deeper understanding of what's triggering pain in your body, and a clear action plan to get lasting relief. 

I have 2x Unlock Your Body breakthrough slots open for September , as well as very limited availability for 3 or 6 month 1:1 coaching.

Apply HERE  and I'll be in touch to arrange an initial complementary consultation to discuss which option will be a good fit for you.

2) Restorative Movement for Lower Back and Sciatic Pain Relief Workshop

Next date: Sunday 20th October, 1.15pm to 2.45pm (only 3x spaces left). **Bookings open now**

Angmering Village Hall  (The Kings Suite)

A friendly and inclusive small group workshop where you'll discover the common causes of lower back and sciatic pain, why you're not getting the results you desire even if you've tried the usual treatments, and how to find lasting relief.

The session will be a blend of informal group discussion and a restorative movement session, where you'll practice gentle exercises that retrain the nervous system to release tense muscles, reduce stiffness and find new ways of moving without pain. 

After the workshop, you'll have lifetime access to a simple home programme to relieve lower back and sciatic pain in just 10 minutes a day. 

Click HERE to read all the details and how to book your place.

Other ways you can find help with managing pain or an injury are:

• Book into a Stretch or Pilates class with me - these are a good introduction to the foundational principles of The Befriend Your Body (BYB) Method for pain relief and relaxation. This is my signature framework that I use to help my clients get out of pain and back to the activities they love.
• Get your copy of my free E-guide "How to Get Relief From Back Pain and Muscle Tension in just 10 mins a Day". This introduces the 3x universal stress responses that can keep you stuck in pain, and explains the 4x pillars of The BYB Method. There's also 2x 10 mins video tutorials showing you how to release muscle tension from the front and back of your body in the comfort of your without expensive equipment. Download for instant access HERE
• Subscribe HERE to receive "The Movement Chronicle", a weekly e-newsletter delivering movement and pain relief truth bombs directly into your inbox every Monday morning,

You can connect with me through any of these channels:

• Email at norma@unicornhealthandfitness.com
• Follow me on Facebook and DM me on Messenger https://www.facebook.com/norma.pearsonfitness
• WhatsApp message to 07801 867361.