Many of us deal with some degree of pain in our everyday lives – whether it’s a stubbed toe, aching joints or difficult family members (joke)! Some pains we can deal with; if they’re situational like a stubbed toe, it makes you want to scream, curse and cry all at the same time, but after about 10 seconds you can move on with your life.

Other pains might be caused by an injury and can be incredibly painful, debilitating and lead you to seek immediate medical attention – often ending in a thorough treatment of the injury, recovery period and rehabilitation to ensure the body has healed. These pains can, as strange as it may seem, have some positive impact, because they allow those who are suffering to reach out for help immediately and take action to relieve their discomfort.

In this blog post I’m going to cover three instances where I think it’s important to consider seeking professional help to remedy your pain. If you can relate to any of the below – please get in touch! I offer a free no-obligation consultation so I can help you identify your pain and create a plan of action to help you continue with your life pain-free.

So, when should you be reaching out for help with everyday pain?

1. It’s an old pain that you’ve learned to live with

Case study: Meet Juliet who suffered with shoulder pain!

She had been living with shoulder pain for about two years. During this time, she had modified  her lifestyle to avoid and/ or minimise the pain. She learned to use her computer mouse with her left hand, and she spent more time relying on her left arm for driving too.

Putting on her bra was tricky as she had to put it on back to front and wiggle it around unless there was a family member to help her. Showering became a gymnastic feat where she had to find ways to wash her hair one handed, and housework took a definite hit because it hurt too damned much to vacuum or dust. Pain avoidance is a common coping mechanism, but instead of avoiding pain, we tackle it through careful structured activities designed to eliminate it completely.

2. It’s stopping you from doing the things you love

Case study: Meet James, the runner!

James had an Achilles injury from when he was a decent county-level runner some two decades ago. He never got to the bottom of it, but slowly learned that it was easier not to run than to deal with the gnawing pain for days afterwards. James was able to convert to cycling but it never met the needs that running did, so whilst he loved the exercise and the freedom it gave him, it always came in a distant second best.

In James’ case, he had gone for treatment with other therapists over the years. They had given him massages and manipulations, but nothing quite hit the spot and it kept on coming back, in an endless cycle. With James, we focused on a full assessment to understand how he moved and where the origin of all the issues came from. Then we started targeting both his original tendinopathy in parallel with strengthening him up, plus tackling his balance, control and coordination.

From there, James started to feel much more comfortable with activities of daily living.  Once he achieved key benchmarks, we were successfully able to return him to his one true love: running! James was quite emotional the first time he was able to complete a run. Now he is slowly working his way back up to a 5km without help and says his sights are firmly set on an ultra!

3. You don’t feel comfortable in your body

Case study: Meet Emma, beloved grandmother!

Emma came to me struggling with her self-confidence. She was worried about her health as everything hurt and more importantly, she couldn’t get up and down off the floor for when she needed to play with her grandkids. She was 65 years old but felt like she was 80 years old and was scared she was getting too old too fast.

With Emma, there weren’t any particular injuries, she was just suffering from plain and simple inactivity. Guiding Emma through an introduction to a regular schedule of stretching, mobility and strengthening in a fun class environment, quickly gave her a newfound confidence in her body and a zest for life that she thought she had lost a decade ago! Now Emma is excited to get started with a Zumba programme as well as taking up some golfing lessons – something she had always wanted to try but had never had to confidence to do so.

If you can relate to any of the case studies mentioned I would love to arrange a free consultation with you. Don’t give pain the power to take over your life – it’s time to seize back control and seek out the help you need to continue living life to the fullest and feeling happy in your body!

If you would like to explore my exercise classes as part of your injury rehabilitation, browse the Balanced Bodies May class timetable below and get in touch to discuss the flexible Class Pass.

Sign up to the Balanced Bodies monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with the latest updates, classes and deals!