I have recently started up Physical Therapy as part of the treatment for one of my half dozen chronic pain related health conditions. The intent is to try to improve mobility and delay surgery as long as possible. There is also the hope that the increased fitness will reduce the pain issues. It is possible the pain improvement hope is mostly mine.
Chronic illness and chronic pain makes it very challenging to start and maintain regular exercise programs. Physical Therapy can help jumpstart exercise because the therapist closely monitors what you are doing in close connection with your physical limitations and with knowledge of your health conditions. Regardless, chronic pain makes any form of exercise; including physical therapy, very challenging.
It is common with the onset of physical therapy to have increased pain and soreness. It is for this reason that most patients prefer surgery over physical therapy. People consider surgery as a quick fix over the long term effort physical therapy is. They often forget that after surgery there is always physical therapy rehabilitation as well. I happen to prefer to avoid surgery if at all possible due to my other health conditions that make recovery lengthy and difficult.
As expected, I did experience considerable additional discomfort in the immediate days after my first sessions. I did what I could to ease the added pain, soreness, stiffness, fatigue and discomfort; but for the most part it was simply something to suffer through. It would just begin to subside in time for the next session.
I do not ask the physical therapist to go easier during the sessions or complain when the pressure or prodding hurts. I deal with pain every day. Pressure and pain from poking and prodding is painful but I am at physical therapy for a reason. I am there to accomplish something.
In the sense of the phrase “no pain, no gain;” it will prove useless if I squeal every time they apply too much pressure and it hurts a little. Some days my entire body hurts to the touch. I will not make any progress if I am that sensitive in physical therapy. I will have that pain regardless of whether I sit at home and suffer, or if I let the therapist do their job.
I would much rather endure the poking and prodding of the physical therapist on my sore knots than the pain of recuperating from surgery and then the subsequent recuperative physical therapy afterwards.
So I do my best to endure as much as I can in each session. They are aware of my medical conditions, so they are not unreasonably intense; so I do my best to accommodate as much as I can. Sure, this makes me sore and uncomfortable afterwards. Again, I live every day with pain ANYWAY. If I am going to suffer with pain, I would much rather suffer with pain for a good reason.
The pain from Physical Therapy is pain I have EARNED. It is not simply pain only for suffering with no end in sight. The Physical Therapy pain has hope in it. It is a worthwhile pain. I prefer to have pain that I have earned toward a positive goal. The goal is to improve my health in any way possible.
Pain is never a good thing, but if we must have pain; pain for gain is a lot easier to bear.
