One of the most common issues I treat in the clinic is persistent pain. Many of my clients arrive at the clinic after years of suffering. This is often a residual pain that started as a result of a traumatic injury... a muscle strain, or a broken bone. However, years after the injury has healed there is no reduction in pain - despite all the injured tissues healing and normal activities are resumed.
We all experience pain in our training. For some of us it is what keeps us returning to the gym. For others it keeps us away. But how much pain is good for us? And how can we tell when the pain is an indicator to take a step back?
Let's set the scene... You've been struggling with shoulder issues for years... you can bearly remember when it started to bother you. Initially, it was just a niggle - maybe the odd twinge here and there, or a dull ache. It didn't used to get in the way of your favourite activities. But over the months or years since it first started it's slowly come to become such a nuisance that you started to avoid certain activities. In fact, at some points it's even stopped you from doing simple day to day tasks, like household chores or completing tasks at work.
At 09:00 on Sunday I rocked up to Hagley Hall car park with the Move Well Clinic treatment couch and a backpack full of sandwiches. I was there to provide sports therapy services to the 500+ runners in the annual Stroke Association West Midland's Resolution Run 2019.
One of the biggest challenges we face as we get older is maintaining our independence and ability to do day-to-day tasks...
